The Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich is a Swiss

symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

based in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. Its principal residence is the Tonhalle concert hall.

Early history prior to the orchestra

Precursor music ensembles in Zürich have included the music societies ''Zum Chorherresaal'' (around 1600), ''Ab dem Musiksaal beim Kornhaus'' (1613), and ''Zum Fraumünster'' (1679). In 1812, these ensembles consolidated into a single organization with the name ''Allgemeine Musik-Gesellschaft'' (AMG), which included the formation of an orchestra who performed on an annual, seasonal and non-permanent basis. In the early history of the AMG orchestra, its first principal conductors were Casimir von Blumenthal (1821–1846) and Franz Abt (1846–1852). The impetus for the establishment of a permanent orchestra in Zürich came in 1861, with the ''Schweizerische Musikfest'' (Swiss Music Festival) scheduled in Zürich that year. Citizens in Zürich wished the musicians to remain after the festival, but the AMG did not have the financial resources to establish a permanent resident orchestra. Subsequently, a group of Zürich citizens founded the ''Orchesterverein'' in 1865 as the city's first permanent orchestra. The founding of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich followed several years later, in 1868. Both ensembles continue to perform in Zürich today.

Orchestra history

The first principal conductor of the Tonhalle-Orchester was Friedrich Hegar, who served from its founding in 1868 through 1906. His successor, Volkmar Andreae, served an even longer tenure as chief conductor, from 1906 to 1949, the longest in the orchestra's history, directing around 1,300 concerts with the orchestra. Andreae's tenure featured the first family concerts by the orchestra, beginning in 1928. In 1947, the city of Zürich formalised performances of concerts for young people by the orchestra, as part of the agreements for city funding and subsidy of the orchestra. More recently, during the chief conductorship of

David Zinman David Zinman (born July 9, 1936, in Brooklyn, New York) is a retired American conductor and violinist. Education After violin studies at Oberlin Conservatory, Zinman studied theory and composition at the University of Minnesota, earning his M.A. ...

, the orchestra established its "tonhalleLATE" series of late-evening concerts that combine shorter-length symphonic concerts with socializing afterwards to electronic music. In the interregnum between the chief conductorships of Hiroshi Wakasugi and

, Claus Peter Flor served as principal guest conductor from 1991 to 1995. Zinman became chief conductor in 1995, and remained in the post until July 2014, the orchestra's longest serving chief conductor since Andreae. The orchestra made its debut at

The Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

in September 2003 with Zinman, and his final concert as chief conductor was a July 2014 Proms appearance. During his tenure, Zinman introduced elements of

historically informed performance Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of Western classical music, classical music which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of ...

into the orchestra's playing style and greatly expanded their recording presence. In October 2012, the orchestra named Lionel Bringuier as its next chief conductor, as of the 2014–2015 season, with an initial contract of four years. Concurrent with the advent of Bringuier as chief conductor in the 2014–2015 season,

Esa-Pekka Salonen Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish conducting, conductor and composer. He is the music director of the San Francisco Symphony and conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the Sw ...

served in the newly created post of Creative Chair of the orchestra. Bringuier concluded his tenure at the end of the 2017–2018 season. In May 2017, the orchestra announced the appointment of

Paavo Järvi Paavo Järvi (; born 30 December 1962) is an Estonian conductor. He has been chief conductor of Zurich's Tonhalle since 2020. Early life Järvi was born in Tallinn, Estonia (then occupied by the Soviet Union), to Liilia Järvi and the Estoni ...

as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2019–2020 season, with an initial contract of five years. Järvi had first guest-conducted the Tonhalle Orchestra in 2009, and returned in December 2016. In December 2022, the orchestra announced an extension of Järvi's contract as its chief conductor through the 2028–2029 season. The current ''Intendantin'' (executive and artistic director) of the orchestra is Ilona Schmiel, currently contracted to the orchestra through the 2028–2029 season.

