Basel Chamber Orchestra

The Basel Chamber Orchestra is firmly anchored in Basel, with two subscription series at the Stadtcasino Basel and its own rehearsal and performance venue, the Don Bosco Basel. With more than 60 concerts per season, the Basel Chamber Orchestra tours worldwide and is a welcome guest at international festivals and the most important European concert halls, such as the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées Paris or the Theater an der Wien.

A discography of over 30 award-winning recordings on prestigious labels such as Sony, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Pentatone and Warner Classics testifies to the outstanding quality of this versatile ensemble.
For its historically informed interpretations, the Basel Chamber Orchestra was awarded the ECHO Klassik in the category “Best Ensemble” in 2008 and in 2019 will be the first orchestra to receive a Swiss music prize.

The Basel Chamber Orchestra enjoys working with selected soloists such as Maria João Pires, Jan Lisiecki, Isabelle Faust and Christian Gerhaher. Under the artistic direction of the concertmasters and the baton of selected conductors such as Heinz Holliger, René Jacobs and Pierre Bleuse, the Basel Chamber Orchestra presents its broad repertoire.

The concert programmes are as varied as the 47 musicians, ranging from early music on period instruments to historically informed interpretations and contemporary music. Each year the Basel Chamber Orchestra commissions new works and takes part in the Basel Composition Competition.

The Orchestra has a particularly fruitful relationship with its Principal Guest Conductor Giovanni Antonini. Under Antonini’s baton, the Orchestra will alternate with the Il Giardino Armonico ensemble in performing and recording all 107 symphonies of Joseph Haydn until 2032. From 2022, all of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s symphonies will be performed under the baton of Philippe Herreweghe. Another core element of the Orchestra’s work is its forward-looking outreach work in large-scale participatory projects involving creative exchanges with children and young people.

With a high degree of self-financing, the Basel Chamber Orchestra pursues an innovative, entrepreneurial approach.
From 2019, the Clariant Foundation will be the presenting sponsor of the Basel Chamber Orchestra.