Name: Augustin Hadelich | Mark O’Connor | Maggie O’Connor
Start: 2026-09-05T22:00:00
Location: KKL Luzern

Mark O’Connor

Maggie O’Connor

Lucerne Festival

The piercing call of the carnyx likely sounded across Lake Lucerne more than 2,000 years ago, when Celtic tribes settled in Central Switzerland. Liza Lim has composed a concerto for this ancient bronze trumpet, nearly two meters long, asking herself “how ancient lineages of human and more-than-human creativity reside in bodies, cultural artefacts and the Deep Time histories of place, carrying seeds of resilience and also potential danger that may yet bloom again.” Far less exotic is the second solo instrument of the evening, the clarinet. Yet composer-in-residence Mark Andre — inspired by extensive sound experiments with Jörg Widmann — coaxes from it a wealth of entirely new timbres. 

Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra (LFCO) | Elim Chan

KKL Luzern Concert Hall

In 2024, “artiste étoile” Augustin Hadelich released his award-winning album American Road Trip, a homage to the country he now calls home. The recording embraces not only classical repertoire but also jazz and ragtime, country and bluegrass. “When I came to the U.S. more than 20 years ago, I immediately fell in love with the country — and with its music, which is itself a melting pot,” Hadelich recalls. Just how deeply America’s musical diversity has become his own native tongue is something he’ll demonstrate in Lucerne with his Fiddle Night. Joining him are two giants of the folk scene: Maggie and Mark O’Connor. Mark O’Connor has won three Grammy Awards — including one with his wife — and has been named Musician of the Year by the Country Music Association seven times. Collaborating with classical stars is nothing new for him. Now, the O’Connors appear on stage with Hadelich for the first time. In doing so, they echo Leonard Bernstein’s conviction: “I draw no distinction between popular music and classical music. There is only good music and bad music.”