She is just 21 years old and has already created a stir on the international stage: born in Sapporo, Japan, Yuki Hirano won the 2024 Vienna Classical Violin Competition at the Classical Violin Olympus and emerged in the spring of 2025 as the winner of the International Jascha Heifetz Competition in Vilnius, where she also received numerous special prizes. The secret to her success? “If the audience can enjoy the music, I’m happy,” says the student of Pavel Vernikov at the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna. The program she has chosen for her Lucerne Festival debut offers the ideal conditions for that. There is, for instance, the exhilarating Violin Sonata by Alexey Shor, born in Ukraine in 1970. It was originally a violin concerto, but together with the legendary pianist Mikhail Pletnev, Shor reshaped it into a duo — and scored a genuine hit: folksy, virtuosic, and lush. Szymanowski and Dvořák bring full-blown Romantic warmth, and in the graceful yet dazzling Valse-Caprice that the violin virtuoso Eugène Ysaÿe arranged based on an étude by Saint-Saëns, any remaining restraint goes out the window.
Arrival | Parking Facilities
The Lutheran Reformed Church of St. Luke is located just a few minutes' walk from the train station, right next to the popular Vögeligärtli Park.
Arriving by train & bus
Take advantage of a 50% discount on public transport to Lucerne. You can find more Information here: to the SBB offer.
Arriving by Auto
Lucerne has a dynamic system to indicate parking availability that makes parking in the city easier for you. You can find a list of all parking garages in the City of Lucerne here: see List.
Cloakroom
There is an unguarded coat checkroom in the entrance area to the church.
Wheelchair seating
The garden located next to the staircase takes you to the Lukassaal and to the elevator leading to the level of the entrance to the church.
Access to venues | Late admission
The concert box office is located at the church entrance and opens one hour before the start of the event. Admission to the church begins about 30 minutes before the concert starts.
Gastronomy
In Lucerne
Within walking distance of all event venues you can find a wide variety of restaurants, bars, and cafés. The Lucerne Tourism office will gladly assist you in making your selection. Overview of Lucerne Tourism