Lucerne Symphony Orchestra

Founded in 1805, the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra is the oldest orchestra in Switzerland and serves as the resident orchestra at the KKL Lucerne. In addition to its concert series there, it presents the opera productions at the Luzerner Theater and, since 2022, has curated the piano festival “Le piano symphonique.” While the core repertoire centers on the Classical and Romantic canon, the orchestra also performs rarities and contemporary works, including commissions by Sofia Gubaidulina, Dieter Ammann, Rodion Shchedrin, Thomas Adès, and Wolfgang Rihm. Michael Sanderling has been Chief Conductor since 2021, and his contract has been extended through 2029. Guest conductors in the 2026-27 season include Bar Avni, Aurel Dawidiuk, Maxime Pascal, Daniele Rustioni, and Duncan Ward, joined by soloists such as Martha Argerich, Gautier Capuçon, Vilde Frang, Janine Jansen, Daniel Lozakovich, and Timothy Ridout. The season includes a focus on Beethoven’s music to mark the 200th anniversary of his death. The orchestra tours regularly; in the summer of 2026 it traveled to South Korea, with performances in Italy and the Netherlands planned for the coming season. Numerous recordings, some of which have won awards, document its work. Since 2021, the orchestra has been based at the Orchestra House on the Southpol campus. It maintains its own academy, supports emerging artists through its “Rising Stars” series, and offers a wide-ranging education program that received the Junge Ohren Prize in 2018. The orchestra received the yœurope Award, the European Culture Prize, in 2023.

Lucerne Festival (IMF) debut on 23 August 1993 in a program of works by Schnittke led by Vladimir Kiradjiev.

May 2026