This is how we pique your curiosity

Backstage feeling: the Lucerne Festival Orchestra just minutes before performance © Patrick Hürlimann

Get up close to the music and the stars during the "Summer of Curiosity" in 2024. We want to use many new ideas to encourage connections, break down barriers, and provide exciting insights into how the Festival works. And this is what you can look forward to:

Pre-Concerts
Featuring musicians from the Lucerne Festival Academy in the KKL Luzern’s Concert Hall lounge:

Pop music has its opening act. For our part, we offer a 10-minute pre-concert. Allow us to surprise you!

22. August | 19.05 | before the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra concert

23. August | 19.05 | before the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra concert

25. August | 18.05 | before the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra concert

28. August | 19.05 | before the Berliner Philharmoniker concert

30. August | 19.05 | before the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra concert

4. September | 19.05 | before the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra concert

5. September | 19.05 | before the Orchestre de Paris concert

6. September | 19.05 | before the Vienna Philharmonic concert
Post-Concert Talks
Post-Concert Talks | Sommer-Festival 2024 © Priska Ketterer/Lucerne Festival
In the KKL Luzern’s Concert Hall lounge, following the afternoon or evening concert:

Do you have questions about what you have just heard? We’ll try to answer them – together with artists who have just appeared onstage.

18. August | after the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra concert

20. August | after the Lucerne Festival Orchestra concert

23. August | after the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra concert

25. August | after the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra concert

28. August | after the Berliner Philharmoniker concert

1. September | after the Cleveland Orchestra concert

2. September | after the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra concert

5. September | after the Orchestre de Paris concert

7. September | after the Lucerne Festival Academy afternoon concert

7. September | after the Vienna Philharmonic evening concert

8. September | after the Staatskapelle Berlin concert

9. September | after the Mahler Chamber Orchestra concert

12. September | after the räsonanz - Donor Concert

13. September | after the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra concert
Live Critics’ Round Table Discussions
In the KKL Luzern lounge, following the evening concert:

Listening in detail: the Critics’ Round Table of Radio SRF 2 Kultur listened closely and share their commentary on the performance.

16. August | following the Lucerne Festival Orchestra concert

17. August | following the Lucerne Festival Orchestra concert

24. August | following the Lucerne Festival Orchestra concert

31. August | following the Lucerne Festival Academy concert
Concert Introductions
with Susanne Stähr (in German) | KKL Luzern, Auditorium:

17. August | 17.30 | Lucerne Festival Orchestra 2

18. August | 18.30 | West-Eastern Divan Orchestra

20. August | 18.30 | Lucerne Festival Orchestra 4

21. August | 16.00 | Die Walküre

23. August | 18.30 | Czech Philharmonic

24. August | 17.30 | Lucerne Festival Orchestra 5

25. August | 17.30 | Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra

28. August | 18.30 | Berliner Philharmoniker 1

30. August | 18.30 | Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

4. September | 18.30 | Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra

5. September | 18.30 | Orchestre de Paris

6. September | 18.30 | Vienna Philharmonic 1

7. September | 18.30 | Vienna Philharmonic 2

8. September | 18.30 | Staatskapelle Berlin

11. September | 19.30 | Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich

Further concert introductions (in German):

31. August | 18.30 Uhr | Lucerne Festival Academy 3
with Lisa Streich and Mark Sattler

15. September | 17.30 Uhr | Gurre-Lieder
with Malte Lohmann
Backstage Specials

Backstage Specials © Patrick Hürlimann/Lucerne Festival

What actually goes on at the KKL Luzern during the daytime preceding the evening concerts? Who rehearses? What has to be prepared? We are offering 30-minute backstage specials for a limited number of participants. Registration for this summer is unfortunately already closed.
Getting Closer to the Artists

At many concerts, the artists themselves will greet you on the stage and tell you what to expect. Or they will follow the performance as moderators. Or there will be a short spotlight on the program before it starts in the Concert Hall. We will publish the dates on our website in July 2024
Concerts at Home by the Lucerne Festival Academy

20 years – 20 minutes: Experience the sound of the present in your living room.

To mark the 20th anniversary of the Lucerne Festival Academy, we are raffling off ten concerts, each lasting 20 minutes, to be performed at your own home. Soloists from the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra (LFCO) will perform contemporary solo and duo works. What exactly will be played? Get ready for a surprise!

Submissions are now closed. We were happy to draw names for each of the ten concerts from all the entries we received and informed the lucky winners.