Lucerne or Luzern is a city in central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the district of the same name. With a population of approximately 82,000 people, Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and a nexus of economics, transportation, culture, and media in the region. The city's urban area consists of 19 municipalities and towns with an overall population of about 220,000 people.
Riccardo Chailly is an Italian conductor. He is currently music director of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, since 2016, and music director of La Scala, since 2017. Prior to this, he held chief conducting positions at the Gewandhausorchester (2005–2016); the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (1988–2004); the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (1982–1988); and the Teatro Comunale of Bologna (1986–1993). He was also the first musical director of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi (1999–2005) and principal guest conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra (1983–1986). Among the world's leading conductors, in a 2015 Bachtrack poll, he was ranked by music critics as the world's best living conductor.
Joel Fan is an American pianist and Steinway Artist "who has won praise for his technical expertise, lyrical playing, and outstanding interpretation". The New York Times has described Joel Fan as an "impressive pianist" with a "probing intellect and vivid imagination." "Fan has a flourishing international career as a performing and recording artist, notable for his fluency in the standard repertoire and contemporary works." Consistently acclaimed for his recitals and appearances with orchestras, Mr. Fan scored two consecutive Billboard Top 10 Debuts with his solo CDs World Keys and West of the Sun, while Dances for Piano and Orchestra earned a Grammy nomination.
Henriëtte Hilda Bosmans was a Dutch composer and pianist.
Andreas Haefliger is a German-born Swiss pianist.
The Lucerne Festival Orchestra is a European ad hoc seasonal orchestra based at the annual Lucerne Festival in Switzerland.
Jonathan Cohler is an American classical clarinetist, conductor, music educator and record producer.
Kit Armstrong is an American classical pianist, composer, organist, and former child prodigy of British-Taiwanese parentage.
Kammermusik is the title for eight chamber music compositions by Paul Hindemith. He wrote them, each in several movements, during the 1920s. They are grouped in three opus numbers: Op. 24, Op. 36 and Op. 46. Six of these works, Kammermusik Nos. 2–7, are not what is normally considered chamber music – music for a few players with equally important parts such as a wind quintet – but rather concertos for a soloist and chamber orchestra. They are concertos for piano, cello, violin, viola, viola d'amore and organ. The works, for different ensembles, were premiered at different locations and times. The composer was the soloist in the premiere of the viola concertos, while his brother Rudolf Hindemith was the soloist in the premiere of the cello concerto. Kammermusik is reminiscent of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, also concertos for different solo and orchestra instruments, and in a neo-Bachian spirit of structure, polyphony and stability of motion.
Nareh Arghamanyan is an Armenian pianist. She is best known for winning the 2008 Montreal International Musical Competition.
Luciano Chailly was an Italian composer and arts administrator of French descent. He was an eclectic and prolific composer in the post-war Italy, combining tonal, polytonal, and twelve-tone techniques. Grew up under fascism, Chailly remained apolitical and was a humanist. As he witnessed the brutality of war by serving in second World War, several compositions reflect his repudiation of war. Chailly was best known for his operas, many of which were composed to libretti by Dino Buzzati.
Sarah Kirkland Snider is an American composer. She has received critical acclaim for her chamber, orchestral, song cycle, choral, and ballet works.
Oscar Bianchi is a Gaudeamus Laureate composer of Italian and Swiss citizenships. He is a recipient of several international prizes and honors. He is noted for his large scale works, in particular his cantata Matra for six voices and large ensemble and his opera Thanks to My Eyes.
The Syrian National Symphony Orchestra is the national symphony orchestra of Syria. Its home venue is the Damascus Opera House, and many of its members have been educated at the Higher Institute for Music in the same cultural complex on Umayyad Square in a central location of Damascus.
Karén Hakobyan is an American-Armenian pianist, composer, and conductor. Described as “a musician of abundant gifts and bountiful ideas” by New York Concert Review, and “an immensely talented and dynamic performer” by Deseret Morning News, Hakobyan has gained recognition on the international musical scene. Since his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of seventeen, he has performed in major concert halls in Armenia, Argentina, Mexico, Germany, France, Japan, and the United States. Hakobyan has appeared as a soloist with many orchestras across several continents. His performances have been broadcast on WQXR, WFMT, Argentine National Radio, Monterrey’s (Mexico) Op. 102 radio station, and Armenian National Radio. He is the founder and artistic director of Pegasus The Orchestra, in residence at Mana Contemporary. Hakobyan works with independent artist management Mirzoyan.
The Lucerne Festival Academy is an orchestra-sized educational institution devoted exclusively to the interpretation and performance of contemporary classical music. It has taken place each summer since 2003 in the Swiss city of Lucerne as part of the Lucerne Festival in Summer. Founded by the French composer Pierre Boulez and festival director Michael Haefliger, over 1300 young musicians from over 60 countries have taken part in the Academy, described by The Guardian as "the annual laboratory in which brilliant young musicians are immersed in the performance practice of 20th- and 21st-century music".
Irene Abrigo is an Italian classical violinist.
Maude J. Roberts George was an American singer, arts administrator, and music critic. She was president of the National Association of Negro Musicians (NANM) from 1933 to 1935. She was also president of the Chicago Music Association, and a music critic for The Chicago Defender newspaper.
Rae de Lisle is a New Zealand pianist and music educator.
