A format that would immerse the audience in the unique atmosphere of the Festival without worrying about a formal dress code, but instead allow for a very casual attitude. A format that would be shorter than a concert but longer than a mere appetizer. In short: we were looking for a format that could do it all. So we came up with the 40min series. Since its inception in , the 40min series has been supported by our main sponsor and partner 40min Zurich Insurance.
Indeed, they are a real audience magnet, precisely because they are so varied. And they really do appeal to everyone: sophisticated Festival fans and spontaneous visitors alike, as well as youthful listeners and young children, who can relax in comfort on cozy beanbags placed at the front of the stage.
We introduce projects and works-in-progress there: new scores where the ink is still wet, excerpts of which you can encounter even before their official premiere, or productions for children and families that are still in the middle of the rehearsal process. And you can also encounter celebrated stars as they play music and engage in conversation. A long queue formed in front of the KKL Luzern for her appearance, and unfortunately there was not enough space in Lucerne Hall for all those interested Gruppen is an orchestral piece that calls for three conductors and a correspondingly complex coordination in performance.
Without the orchestra โ as soloists of the baton, so to speak โ Rattle, Choi, and Ward conducted themselves through the score, singing, humming, and coordinating their entries with precision. And, of course, so has the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, as well as in miniature, in other words, for original chamber music programs.
We are looking forward to nine varied 40min concerts in the anniversary summer of , as well as a new special offering: for our 10th birthday, we will present 40min Open Air, consisting of three parts. It will be our first-ever outdoor event, right in front of the KKL. Here, too, the program will be of the widest possible scope, with a lineup including the brass quintet KamBrass, the percussionists of the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra LFCO , and the horn player Sarah Willis, who will instill a dancing mood with her Sarahbanda.
