Gstaad Festival Orchestra

Since 2010, the Gstaad Festival Orchestra has been at the very heart of the Menuhin Festival. Since 2014, it has also been an indispensable partner of the Conducting Academy – and now, with Daniel Hope as the Artistic Director of the Menuhin Festival, the ensemble is entering a new era of creative vitality. Guided by Jaap van Zweden, whose close, almost familial bond with the musicians has grown over many years, the orchestra benefits from his immense international experience – as Music Director of the Seoul Philharmonic and, from September 2026, of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. Together, they are expanding the orchestra’s global presence and strengthening its role as a charismatic ambassador of the Festival’s spirit.

The Gstaad Festival Orchestra is made up of the best musicians from Switzerland's leading orchestras. These high-class musicians are now forming a sort of musical 'national team'. Its members are musicians from the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Zurich Opera Orchestra, the Kammerorchester Basel, the Basel Symphony Orchestra and the Bern Symphony Orchestra. Furthermore, some of the best students from international music institutions are selected every year to play with the GFO. The aim is to bring high-quality sound and famous musical spirit of the top Swiss orchestras together, in order to create a process of dialogue between the musicians and to forge at the same time a dynamic, unique-sounding orchestra every year.

Over the years, an impressive collection of concert recordings has emerged, reflecting the artistic work of the Gstaad Festival Orchestra in all its facets. On the Festival’s digital platform, these musical moments can be experienced once again – vivid testimonies to unforgettable evenings in the Festival Tent in Gstaad.