Bern Symphony Orchestra
Sixteen nations – one language.
The Bern Symphony Orchestra comprises around 100 musicians from 16 different nations. After five successful years under the artistic direction of Andrey Boreyko, the Swiss conductor Mario Venzago take over as chief conductor of the BSO at the start of the 2010/11 season. His predecessors include Dmitrij Kitajenko, Charles Dutoit, Fritz Brun, Luc Balmer, Paul Kletzki, and Peter Maag.
The Bern Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1877 and can thus look back on over 130 years of tradition as the orchestra of the Swiss capital. In the years following its founding, the orchestra played at the theater, gave symphony concerts, accompanied choirs, and held public concerts on promenades, in gardens, and in public venues.
As early as 1935, renowned guest conductors were regularly invited. These include Bruno Walter, Erich Kleiber, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Karl Böhm, Herbert von Karajan, Sir John Barbirolli, Ernest Ansermet, and later Hans Knappertsbusch and Rafael Kubelik, or more recently Armin Jordan, Eliahu Inbal, Günther Herbig, Pietari Inkinen, Ari Rasilainen, Tania Miller, and Jaap van Zweden.
Renowned soloists have helped and continue to help spread the Bern Symphony Orchestra's excellent reputation far beyond Switzerland's borders. Big names like Joshua Bell, Waltraud Meier, Elisabeth Leonskaja, and Mischa Maisky are represented there, as are the young stars of the classical music scene such as Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Martin Fröst, Fazil Say, and Nikolai Tokarev.
The BSO, today one of the largest orchestras in Switzerland, performs around 50 concerts per season. In addition to the ever-popular symphony concerts, the gala concert and the New Year's concert are among the cultural highlights of the year. With its free open-air concert on Bundesplatz at the start of the season and its imaginative "Night of Music" at the end, the orchestra delights a large audience and offers the people of Bern a musical home.
The BSO is also the resident orchestra of the Bern City Theatre. In this capacity, it participated last year in the Swiss television production of La Bohème im Hochhaus, which captivated an international audience and broke new ground in the presentation of classical music.
The Bern Symphony Orchestra's other activities include guest performances both in Switzerland and abroad, as well as radio broadcasts and CD recordings.
The Bern Symphony Orchestra comprises around 100 musicians from 16 different nations. After five successful years under the artistic direction of Andrey Boreyko, the Swiss conductor Mario Venzago take over as chief conductor of the BSO at the start of the 2010/11 season. His predecessors include Dmitrij Kitajenko, Charles Dutoit, Fritz Brun, Luc Balmer, Paul Kletzki, and Peter Maag.
The Bern Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1877 and can thus look back on over 130 years of tradition as the orchestra of the Swiss capital. In the years following its founding, the orchestra played at the theater, gave symphony concerts, accompanied choirs, and held public concerts on promenades, in gardens, and in public venues.
As early as 1935, renowned guest conductors were regularly invited. These include Bruno Walter, Erich Kleiber, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Karl Böhm, Herbert von Karajan, Sir John Barbirolli, Ernest Ansermet, and later Hans Knappertsbusch and Rafael Kubelik, or more recently Armin Jordan, Eliahu Inbal, Günther Herbig, Pietari Inkinen, Ari Rasilainen, Tania Miller, and Jaap van Zweden.
Renowned soloists have helped and continue to help spread the Bern Symphony Orchestra's excellent reputation far beyond Switzerland's borders. Big names like Joshua Bell, Waltraud Meier, Elisabeth Leonskaja, and Mischa Maisky are represented there, as are the young stars of the classical music scene such as Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Martin Fröst, Fazil Say, and Nikolai Tokarev.
The BSO, today one of the largest orchestras in Switzerland, performs around 50 concerts per season. In addition to the ever-popular symphony concerts, the gala concert and the New Year's concert are among the cultural highlights of the year. With its free open-air concert on Bundesplatz at the start of the season and its imaginative "Night of Music" at the end, the orchestra delights a large audience and offers the people of Bern a musical home.
The BSO is also the resident orchestra of the Bern City Theatre. In this capacity, it participated last year in the Swiss television production of La Bohème im Hochhaus, which captivated an international audience and broke new ground in the presentation of classical music.
The Bern Symphony Orchestra's other activities include guest performances both in Switzerland and abroad, as well as radio broadcasts and CD recordings.
