Founded in 1942 by Victor Desarzens, the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne (OCL) is today one of the most sought-after chamber orchestras in Europe. After six years under the artistic direction of the American conductor Joshua Weilerstein, the OCL is now led by the renowned French violinist Renaud Capuçon. The orchestra of around 40 musicians has a vast repertoire, from the earliest baroque to contemporary premieres. Since the 2024-2025 season, Barbara Hannigan is the orchestra’s principal guest conductor.

The OCL very quickly became a presence in the most prestigious festivals and concert halls. It has participated in the Festival of Aix-en-Provence since the second festival and has been a regular guest at the Enescu Festival in Bucharest. Its tours in Germany and the USA have met with tremendous success, as have its concerts at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, at the BBC Proms in London, the Konzerthaus in Vienna or the Berlin Philharmonie. During season 2024-2025, the OCL and Renaud Capuçon will tour to South Korea, France, Denmark and Germany.

All through its history, the OCL has performed with top level soloists such as Clara Haskil, Alfred Cortot, Walter Gieseking, Edwin Fischer, Murray Perahia, Radu Lupu, Marta Argerich, Nikolai Lugansky, Daniel Barenboim, Arthur Grumiaux, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Paul Tortelier, Truls Mørk, Jean-Pierre Rampal or Emmanuel Pahud. The OCL has also been able to attract the most interesting conductors of their times, such as Paul Hindemith, Günter Wand, Christoph Eschenbach, Ton Koopman, Jeffrey Tate, Bertrand de Billy, Simone Young or Daniel Harding.

L’OCL has a significant discography: from the complete operas of Haydn in the 1970s and 80s under Antal Dorati to the concertos of Beethoven and Mozart with Christian Zacharias, not to mention recordings dedicated to Schoenberg and Webern (with Heinz Holliger) and to Spohr and Weber (with Paul Meyer). The first two recordings with Renaud Capuçon were released by Warner Classic (Arvo Pärt in 2021 and Vivaldi/Chevalier de Saint-George in 2022). A recording of the complete Mozart violin concertos was released in September 2023 by Deutsche Grammophon (DG), Renaud Capuçon’s new recording partner. A new disc dedicated to Fauré was released in June 2024 with DG. Other recent OCL releases include a live recording of Mozart’s Requiem with John Nelson, and a disc devoted to American and English music with Joshua Weilerstein.

The quality of the OCL is of course connected to prestigious guest soloists and conductors, but it is above all due to an identity forged through the years by a small number of artistic directors. The founder Victor Desarzens (1942-1973) was followed by Armin Jordan (1973-1985), then Lawrence Foster (1985-1990), Jesús López Cobos (1990-2000) and Christian Zacharias (2000-2013). From 2015 to 2020, Joshua Weilerstein continued the work of his predecessors while at the same time positioning the OCL for the 21st century with bold programming and imaginative use of new media. In autumn 2021, Renaud Capuçon became the orchestra’s artistic director. The tremendous musical experience of the renowned French violinist and conductor, as well as his dynamism and his artistic profile have allowed the orchestra to further consolidate its international reputation, resulting in prestigious invitations across Europe as well as collaborations with renowned conductors and soloists such as Daniel Harding, Yo-Yo Ma, Maria João Pires and Martha Argerich.