Zurich Chamber Orchestra in young hands

As part of a pilot project with the Department of Education and Sport (Office for School Culture), fifth-grade pupils at the Langmatt school in Zurich-Witikon were given the opportunity to get to grips with all the artistic and operational aspects of the ZKO, both in front of and behind the scenes, over the course of a school year.

The teaching material developed by the ZKO especially for this project and the involvement of a music teacher ensured a lively exchange between pupils, orchestra and office staff right from the start.

The school class was given an in-depth insight into the orchestra's work phases, processes, projects and programs. Musicians from the ZKO visited the class at school and talked about their work as orchestra musicians. They welcomed the pupils to concerts in the Tonhalle and allowed them to reflect on their concert experiences in essays, discussions and drawings. During guided tours of the ZKO building, the school class also gained an insight into the rehearsals and the operational structure of the orchestra.

Under the name "Young ZKO", the class soon grew into a separate business unit within the ZKO organization and published their newly gained impressions and insights on the orchestra's own website. At public dress rehearsals, the pupils were responsible for welcoming and entertaining the audience, and later the moderation and conducting interviews with artists were also entirely in the hands of the schoolchildren.

On June 20, 2014, there will be an opportunity to experience the Zurich Chamber Orchestra's "Junge ZKO" live as the crowning finale to their school project: Under the title "Klangzauber & Fussballfieber", the ZKO will play movie and country anthems under the artistic direction of the "Young ZKO". Following the concert, the match between Switzerland and France will be broadcast on a big screen in the ZKO House.