Zurich Chamber Orchestra
Swiss chamber orchestra based in Zurich
The Zurich Chamber Orchestra (Zürcher Kammerorchester; ZKO, German abbreviation) is a Swiss chamber orchestra based in Zurich. The ZKO's principal concert venue in Zurich is the Tonhalle. The ZKO also performs in Zurich at the Schauspielhaus Zürich, the ZKO-Haus in the Seefeld quarter of the city, and such churches as the Fraumünster and the Kirche St. Peter.
The ZKO presents approximately 40 performances in Zurich each year, in addition to approximately 40 children's concerts and performances elsewhere in Switzerland and abroad. In the 2016–2017, season the total number of concerts was 151, a record for the ZKO.
The core of the ZKO consists of 28 permanent members (string players, flute, oboe, horn, harpsichord), with other sections (woodwinds, strings, brass, harp and percussion) used as needed.
History
Edmond de Stoutz founded the ZKO in the aftermath of World War II, and led its first concerts in 1945. He served as artistic leader and principal conductor of the ZKO until 1996. He commissioned many works, including Peter Mieg's Concerto for oboe and orchestra (1957) and Frank Martin's Polyptyque for violin and two small string orchestras (1973).
In 1996, Howard Griffiths assumed the post of artistic director and served until 2006.
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This entry incorporates text from “Zurich Chamber Orchestra” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.