Basel Chamber Orchestra
About us
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.
Our vision
"We are an innovative, artistically independent and creative top ensemble. With our love and passion for music, we break new ground, transcend boundaries and inspire our audiences. We are constantly developing our own historically oriented sound."
Our mission statement
Our orchestra
We are an internationally successful top orchestra based in Basel. The demand for the highest musical quality is our common challenge.
Our music
We understand music as the direct language of passions. With our broad repertoire, which we perform on both historical and modern instruments, we seek new ways of interpretation.
Our concerts
Every concert becomes a unique and shared experience when there is a spark between orchestra and audience. We want to take our listeners away from everyday life with varied programmes, trigger emotions and at the same time make them think.
Our musicians
We embody an artistically self-determined organisation with individualists who are also strong as team players. As an orchestra, we build on values such as respect, fairness and friendship.
Our audience
Our aim is to provide musical highlights of the highest quality for a curious audience. We see ourselves as hosts, we meet our visitors with open arms.
Our circle of friends
The support of our circle of friends creates optimal conditions for creative excellence - both ideally and financially.
Encounter and mediation
We see ourselves as an artistic production company that approaches its audience with a wide range of educational offers.
Our sponsors, foundations and subsidy providers
We are supported by the long-term and sustainable support of our sponsors, foundations and the public sector. We reflect on the roots and needs of the music city of Basel and realise a successful touring activity.
Our goals
Our Orchestra
We are establishing ourselves at the top of the international chamber orchestra scene and are supported by a growing circle of friends and guests in our home town of Basel.
Our sound
We put established, important works and their composers in a new light and rediscover them again and again. In doing so, we always strive for the perfect, independent sound.
Our programmes
We pursue various long-term artistic projects and programmatic focuses. The focused examination of a concrete musical language enables the musicians to continuously develop both individually and collectively, which enriches the self-image of the orchestra in a positive sense.
Our orchestra company
As a modern orchestra company, we are expanding the circle of our friends and supporters. At the same time, we strive for balanced, contemporary financing on the three pillars: public, private, concert income.
Cultural education and outreach
As musicians based in Basel, we take responsibility for a growing audience. We develop independent education formats and work closely with regional schools. Internationally, we are recognisable as an orchestra with a high standard of education.
Our partners
We develop long-term partnerships with exceptional conductors and soloists. In addition, we are deepening our cooperation with important international guest orchestras and festivals. Once a year we present ourselves on a concert tour outside the European continent.
Members of the Basel Chamber Orchestra
Photo credits: Matthias Müller
Violin
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Daniel Bard, Concertmaster
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Julia Schröder, Concertmaster
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Baptiste Lopez, Concertmaster
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Dmitry Smirnov, Concertmaster
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Anna Troxler, Principal 2nd violin
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Antonio Viñuales Pérez, Principal 2nd violin
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Barbara Bolliger, 1969 – 2023
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Nina Candik
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Valentina Giusti
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Regula Keller
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Elisabeth Kohler
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Carolina Mateos
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Eva Miribung
Contact
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Matthias Müller
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Regula Schär
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Regula Schwaar
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Mirjam Steymans-Brenner
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Yukiko Tezuka
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Fanny Tschanz
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Tamás Vásárhelyi
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Irmgard Zavelberg
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Mathias Weibel
Viola
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Mariana Doughty, Solo
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Katya Polin, Solo
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Anne-Françoise Guezingar
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Bodo Friedrich
Contact
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Stefano Mariani
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Carlos Vallés Garcia
Violoncello
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Christoph Dangel, Solo
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Martin Zeller, Solo
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Georg Dettweiler
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Hristo Kouzmanov
Double bass
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Stefan Preyer, Solo
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Peter Pudil, assistant Solo
Flute
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Isabelle Schnöller, Solo
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Matthias Ebner
Oboe
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Matthias Arter, Solo
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Francesco Capraro
Clarinet
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Markus Niederhauser, Solo
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Etele Dosa, assistant Solo
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Guido Stier
Bassoon
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Matthias Bühlmann, Solo
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Matteo Severi
Horn
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Olivier Darbellay, Solo
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Konstantin Timokhine, Solo
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Mark Gebhart
Trumpet
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Simon Lilly, Solo
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Christian Bruder
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Jan Wollmann
Percussion
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Alex Wäber
Principal Guest Conductor
Giovanni Antonini has been Principal Guest Conductor of the Basel Chamber Orchestra since the 2015/2016 season. The Milanese conductor and flutist is known for his innovative interpretations of the baroque and classical repertoire. He studied music at the Civica Scuola di Musica in his hometown and at the Centre de musique ancienne in Geneva. He is a co-founder of the ensemble Il Giardino Armonico, which he has led since 1989 and with which he has given concerts all over the world. He has worked with artists such as Cecilia Bartoli, Giuliano Carmignola, Isabelle Faust, Sol Gabetta and Patricia Kopatchinskaja.
Giovanni Antonini is regularly invited as guest conductor by orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as well as the Orchestra of the Tonhalle Zurich. He has conducted several opera productions at La Scala in Milan, the Theater an der Wien, the Salzburg Festival and the Zurich Opera House.
He has worked closely with the Basel Chamber Orchestra for many years. For the historically informed interpretations of the Beethoven cycle that the orchestra and Antonini worked on, they were awarded the ECHO Klassik in the category "Best Ensemble" in 2008. Antonini has been artistic director of the Haydn2032 project since 2014. The Basel Chamber Orchestra and his ensemble Il Giardino Armonico perform all 107 of Joseph Haydn's symphonies up to the year 2032 and record them on CD.
He has made CD recordings for Teldec, Decca, Sony BMG, naïve, Harmonia Mundi and Alpha Classics.
Don Bosco Basel – our domicile
Since 2020, the Basel Chamber Orchestra has found a home in Basel with the Don Bosco.
In addition to rehearsals, CD recordings, small formats such as "Nachtklang", "Kostprobe", etc., and its own subscription series of four concerts take place there. The office has been moved there to allow close interaction with the musicians.
The former Roman Catholic Don Bosco church in Basel's Breitequartier will be converted into a rehearsal and concert centre from 2018-2020. A chapel in the basement has also been renovated and will continue to be used as a sacred space by the Heiliggeist parish.
