Tradition and innovation: The Chur Orchestra
In just a few days, the Chur Orchestra will be welcoming around 100 orchestra delegates from all over Switzerland to the EOV General Assembly in the Grisons capital. The innovative traditional orchestra introduces itself.
The Chur Orchestra and its city are delighted to be hosting the EOV Delegates' Assembly on 8 June 2024: just as the different tones of the symphony orchestra interweave to form a great whole, the city with its wide range of cultural and sporting activities will make for an enriching stay. In particular, the Chur Orchestra invites you on a sound journey into the little-known work of the composer with Grisons roots, Paul Juon (1872-1940).
The Chur Orchestra celebrated its centenary just over a decade ago. Founded in 1912 as the accompanying orchestra of the municipal men's choir, the innovative group of musicians soon established itself as an independent ensemble and initiated the founding of the municipal music school with its internal orchestra school.
For the first 25 years, the orchestra's symphony concerts were almost the only opportunity for music lovers in Chur to encounter great works of classical and romantic music in concert. From the very beginning, the orchestra enabled young musicians, mainly from Graubünden, to gain their first solo experiences and perform in front of a large audience in instrumental concerts.
Luzi Müller, the (only!) third conductor to lead the orchestra until its 100th anniversary, remained true to this principle, just like his two predecessors. During his 38 years as conductor, he sought new ways of organizing concerts, included little-known works that had hardly ever been performed in Chur in the programmes and often gave them a theme. Under his baton, players and audiences alike have repeatedly experienced new musical discoveries.
With Bollschweiler since 2018
Conductor Hugo Bollschweiler (conductor since 2018) is now continuing this tradition with just as many original ideas, in-depth knowledge and meticulous rehearsal work. His joy in discovering musical innovations is evident in several areas for the Chur Orchestra: Twice a year, themed concerts combine artists and works of art in often unusual ways. During the coronavirus pandemic, Bollschweiler initiated and accompanied trios and quartets of orchestral musicians. He has given and continues to give experienced amateur woodwind players the opportunity to enrich the string orchestra during weekly rehearsals and has studied the work of composer Paul Juon in depth.
The participants of the EOV's DM now have an opportunity to discover this late Romantic music in Chur. On June 8, the Chur Orchestra will embark on a journey with its conductor at the matinée workshop concert "Zwischen den Zeiten - Der Grenzgänger Paul Juon" and is looking forward to welcoming numerous musically interested fellow travelers.
Hugo Bollschweiler writes about the content of this workshop concert: "The musicological classification according to styles, epochs and lines of development clouds the view of the , the mixed zones where old and new overlap, latecomers meet visionaries and the individuality of the artist becomes recognizable far from the official historical and aesthetic classification.
The universe of Paul Juon is exemplary of this: geographically, temporally and stylistically, Juon appears as a self-determined border crosser between different cultural areas and in times of radical artistic upheavals."
