The Luzerner Sinfonieorchester is the resident orchestra at the KKL Luzern. As the oldest symphony orchestra in Switzerland, it has gained international recognition around the globe. Strongly anchored in the world-famous music city of Lucerne, it offers several concert cycles of its own every year as well as tours at home and abroad.
Thanks to its world-class musicians drawn from some 20 nations, the orchestra has developed over the years into an ensemble of international standing. Strongly anchored in its locality, the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester also has an international scope; it represents Lucerne’s musical life on international tours, and is orchestra in residence at the KKL Luzern. It also acts as the opera orchestra of the Lucerne Theatre. Michael Sanderling has held the post of Chief Conductor of the orchestra since the 2021/22 season.
The Luzerner Sinfonieorchester actively promotes new music through the commissioning of works from composers including William Kentridge, Sofia Gubaidulina, Dieter Ammann, Rodion Shchedrin, Thomas Adès and Wolfgang Rihm. The Rising Stars series, lunchtime concerts and the Arthur Waser Prize signal the orchestra’s commitment to fostering young talent. It runs its own orchestra academy and a comprehensive outreach programme, for which it was awarded the ‘Junge Ohren’ prize in 2018.
Since 2021 the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester has been ideally located in the Orchesterhaus, which serves as home, workshop, rehearsal space and recording studio. Besides rehearsals – some of which are open to the public – chamber music concerts and numerous music outreach events also take place at this location.
The international profile of the orchestra is reflected in its output of CDs and DVDs. Sony Classical has released albums including ‘Rachmaninoff in Lucerne’ and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. In 2021 the orchestra sealed a long term partnership with Warner Classics. Following a critically-acclaimed Brahms cycle, they recently released a recording of the Grieg and Schumann piano concertos, with Elizabeth Leonskaja as soloist.