The Geneva Chamber Orchestra strives to achieve excellence across a wide repertoire that ranges from the baroque to new contemporary music, thereby helping the public discover works not usually heard in concert halls. Its musicians’ frequent use of “historical” instruments, alternating with modern ones, makes this chamber orchestra one of a kind.
Since its founding in 1992 the identity and originality of the Geneva Chamber Orchestra have been shaped by a series of renowned conductors and soloists such as Armin Jordan, Ivor Bolton, Rinaldo Alessandrini, Thomas Rösner, Natalie Dessay, Sandrine Piau, Véronique Gens, Andreas Scholl, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Aldo Ciccolini and many others. Under Michael Hofstetter, who succeeded Thierry Fischer and Lev Markiz, the Geneva Chamber Orchestra rose to a position of renown on the Genevan and Swiss music scene and entered the ranks of outstanding orchestras. The conductor and pianist David Greilsammer built on the work of his predecessors, while also initiating new, innovative projects. Arie van Beek, the guest conductor of choice of the past three seasons, has been appointed artistic and music director from the 2013-2014 season onwards, to enable him to consolidate and develop his imprint on this musical force to be reckoned with.
Every year the Geneva Chamber Orchestra presents a series of concerts in Geneva, primarily in the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices concert hall, many of which are recorded by the radio station Espace 2. In addition to giving evening performances the Orchestra also works closely with numerous local cultural players, including the city of Geneva, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, the Concours de Genève international music competition, the Haute Ecole de Musique, the Opéra de Chambre de Genève, Geneva choirs and the Orchestre des Pays de Savoie. For the past several seasons the Geneva Chamber Orchestra has also extended its collaboration to events such as the Archipel, Electron and Antigel music festivals, the dance company Cie Gilles Jobin and the Conservatoire populaire de musique, danse et théâtre.
The Geneva Chamber Orchestra also collaborates with the Concours de Genève on the recording of the complementary compact discs offered to its prize winners, which have included István Várdai, Louis Schwizgebel-Wang and Gilles Vonsattel. In 2012 the Geneva Chamber Orchestra, conducted by David Greilsammer, recorded a compact disc of works by Mozart which was released by the prestigious record label Sony Classical.