Biography

The HEM Orchestra is composed of students from the Geneva University of Music. It collaborates with famous professional ensembles in the Lake Geneva region and with renowned conductors. International tours are organised each year as part of musical projects. In 2009, the orchestra travelled to China for a concert tour conducted by Antoine Marguier, and in February 2010, it gave three performances of Frank Martin’s ballet Le Conte de Cendrillon at the Budapest Palace of Arts, conducted by Gábor Takács-Nagy.

In October 2013, the Orchestra toured Japan in partnership with the Tokyo University of the Arts. In July 2015, in partnership with the HEM Lausanne and the Conservatory of Singapore, it performed on the main stage of the Paléo Festival Nyon and on the Singapore Esplanade under Thierry Fischer with pianist Louis Schwizgebel. In Spring 2016, the HEM Orchestra, in partnership with the ZHDK Orchestra, performed Glière’s 3^rd Symphony as Swiss Premiere, directed by famous Russian conductor Yuri Simonov, upon the occasion of the 10^th Orchestra Academy, which has brought together both schools for twenty years. Every year, the Orchestra also takes part in academies with the OSR and Contrechamps.

The HEM Orchestra regularly performs works by contemporary composers who collaborate closely with the students. It has performed with renowned conductors, including Leonardo García Alarcón, Laurent Gay, Gábor Takács-Nagy, Pierre-André Valade or Domingo Garcia Hindoyan. During the 2017-2018 season, it will collaborate with Nader Abbassi, Pierre Bleuse, Erik Nielsen, Boris Böhmann, Guillaume Tourniaire, Edouard Chappot, Nathalie Stutzmann, Franco Petracchi and Elena Schwarz.

In 2009, the orchestra recorded a CD with violist Nobuko Imai, conducted by Gábor Takács-Nagy under the label Pan Classic, which was hailed by international critics. In 2012, it recorded Frank Martin’s Le Conte de Cendrillon, conducted by Gábor Takács-Nagy. Issued in January 2013, the recording has since received five Diapason Awards.