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Final Concert of the Conducting Week from 22 to 26 September 2026, in connection with the awarding of a one-year assistant conductor position. The Conducting Week and the establishment of the assistant position are made possible by a Swiss foundation.

Gustav Mahler’s Second Symphony is the flagship of this season. With this work, Chief Conductor Michael Sanderling sets course for monumental orchestral forces: more than 100 musicians, choir and two soloists come together in a large-scale undertaking of extraordinary dimensions – a journey of around ninety minutes from solemn funeral…

Gustav Mahler’s Second Symphony is the flagship of this season. With this work, Chief Conductor Michael Sanderling sets course for monumental orchestral forces: more than 100 musicians, choir and two soloists come together in a large-scale undertaking of extraordinary dimensions – a journey of around ninety minutes from solemn funeral…

How can classical music and club culture connect across generations? Formats such as Berlin’s “Yellow Lounge” or “TonhalleLATE” in Zurich have shown how classical live music and club atmosphere can open up new spaces for music. Now the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester is taking this idea further at Neubad Lucerne. Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony is pe…

Few composers embody the large-scale symphonic world of Late Romanticism as powerfully as Gustav Mahler. After the Resurrection Symphony at the opening of the season, he is therefore present with a second major work. In his Seventh Symphony, too, Mahler builds a world “with all the means of the available technique” – a world ful…

Few composers embody the large-scale symphonic world of Late Romanticism as powerfully as Gustav Mahler. After the Resurrection Symphony at the opening of the season, he is therefore present with a second major work. In his Seventh Symphony, too, Mahler builds a world “with all the means of the available technique” – a world ful…

Beethoven anniversary concerts inevitably fall short of Beethoven’s own standards. In his famous Academy Concert of 1808, he premiered, among other works, the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, the Fourth Piano Concerto, a concert aria, parts of the Mass in C major and the Choral Fantasy. Lasting more than four hours, the evening was “…

At the centre of this Beethoven evening are the Third Piano Concerto and the Choral Fantasy – two works that make Beethoven’s dramatic force and his utopian idea of community tangible in different ways. The Third Piano Concerto is in C minor, a key that in Beethoven often stands for tension, energy and existential drama. Its heroic to…

Beethoven anniversary concerts inevitably fall short of Beethoven’s own standards. In his famous Academy Concert of 1808, he premiered, among other works, the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, the Fourth Piano Concerto, a concert aria, parts of the Mass in C major and the Choral Fantasy. Lasting more than four hours, the evening was “…

This Advent matinee combines great Romantic expressiveness with festive colour. The first part centres on Antonín Dvořák’s Cello Concerto – one of the most important works in the cello repertoire, expansive, lyrical, passionate and richly orchestral. Kian Soltani is a soloist who has long been part of the prominent family of artists a…

The Christmas singalong with the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester brings together several lines of this season through vocal works by John Rutter and Beethoven’s hymn to joy. With Konzertchor Klangwerk Luzern, the choirs of the Luzerner Kantorei, the Luzerner Mädchenchor and Luzerner Sängerknaben as well as the ChorTon Vokalensemble, a larg…

Vocal music gives the New Year’s Concert a festive character with two solo voices. Marina Viotti returns for a special reunion: the mezzo-soprano once appeared to great acclaim in the ensemble of the Luzerner Theater and is now internationally successful. The Kazakh bass Mark Kurmanbayev is an artist to discover, advancing his career …

Vivid sound worlds are one of the major lines running through this season. They can already be found in nineteenth-century programme music – and continue to resonate in today’s film music. This concert is a prime example: an imaginary cinema without film. Danny Elfman became known as the composer of numerous film scores, including …

Vivid sound worlds are one of the major lines running through this season. They can already be found in nineteenth-century programme music – and continue to resonate in today’s film music. This concert is a prime example: an imaginary cinema without film. Danny Elfman became known as the composer of numerous film scores, including …

With its wide soundscapes, Late Romanticism also created some of the conditions for what would later be perceived as great film music. In this programme, monumental symphonic writing and vivid narrative power come together in two works whose emotional immediacy remains undiminished. Sergei Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto begins wi…

With its wide soundscapes, Late Romanticism also created some of the conditions for what would later be perceived as great film music. In this programme, monumental symphonic writing and vivid narrative power come together in two works whose emotional immediacy remains undiminished. Sergei Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto begins wi…

Beethoven as the centre of energy radiates throughout this season – into Romanticism, into modernity and back to the classical core repertoire of the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester. This concert shows Beethoven at an important point of transition: between classical form, symphonic thinking and a new expressive power. The Mass in C major op. 86 …

With the Arthur Waser Prize, the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester has supported young solo careers since 2013. Rarely has this happened at such an early stage as with the 2026 Arthur Waser Prize: pianist Martina Meola, born in Milan in 2012, won the “Jeune Chopin” competition in 2025 and impressed juror Martha Argerich so deeply that …

With the Arthur Waser Prize, the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester has supported young solo careers since 2013. Rarely has this happened at such an early stage as with the 2026 Arthur Waser Prize: pianist Martina Meola, born in Milan in 2012, won the “Jeune Chopin” competition in 2025 and impressed juror Martha Argerich so deeply that …

The artistic development of the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester culminates this season in a pronounced focus on Late Romantic repertoire. Yet this repertoire does not only point forward – towards modernity and the orchestra’s future – but also back to strong traditions. Richard Wagner’s “Siegfried Idyll” recalls that Roma…

The artistic development of the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester culminates this season in a pronounced focus on Late Romantic repertoire. Yet this repertoire does not only point forward – towards modernity and the orchestra’s future – but also back to strong traditions. Richard Wagner’s “Siegfried Idyll” recalls that Roma…

Before the turning point of the First World War, the belief in progress at the fin de siècle was also reflected musically in ever larger orchestral forces. Former Chief Conductor James Gaffigan had already worked towards this expansion of symphonic thinking. He now returns as guest conductor with a programme that develops the idea of the mo…

Before the turning point of the First World War, the belief in progress at the fin de siècle was also reflected musically in ever larger orchestral forces. Former Chief Conductor James Gaffigan had already worked towards this expansion of symphonic thinking. He now returns as guest conductor with a programme that develops the idea of the mo…

With the most recent expansion of the orchestra, the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester has grown to a standard line-up of 14 first violins. This allows not only greater force in monumental works, but also stylistic agility – as this final concert of the season demonstrates. At the beginning, the forces are reduced: Mozart’s Sinfonia concerta…

With the most recent expansion of the orchestra, the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester has grown to a standard line-up of 14 first violins. This allows not only greater force in monumental works, but also stylistic agility – as this final concert of the season demonstrates. At the beginning, the forces are reduced: Mozart’s Sinfonia concerta…