Joseph Haydn and Frank Martin by Johan Reuter and the OCL

Founded in 1942 by Victor Desarzens, the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne (OCL) has become one of the most sought-after chamber orchestras in Europe. After six years under the artistic direction of American conductor Joshua Weilerstein, the OCL is now led by the celebrated French violinist Renaud Capuçon. Comprising some forty musicians, the Orchestra’s vast repertoire ranges from early Baroque to contemporary works.

The OCL was soon invited to perform abroad, in the most renowned concert halls and festivals. It took part in the second Aix-en-Provence Festival and several editions of the Enescu Festival in Bucharest. His tours of Germany and the United States have been resounding successes, as have his concerts at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, the BBC Proms in London, the Wiener Konzerthaus and the Berliner Philharmoniker. In the 2023-2024 season, the OCL will perform in Madrid, Barcelona and, for the first time, at the Philharmonie de Paris.

Throughout its existence, the OCL has performed with leading soloists. These include Clara Haskil, Alfred Cortot, Walter Gieseking, Edwin Fischer, Murray Perahia, Radu Lupu, Martha Argerich, Nikolai Lugansky, Daniel Barenboim and Frank Peter Zimmermann. The OCL has also always attracted the most interesting conductors of their time, including Paul Hindemith, Günter Wand, Christoph Eschenbach, Ton Koopman, Jeffrey Tate, Bertrand de Billy, Simone Young and Daniel Harding.

The OCL boasts an extensive discography: from the complete operas of Haydn in the 1970s-1980s conducted by Antal Dorati to the Beethoven and Mozart concertos with Christian Zacharias, not to mention recordings dedicated to Schoenberg and Webern (with Heinz Holliger) and Spohr and Weber (with Paul Meyer).

The Iranian conductor Hossein Pishkar won the prestigious Deutscher Dirigentenpreis in an international competition staged in cooperation with Cologne’s leading musical institutions and Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) in 2017. In the same year he also won the Ernst-von-Schuch-Preis, presented annually in collaboration with the Dirigentenforum.

Hossein Pishkar conducts, as guest conductor, the Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Danish Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Orquesta Ciudad de Granada, Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, Slovenska filharmonija, Staatsorchester Stuttgart and WDR-Sinfonieorchester. At the Royal Danish Opera he conducted the opera Carmen by Georges Bizet (director: Barrie Kosky), Verdi’s Aida (director: Annabel Arden), Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito (director: Jetske Mijnssen) and Shostakovich’s The Nose (director: Àlex Ollé), at the Staatsoper Stuttgart Die Zauberflöte (director: Barrie Kosky) and at the Ravenna Festival Rigoletto (director: Cristina Mazzavillani Muti).

Before moving to Düsseldorf to study conducting with Rüdiger Bohn at the Robert Schumann Hochschule, Hossein Pishkar studied composition and piano in Teheran, where he was born in 1988. In Iran he has conducted the Teheran Youth Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Teheran Music School. He began playing traditional Persian music as a young child and has won many prizes as a player of the tar, the fretted stringed instrument of Persian culture.

Johan Reuter studied at the Royal Academy of Music and the Academy of the Royal Theatre in his hometown of Copenhagen. He frequented masterclasses of Ernst Haefliger, Anthony Rolfe-Johnson and Richard Trimborn. Since 1996 he has been a soloist of the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, where he sings a large repertoire.

In the 2022-23 season Reuter took on the role of Orest from Elektra at the Royal Theatre Copenhagen, Barak from Die Frau ohne Schatten at San Francisco Opera and Friedrich von Telramund from Lohengrin at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, among others.

He starred in the new production of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg as Hans Sachs at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Johan was part of the exciting line-up to celebrate the Centennial of San Francisco Opera, making his first appearance on the West Coast with Die Frau ohne Schatten.

Highlights from the past seasons include Dead Man Walking, Un ballo in maschera, Cavalleria rusticana/I pagliacci, Scarpia in Tosca [all marking his debut in the roles] in Copenhagen, Barak in Die Frau ohne Schatten in London, New York, Berlin, Zürich and Amsterdam, the title role of Nabucco at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Braunfels’ Jeanne d’Arc at the Salzburger Festspiele, Vec Makropulos at the Met and the Salzburger Festspiele, Wotan in Das Rheingold in Munich and Budapest.

He created the role of Theseus in the world première of Harrison Birthwistle’s The Minotaur at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden where he has also appeared in Elektra, Salome, Wozzeck and The Tsar’s Bride. Der fliegende Holländer in Madrid, Berlin and Copenhagen, Le nozze di Figaro at Theater an der Wien and Deutsche Oper Berlin, Macbeth in Lisbon, From the House of the Dead in Paris and Madrid and Così fan tutte in Hamburg. Recent concert appearances include Haydn’s Schöpfung and Die Jahreszeiten, Mahler’s 8th Symphony, Rückert-lieder and Das klagende Lied, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Brahm’s Vier ernste Gesänge, Ein deutsches Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem, Berlioz’s Romeo et Juliette, Peer Gynt and Michelangelo sonnets by Chostakovich.

He has given song recitals in Copenhagen, Hannover, Frankfurt, Bergen and Madrid. Johan Reuter recorded Tristan und Isolde under Janowski, Kunzen’s Holger Danske, Nielsen’s Maskarade under Ulf Schirmer (Gramophone Award), Schubert’s Winterreise in Danish as well as solo albums with arias by the young Giuseppe Verdi and songs by Richard Strauss, Carl Nielsen and Hakon Børresen.