Camerata Zürich is a chamber orchestra with a clear artistic profile: a lean formation, a sophisticated sound, and a repertoire that deliberately reaches beyond the classical mainstream.
Since its founding in 1957, it has stood for unconventional programmes combining well-known and lesser-known works from different stylistic periods. The orchestra has also maintained a longstanding commitment to contemporary music: more than one hundred world premieres and first performances testify to this engagement with new music. Camerata Zürich’s programmes are put together with great care and dramaturgical sensitivity. They bring together Baroque, Classical, Romantic and contemporary music — sometimes organically, sometimes through strong contrasts — and place works in carefully considered new contexts.
With Esther Hoppe as Artistic Director from the 2025/26 season, Camerata Zürich has opened a new chapter. A central element of this new phase is the personal moderation of concerts by the orchestra’s own musicians (with a charming Swiss accent). These introductions create direct access to the music and reveal how the programmes are conceived from the performers’ perspective. Alongside the concerts, a podcast series sheds light on the background to works, performers and programme ideas from new angles: a digital insight into Camerata Zürich’s artistic work.
The ensemble also follows its own path in music education. Its composition competition for children and young people is unique in its form and creates a platform for young composers whose works are assessed by a professional jury and given their world premiere by the orchestra in concert. The family concerts Camerata & Kids offer children and families accessible ways into classical music. The newly launched project Camerata@School – Vivaldi Recomposed is aimed at entire primary school classes and gives children an immersive, creative introduction to music, composition and concert life.
Season 2025/2026
press
“Everything else happened, characteristic of a first-class chamber ensemble, through the instrumentalists listening to and interacting with each other, resulting in astonishingly precise rhythm with a magnificent sound.” Das Opernmagazin
“... and everything is played so exquisitely that you get an appetite for the whole cycle” Neue Zürcher Zeitung
“The sound is airy, clear and lively. The softest notes, fast crescendos, movement and agility in the smallest of spaces characterize a visibly delicate Beethoven.” Luzerner Zeitung
“The playing of Camerata Zürich is superb.” BBC Music Magazine