Recordings

The orchestra and Andreae made a small number of recordings in the late 1920s, of music of Vivaldi and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In 1947,

Franz Lehár Franz Lehár ( ; ; 30 April 1870 – 24 October 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas, of which the most successful and best known is '' The Merry Widow'' (''Die lustige Witwe''). Life and career L ...

recorded a number of 78-rpm discs of his music with the orchestra for

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

. The discs were issued in the U.S. by

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

, initially in the 78-rpm format and then on LPs. Some of the recordings are now available through

Naxos Records Naxos comprises numerous companies, divisions, imprints, and labels specializing in classical music but also audiobooks and other genres. The premier label is Naxos Records, which focuses on classical music. Naxos Musical Group encompasses about ...

on CD. The orchestra's recording profile has expanded most prominently during the tenure of Zinman, with many recordings for such labels as Arte Nova and RCA. In particular, his recordings for Arte Nova of the complete Beethoven symphonies achieved notable renown, as one of the earliest recorded cycles to use the new Jonathan Del Mar edition of the symphonies, with observation of Beethoven's metronome markings.

Chief conductors

* Friedrich Hegar (1868–1906) * Volkmar Andreae (1906–1949) * Erich Schmid (1949–1957) *

Hans Rosbaud Hans Rosbaud (22 July 1895 – 29 December 1962) was an Austrian conductor, particularly associated with the music of the twentieth century. Biography Rosbaud was born in Graz. As children, he and his brother Paul Rosbaud performed with thei ...

(1957–1962) *

Rudolf Kempe Rudolf Kempe (14 June 1910 – 12 May 1976) was a German conductor. Biography Kempe was born in Dresden, where from the age of fourteen he studied at the Dresden State Opera School. He played oboe in the opera orchestra of Dortmund and ...

(1965–1972) *

Charles Dutoit Charles Édouard Dutoit is a Swiss conductor. He is the principal guest conductor for the Saint Petersburg Philharmonia. In 2017, he became the 103rd recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal Award. Dutoit held previous positions ...

(1967–1971) *

Gerd Albrecht Gerd Albrecht (19 July 1935 – 2 February 2014) was a German conductor. Biography Albrecht was born in Essen, the son of the musicologist Hans Albrecht (1902–1961). He studied music in Kiel and in Hamburg, where his teachers included Wilhel ...

(1975–1980) *

Christoph Eschenbach Christoph Eschenbach (; born 20 February 1940) is a German pianist and conductor. Early life Eschenbach was born on 20 February 1940 in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland) as Christoph Ringmann. His parents were Margarethe (née Jaross), a ...

(1982–1986) * Hiroshi Wakasugi (1987–1991) *

(1995–2014) * Lionel Bringuier (2014–2018) *

(2019–present)

Creative chairs

(2014–2015) *

Jörg Widmann Jörg Widmann (; born 19 June 1973) is a German composer, conductor and clarinetist. In 2023, Widmann was the third most performed living contemporary composer in the world. Formerly a clarinet and composition professor at the University of ...

(2015–2016) *

Péter Eötvös Péter Eötvös (, ; 2 January 194424 March 2024) was a Hungarian composer, conductor and academic teacher. After studies of composition in Budapest and Cologne, Eötvös composed film music in Hungary from 1962. He played with the Stockhaus ...

(2016–2017) * Brett Dean (2017–2018) * Matthias Pintscher (2018–2019) *

Erkki-Sven Tüür Erkki-Sven Tüür (; born 16 October 1959) is an Estonian composer. Life and career Tüür was born in Kärdla on the Estonian island of Hiiumaa. He studied flute and percussion at the Tallinn Music School from 1976 to 1980 and composition wi ...

(2019–2020) *

Arvo Pärt Arvo Pärt (; born 11 September 1935) is an Estonian composer of contemporary classical music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs tintinnabuli, a compositional technique he invented. Pärt's music is in p ...

(2020–2021) *

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

(2021–2022) *

Toshio Hosokawa is a Japanese composer of contemporary classical music. He studied in Germany but returned to Japan, finding a personal style inspired by classical Japanese music and culture. He has composed operas, the oratorio '' Voiceless Voice in Hiroshima' ...

(2022–2023) *

Bryce Dessner Bryce David Dessner (born April 23, 1976) is an American composer and guitarist based in Paris, and a member of the rock band the National. Dessner's twin brother, Aaron is also a member of the group. Together, they write the music in collabo ...

(2023–2024) * Anna Thorvaldsdottir (2024–2025)

References

External links

Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich official home page

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich 1868 establishments in Switzerland Musical groups established in 1868 Swiss symphony orchestras Orchestras in Zurich