Lauenen Chamber Concerts

Dear Friends of the Lauenen Chamber Concerts Association, 

In 2013 we are celebrating our 10th Anniversary, as the first concert took place in February 2003!
The Lauenen Chamber Concerts Association is a small and lean organisation with the objective to organise and support performances of chamber music (including chamber orchestras) in Lauenen.
Other efforts have included the support of young musicians and the promotion of contemporary classical music.

All past concert programmes can be looked at on this website and they remind us of some of the most moving moments of music making, produced under the artistic direction of Maestro Joji Hattori, our artistic director and co-founder.

The genesis of the LCCA is this moment that moved mountains: an encounter and the start of a great friendship in 2002. Back from the same wedding in Austria, Joji, my wife Andrienne and I met again in the early morning on the plane from Salzburg to Zurich after a very enjoyable and late evening. In a completely empty plane, having checked in separately, we happened to be seated next to each other! I explained to Joji our longing for music in our beautiful Lauenen mountain chapel, I also expressed my lack of knowledge in the field. We developed then a simple idea: music for music's sake, without any hindrance from commercial or career-related issues, where musicians would meet and become friends with each other in Lauenen, and share unhurried times to create beautiful music together. The organisers, supported by the natural beauty of Lauenen, would just create an atmosphere where the performers can relax in a cocoon of snow, calmness and love.

Finally, some friends decided early on to make unilateral donations to the LCCA (we were and are fully funded) and this encouraged us to maintain the high level of music and the diversity of the program. We have since then always maintained our pledge that 100% of any donations go to musicians that play in Lauenen and nothing goes to any administrative or organisational costs. The Lauenen concerts and other projects are financed by the founders and any donations allow them to dedicate more of their own funds to more musical projects.

I hope you will enjoy the navigation on this website !

Etienne d'Arenberg for the LCCA