Between 11 a.m. and 10 p.m. 24 symphony orchestras, chamber orchestras and youth orchestras will perform in the Culture and Congress Center KuK, in the city church and at various surprise locations in the city. Thanks to several concert venues centrally located in the city, the concerts can be attended spontaneously and selected according to personal taste. All concerts are open to the public and entrance is free. A banquet and stands of the EOV and its partners – among others of subito mf – at the KuK as well as the art project ” Sound into the Image” complete the festival offer.

The fact that the EOV is allowed to celebrate its 100th anniversary this year is due to 27 delegates from 19 orchestral associations, who met on April 21, 1918 in the Guild House for carpenters on Rathausquai in Zurich to found the Swiss Orchestral Association. It was the last year of the First World War: many of the 192 invited “sections” – as the individual orchestras were called at the time – were unable to attend the founding meeting due to the difficult times. Even after 1945, the effects of the two World Wars hampered the development of the young association. In the second half of the 20th century, it finally became easier to recruit new members and secure the association’s financing. In 1964 the EOV was one of the founding members of the Swiss Music Council.
Today the EOV unites about 200 Swiss amateur and youth orchestras. The association’s core services include an extensive music library, simplified and discounted invoicing with the copyright company SUISA, regular further training courses and special musical events, as well as legal and organisational advice. The EOV also supports various initiatives for the targeted promotion of youth orchestras and is thus committed to promoting young musicians. For example, the EOV was co-initiator of the Youth+Music program.