Lucerne Easter Festival
The Lucerne Easter Festival is a notable cultural event that is part of the esteemed Lucerne International Festival of Music, which has roots tracing back to 1938. Established in 1988 as a special program focusing on Christian religious music, the festival became an annual celebration in 1992, coinciding with the varying dates of Easter, which occurs in March or April. Set in Lucerne, Switzerland—a picturesque city known for its stunning lakeside location at the foot of the Alps—the festival has attracted a diverse audience and featured performances in the city's primary churches and concert hall.
Throughout its history, the festival has hosted significant musical events, including debuts from renowned conductors and orchestras, along with premieres of important works. It has also emphasized educational opportunities through master classes for young conductors. However, in 2019, the Easter Festival was held for the last time as the organizers chose to focus on the main Summer Festival. The planned replacement for the Easter Festival in 2020 was ultimately canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, marking a significant moment in the festival's history. The Lucerne Easter Festival represents a rich tradition of classical music and community celebration, reflecting the cultural heritage of the region.
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Lucerne Easter Festival
Lucerne Easter Festival
The Lucerne Easter Festival, part of the Lucerne International Festival of Music, was first begun in 1988. It became an annual event in 1992, and because it took place on varying dates depending on the convenience of the sponsors and the date of the Christian holiday of Easter, it was a movable event. Easter falls in March or April each year.
Lucerne (or Luzern) is a small city in Switzerland that was first established around the site of an eighth-century monastery. It grew to a modest size thanks to trade and then to tourism—it is beautifully situated, on a lake at the foot of the Alps—and, by the late 2010s, had a population in the tens of thousands.
The Lucerne International Festival of Music was begun in 1938 and soon became a prestigious event, featuring programs of classical music rendered by soloists, orchestras, and conductors from all over the world. In 1988 a special program of Christian religious music to celebrate Easter gave birth to the Lucerne Easter Festival. From 1992 through the 2010s, it took place annually, with musical performances in the city's two main churches and its concert hall. In 2001 the name of the parent festival was changed from International Festival of Music to the simpler Lucerne Festival, and its three divisions were renamed the Easter, Summer, and Piano Festival.
Throughout the 2000s and early 2010s, the Lucerne Easter Festival was the site of firsts for the larger Lucerne Festival. Conductor Christian Thielemann made his debut at the Easter Festival in 2002. In 2004 an annual residency for the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra was launched then. The festival's inaugural master class for young conductors was held in 2011, the newly formed Orchestra Mozart made its debut there in 2012, and the following year saw the premiere of John William's The Gospel of the Other Mary (2013), a commissioned oratorio. In 2014 the Lucerne Festival paid homage to conductor Claudio Abbado, then recently deceased, with a memorial concert during the Easter Festival.
In 2019 the Easter and Piano Festivals were held for the final time. Seeking to concentrate efforts on the main Summer Festival, organizers planned to replace the Easter Festival in April 2020 with an extended weekend program. That four-day celebration was cancelled, however, due to the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Bibliography
"History." Lucerne Festival, www.lucernefestival.ch/en/about-us/history. Accessed 7 Apr. 2020.
“Lucerne Festival Bosses Axe Easter Festival and Piano Festival.” ArtsJournal, 8 May 2019, www.artsjournal.com/2019/05/lucerne-festival-bosses-axe-easter-festival-and-piano-festival.html. Accessed 7 Apr. 2020.
“Mariss Jansons: And the Beat Goes On.” The Independent, 17 Apr. 2006, www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/mariss-jansons-and-the-beat-goes-on-474641.html. Accessed 7 Apr. 2020.