OCL Celebrates 50th Anniversary with Special Concert

On Thursday 15 May 2025, the Orchestre de Chambre du Luxembourg (OCL - Luxembourg Chamber Orchestra) held its 50th anniversary concert at the Philharmonie in Luxembourg-Kirchberg.

Luxembourg’s Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume, who is patron of OCL, attended the performance. The engaging concert, punctuated by addresses from the President of OCL, Georges Santer, Luxembourg’s Minister of Culture, Eric Thill, and City of Luxembourg Mayor, Lydie Polfer, took place to a full house in the Grand Auditorium.

The evening began with an energetic performance of Pablo de Sarasate’s Navarra op. 33 with violinists Pascal Monlong and Lyonel Schmit. Composed in 1889, the lively Navarra op. 33 is a tribute to Saraste’s birthplace.

Conductor Carlo Rizzari then led the ever popular and classic Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Symphony, The Marriage of Figaro, to a most receptive and appreciative audience.

Young Luxembourg cellist and guest soloist, Matis Grisó, captivated the crowd with his enthusiastic performance of Robert Schumann’s Cello Concerto. Born in Luxembourg in 2006, Matis Grisó began playing the cello at the age of four. In November 2024, he won the Anne and Françoise Groben Prize, created by OCL to reward and provide a platform for exceptional artistic young talent from Luxembourg's music schools. His musical talent and passion was evident throughout the performance and he deserved the ensuing rapturous and sustained applause. Matis Grisó, together with the OCL, then performed a rendition of What a Wonderful World, written by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss, accompanied by a video of OCL throughout the years displayed on a screen above the stage.

Changes of State or What Might Become of Us, composed by Catherine Kontz, was commissioned by Luxembourg’s Ministry of Culture, especially for the OCL’s 50th anniversary. The intriguing four-part piece was structured around a sequence of 50 chords, imagining the four distinct states of solid, liquid, gas and quantum states. It was described as inviting the audience to “reflect on broader transformations”. The Luxembourgish composer, whose works “explore nonlinear form, visual/spatial elements, and musical theatricality”, is also artistic director of the rainy days music at the Philharmonie Luxembourg and professor of composition at the Royal College of Music in London.

The final performance of the evening was Sergei Prokofiev’s four-part Symphony N° 1 (Classical). Carlo Rizzari and the 40 members of the OCL then stood and faced the audience to play Happy Birthday. Those present responded by clapping along and singing the song to the sound of violins, violas, cellos, double basses, flutes, oboes, clarinets, as well as bassoons, horns, trumpets and a trombone and percussion instrument. 

A standing ovation brought the enjoyable evening to a close.

The OCL, founded in 1974, is described as “one of the most active and innovative musical ensembles in the Grand Duchy”. It has performed on all the major stages in Luxembourg, including the Philharmonie, Grand Théâtre, Cercle Cite, as well as regional cultural centres throughout the country and beyond. It supports young award-winning artists each year, has official residency in the International School of Luxembourg (ISL) and offers educational programmes in schools, orchestral musician training and side-by-side projects with the Grand Duchy’s musical clubs. The OCL also awards the prestigious Anne & Francoise Groben prize to emerging young Luxembourg musicians.

(L-R: Erna Hennicot-Schoepges, Honorary President of OCL; Carlo Rizzari, Conductor of OCL; Georges Santer, President of OCL; Luxembourg’s Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume; Eric Thill, Luxembourg’s Minister of Culture; Lydie Polfer, City of Luxembourg Mayor; Pascal Monlong, OCL; Lionel Schmit, OCL)