Chailly remains head of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Riccardo Chailly has extended his contract with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra until the end of 2028. In addition, tour projects abroad and future projects with the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra (LFCO) are also planned.
According to the festival's press release, Chailly will continue to conduct concerts in spring and summer, including the official opening. Riccardo Chailly has been Chief Conductor of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra since 2016, succeeding Claudio Abbado. With the founding of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, which was presented to the public for the first time in August 2003, conductor Claudio Abbado and Festival Director Michael Haefliger took up where the Lucerne Festival left off in 1938, when Arturo Toscanini formed an elite orchestra with the Concert de Gala.
The orchestra members perform as soloists outside of the festival season, take up positions with renowned orchestras, teach at universities or come from the ranks of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the Filarmonica della Scala. Claudio Abbado was the orchestra's artistic director until his death in January 2014.
