As the resident orchestra at LAC (Lugano Arte e Cultura), the OSI continues to enjoy success under the baton of Markus Poschner, its Principal Conductor since 2015. In recent years, it has been enthusiastically received by audiences and critics alike in major concert halls throughout Europe, from the gilded hall of the Musikverein in Vienna to the Philharmonie in Berlin, from the Grosses Festspielhaus in Salzburg to the Kölner Philharmonie in Cologne.
The orchestra regularly plays a leading role in two main concert series in Lugano: one, “OSI al LAC”, runs from autumn to spring in the Sala Teatro; the other, “OSI in Auditorio”, takes place in the orchestra’s longtime home, the Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI in Lugano Besso.
Aside from its work with Poschner, with whom in 2018 the orchestra received the important international recording prize, the ICMA (for their Complete Brahms Symphonies / SONY Classical), the OSI collaborates with a wide range of other conductors and soloists of international repute. These include the pianist Martha Argerich and the cellist Sol Gabetta, with whom the OSI launched a new multiannual Whitsun music festival (named Presenza) at the LAC in 2022.
Open air concerts, cine-concerts and numerous festivals (including the Locarno Film Festival) complete the OSI’s yearly programme, attracting ever larger audiences. Last but not least are the amazing outreach activities for the youngest: more than 11,000 children attend the concert events specially devised for them each year at the LAC in the month of May.
The OSI thanks all its sponsors, in particular the Republic and Canton of Ticino – Fondo Swisslos, the City of Lugano, the ERSL Municipalities, the Associazione degli Amici dell’OSI (AOSI) and its principal sponsor BancaStato. The OSI is also grateful to the SSR/RSI for its continued support and regular broadcasts.