Brahms’ Third & Romanticism from the Saarland

For over 20 years, the cantonal symphony orchestra has been performing “major” works of classical music in concert halls and churches throughout the canton of Schwyz and the surrounding area. Depending on the lineup, up to 80 professional musicians, music students, and enthusiastic amateur musicians perform 3–4 concert series of their own each year under the direction of conductor Urs Bamert. Innovative, audience-engaging, and high-quality programs—along with over 80 projects and more than 200 performances—have earned the SOKS an outstanding reputation as a key cultural institution, cultural mediator, and promoter of young local musicians.

The section leaders are professional musicians living in the area who work as musicians and music teachers, with the well-known Altendorf violinist Donat Nussbaumer of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra serving as concertmaster. In addition to “regular” concerts, its achievements include canton-wide youth development projects, collaborations with youth orchestras from the canton and young Roma musicians from Hungary, yodeling clubs, “children’s” and “commented” concerts, New Year’s concerts, and the “Klassik am See” festival in Lachen.

Added to this are self-produced (!) and staged operas, directed by Swiss director Barbara Schlumpf, which have received outstanding acclaim from both audiences and critics: “OPER auf REISEN” featuring Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutte,” Donizetti’s “Don Pasquale,” and most recently Verdi’s famous, sold-out “Traviata”! Equally packed in January was another “crazy” project: Beethoven’s moving Ninth Symphony with the “Ode to Joy,” featuring an ad hoc choir from across the canton as well as the renowned Kantorei St. Georg Kaltbrunn SG.

The composers featured also include Swiss and Schwyz-based composers such as Waespi, Schoeck, Raff, and Martin—in a selection of works and large-scale ensembles typically expected in major city concert halls, ranging from Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven to Schubert, Grieg, Bruckner, Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Dvořák, and Mahler to Debussy, Ravel, Kodály, Gershwin, Stravinsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Shostakovich—not to mention modern composers such as Langgaard, Poulenc, the Swiss composer Caspar Diethelm, and the Peruvian Jimmy López. Recently, the SOKS also generated buzz with its revival of works by Bach’s son, Johann Christian Bach, from the music library of Einsiedeln Abbey.

This fall, the SOKS will once again present a “major standard work” by Johannes Brahms—his Symphony No. 3—and, preceding it, a wonderful gem from the Romantic Saarland: Théodore Gouvy’s Symphony No. 6.

Schwyz Cantonal Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Urs Bamert

Théodore Gouvy: Symphony No. 6 in G minor, Op. 87 (1892)
Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90 (1883)

The concerts are made possible by the generous support of our partners, global sponsors, and soloist patrons:
Cultural Commission of the Canton of Schwyz, Asuera Foundation, Markant AG (Pfäffikon SZ), Octapharma Foundation (Glarus), Renate Häusler & Oswald Grübel (Wollerau)

Additional thanks go to (as of September 2, 2026):
Major Patrons/Sponsors:
Höfe District, Feusisberg-Schindellegi Sponsor Club
Sponsors:
Municipality of Lachen, Genossame Lachen, Anonymous Foundation, Mobiliar General Agencies Schwyz & Lachen, Schwyzer Kantonalbank, Toni Ebner (Hurden), Heinz Hodel (Pfäffikon SZ), Arthur Schmed (Wollerau)

Supporters:
Municipality of Freienbach, Ursimone Wietlisbach Foundation, Carl & Elise Elsener-Gut Foundation/Victorinox AG (Ibach), Casino Pfäffikon/Höfe Tourism Association, Association for the Promotion of Economic and Cultural Activities/Felchlin AG (Schwyz), CONVISA AG (Schwyz)

Sponsors:
Mantz AG (Küssnacht a.R.), Remo Wüst Bakery + Pastry Shop AG (Wangen SZ), prosiebnen.ch

Media Sponsors: Bote der Urschweiz, Einsiedler Anzeiger, Freier Schweizer, Höfner Volksblatt/March-Anzeiger, Linth-Zeitung

Design:
Patrick Mettler, onelook GmbH (Einsiedeln)

Printing:
Triner Druck AG (Schwyz)

Advertisers in the program booklet:
Arondo AG (Lachen)
Bafac Treuhandbüro Christine Baumann (Unteriberg)
Holdener Schreinerei AG (Oberiberg)
Marina Gastro AG (Lachen)
Petra Gössi (Küssnacht a.R.)
Restaurant Hirschen (Wangen)
Steiner-Beck AG (Lachen/Wetzikon)

Discounts:
KulturLegi Caritas Central Switzerland

Cocktail reception before the concert and during intermission in Schindellegi, hosted by SOKS


Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.