The Festival Strings Lucerne was founded in 1956, quickly establishing itself among the most distinguished chamber orchestras in Europe and around the world. The orchestra made its debuts at the Salzburg Festival in 1957, in New York in 1959, in Mexico City in 1963, in Tokyo in 1971, and in Sydney 1977.

The orchestra offers a wide-ranging repertoire in its own concert series at the Lucerne KKL and as guest ensemble at the Lucerne Festival, while regularly appearing at such European concert halls as Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Philharmonie Berlin, Amsterdam’s Het Concertgebouw, and the Vienna Musikverein. 

The Festival Strings Lucerne, currently led by the violinist Daniel Dodds, was established as a string orchestra with harpsichord by the Viennese violin legend Wolfgang Schneiderhan and the Swiss conductor and violinist Rudolf Baumgartner. From the start, the ensemble has been committed to developing the noble glow and warmth of the Austro-Hungarian string sound tradition. Dodds, who was appointed artistic director in 2012, leads the orchestra from the concertmaster’s chair, continuing the example set by Baumgartner. Daniel Dodds has particularly extended the scope of the ensemble, adding instruments as required, to facilitate performances of midsize symphonic repertoire.

The orchestra, whose repertoire ranges from baroque music to the contemporary, has premiered over one hundred works by such composers as Jean Françaix, Frank Martin, Bohuslav Martinů, Sándor Veress, Iannis Xenakis, Krzystof Penderecki, Klaus Huber, and Peter Ruzicka. The ensemble has recently collaborated with such leading musicians as Daniil Trifonov, Bernard Haitink, Rudolf Buchbinder, Mischa Maisky, and Midori.

The Festival Strings Lucerne has a long history of distinguished recordings, first on the Deutsche Grammophon label, with later recordings released by Decca, Eurodisc, Denon, Sony Classical, Pentatone, and Warner Classics. These include such memorable studio collaborations as with Clara Haskil performing Mozart, Pierre Fournier performing Haydn, and Zino Francescatti playing Bach.