The work of Swiss conductor Manuel Oswald is characterized by active listening, subtle communication, and a deep understanding of musical processes\u2014qualities that have grown out of his many years of experience as a professional chamber musician.
He grew up in French-speaking Switzerland and now lives in Zurich. He studied violin and chamber music with Rainer Schmidt, Walter Levin, and the Hagen Quartet in Basel and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, among others, and later at the Zurich University of the Arts, where he completed his conducting studies (MAS) with Johannes Schlaefli.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Particularly formative was his work with the quartet on the holistic approach to works with Sir Andr\u00e1s Schiff, as well as \u2013 for contemporary music \u2013 his work under the baton of Pierre Boulez as a member of the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He began his professional musical career as a member of the G\u00e9meaux Quartet and later the Merel Quartet, both firmly established in the international concert scene. He also taught chamber music at the universities of Basel and Lucerne. As co-artistic director of the Monuments Musicaux chamber music festival in Basel (2017\u20132023), he devoted himself intensively to innovative concert formats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since 2021, he has devoted himself exclusively to orchestral conducting. Today, he is principal conductor of the Stadtorchester Luzern, the Orchesterverein Nidwalden, and the Philharmonisches Orchester Riehen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Highlights of last season’s repertoire included a concert at the KKL Luzern featuring Schubert’s Great C major Symphony and Brahms motets. The world premiere of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in a new version for accordion \u2013 arranged and performed by Viviane Chassot \u2013 also attracted considerable attention and was enthusiastically received by audiences and critics alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the coming season, Manuel Oswald will continue to expand his repertoire. The program includes Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique in Basel, a world premiere in collaboration with folk musician Andreas Gabriel, and another concert at the KKL Luzern featuring Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and works by Lili Boulanger and Mel Bonis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chamber music remains the source of his artistic thinking: the tension between the individual and the collective. For him, the greatest symphony lives by the same principles as a quartet \u2013 the quality of attention, trust, and the cultivation of mutual listening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n