T14
SALE OF INDIVIDUAL ENTRY: From August 1, 2025
ORCHESTRA DELLA SVIZZERA ITALIANA
Resident orchestra at LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura (Ticino, Switzerland), the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana (OSI) continues its successful trajectory, earning public and critical acclaim in major theaters and concert halls across Europe. Since 2022, its principal guest conductor has been Krzysztof Urbański, succeeding Vladimir Ashkenazy.
It performs three cycles in Lugano: OSI al LAC from autumn to spring; OSI in Auditorio; and OSI a Pentecoste, created to establish a fixed appointment with OSI during a weekend of special significance for international audiences. This is complemented by special events to attract new audiences, including concerts for approximately 10,000 children annually as part of cultural mediation.
It collaborates with renowned conductors and soloists, including Martha Argerich, with whom OSI has maintained a privileged relationship for over twenty years, and Sol Gabetta, with whom it has developed a stable collaboration leading to the creation of the triennial Presenza al LAC festival, returning to Lugano in 2027.
It maintains an intense discographic activity in collaboration with Italian-language Swiss Radio and Television (RSI): OSI and Markus Poschner—principal conductor until 2025— won two prestigious ICMA awards: in 2018 for the complete Brahms Symphonies (SONY Classical) and in 2025 for a Hindemith and Schnittke CD (ECM New Series). Notable releases also include a series of CDs dedicated to unpublished Rossini works and Tchaikovsky’s Symphonies Nos. 5 and 6.
Opera and ballet co-productions, open-air concerts, and summer festivals complete its programming, engaging an increasingly broad audience.
The Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana thanks all its sponsors, particularly the Republic and Canton of Ticino – Swisslos Fund, the City of Lugano, ERSL municipalities, the OSI Friends Association, main sponsor BancaStato, and the Canton of Grisons.
OSI also thanks its main partner, RSI, for its constant support and frequent radio broadcasts.
MARTHA ARGERICH. Piano
Born in Buenos Aires, she began piano lessons at age five with Vincenzo Scaramuzza and soon started giving concerts and recitals regularly. In 1955, she moved to Europe and continued her studies in London, Vienna, and Switzerland with Bruno Seidlhofer, Friedrich Gulda, Nikita Magaloff, Dinu Lipatti, and Stefan Askenase. In 1957, she won the Bolzano and Geneva Piano Competitions, and in 1965, she won the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw. Since then, she has been considered one of the world’s most prominent pianists, both for her ability and her popularity.
A specialist in the virtuosic masterpieces of the 19th and 20th centuries, she maintains a broad repertoire that includes, among others, works by Bach, Bartók, Beethoven, and Messiaen, as well as Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Debussy, Ravel, Franck, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, and Tchaikovsky.
Invited by the most prestigious orchestras, conductors, and music festivals, chamber music remains very important to her. She performs and records with Mischa Maisky, Alexandre Rabinovitch, Gidon Kremer, and Daniel Barenboim, and with Nelson Freire for over 50 years.
She has recorded for EMI, Sony, Philips, Teldec, and DGG, and her performances have been broadcast on television worldwide. She has received numerous awards: a Grammy for her recording of Bartók and Prokofiev Concertos; Gramophone’s Artist of the Year and Best Piano Concerto Recording for her Chopin recording; Choc du Monde de la Musique, German Record Critics’ Artist of the Year, and additional Grammy Awards for Prokofiev’s Cinderella with Pletnev and Beethoven’s Concertos Nos. 2 and 3 with Mahler Chamber/ Abbado (DGG/Best Instrumental Soloist).
She became Artistic Director of the Beppu Festival (Japan) in 1998. In 1999, she created the Martha Argerich International Piano Competition and Festival in Buenos Aires, and in 2018, she launched the Martha Argerich Festival in Hamburg.
She maintains a privileged relationship with OSI and the city of Lugano, where she was a key figure in the Martha Argerich Project festival from 2002 to 2017, returning regularly.
Martha Argerich has been honored with numerous distinctions, including three Grammy Awards.
CHARLES DUTOIT. Conductor
Charles Dutoit (nacido el 7 de octubre de 1936 en Lausana, Suiza) es uno de los directores de orquesta más destacados de su generación, reconocido por su afinidad con el repertorio francés y ruso
Charles Dutoit (born October 7, 1936, in Lausanne, Switzerland) is one of the most prominent conductors of his generation, recognized for his affinity with 20th-century French and Russian repertoire. His musical training encompassed studies in violin, viola, piano, percussion, composition, and conducting at the Lausanne and Geneva conservatories, as well as at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena and Tanglewood, under the guidance of masters like Charles Münch.
He began his professional career in 1959, conducting the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra with Martha Argerich as soloist. He later held positions with the Bern Symphony Orchestra (1967-1978), Mexico National Orchestra (1973-1975), and Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (1975-1978).
In 1977, he was appointed music director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, a role he held for 25 years. Under his leadership, the orchestra gained international recognition, undertaking numerous tours and recording over 170 albums, many of which received international awards, including two Grammy Awards.
Dutoit was also music director of the French National Orchestra (1991-2001) and the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo (1996-2003). In 2009, he assumed artistic direction of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, a position he held until 2018.
He has collaborated with the world’s leading orchestras, including those in Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Berlin, Amsterdam, and London. He has also worked with prominent soloists such as Martha Argerich, Renée Fleming, Lang Lang, and Julian Rachlin.
Dutoit has received numerous awards and distinctions, including the title of Officer of the Order of Canada and the National Order of Quebec. He has been named laureate conductor
of the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.
In his personal life, he was married to pianist Martha Argerich and is currently married to violinist Chantal Juillet.
