Carl F. Bucherer and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra

Carl F. Bucherer’s new partnership with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra – the internationally acclaimed symphony orchestra of Lucerne Festival – celebrates two creative forces that have a lot in common. Not only do the renowned festival and the Swiss luxury watch brand share a hometown, but also a rich history and the relentless pursuit of excellence. And these world-class organizations pay a remarkable and fitting tribute to their passions with a breathtaking watch and a stunning new composition by Lisa Streich for the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, both of which defy conventions and expectations.

But there’s more: Lucerne Festival and Carl F. Bucherer seamlessly blend tradition and innovation. Both value their independence. Both are passionate about an open and creative exchange with their aficionados at home in Lucerne and abroad. With every nuance of their creativity, they encourage a fascination among their community. And they recognize the commitment to quality and excellence as the highest calling of their daily performance.

Swedish composer Lisa Streich’s composition, intriguingly called “PERIPHERY” is a sonic counterpoint to a watch and its complex mechanics, which will be unveiled during this year’s Watches and Wonders. The musical piece establishes tangible references between specific instruments and some of the individual technical components of this soon-to-be launched watch movement and gives them an audio identity for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. This exciting pairing will be a highlight during the long-awaited digital fair bringing together the Swiss watch industry.

Sascha Moeri, the CEO of Carl F. Bucherer, says that his brand’s partnership with Lucerne Festival and its orchestra is a natural one: “A fine watch and a musical composition are similar in a number of ways. They are both created from many individual components that have to work together perfectly. A conductor makes sure the musicians perform with each other precisely. A watchmaker has to do the same thing with the components of every timepiece.”

Lucerne Festival’s Executive and Artistic Director, Michael Haefliger, agrees: “A fine mechanical watch is a lot like a symphonic piece. They both reflect creative passion and combine art with craftsmanship. And each has the goal of stimulating an emotional response. Sascha and his team do that very well, and, of course, I’m always proud of the impact that the Lucerne Festival Orchestra’s performances have on our audiences, both at home and around the world.”

A Festival Orchestra and a Luxury Watch Brand: Flawlessly Interacting Parts

Consider Carl F. Bucherer: located in the heart of Switzerland, it is at home in the much-loved city of Lucerne. It creates contemporary timepieces whose hundreds of tiny parts interact with each other flawlessly. Without any one of its components, the totality of the watch simply wouldn’t be the same.

Now think about the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. Like Carl F. Bucherer, Lucerne Festival is based in the heart of Switzerland, and, similarly, the festival’s reputation and its orchestra’s renown have spread far beyond the Swiss border to fans in practically every corner of the world, attracting a loyal following throughout Europe and the United States as well as in Japan, South Korea, and China, where it has toured regularly since 2009. Each instrument in the orchestra plays an essential role in every score, and the absence of any would compromise the brilliance of the performance.

Carl F. Bucherer and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra: Bringing the World to Lucerne; and Taking Lucerne out into the World

With every Carl F. Bucherer watch, a little bit of Lucerne is taken out into the world. And the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, which is made up of superb soloists from around the globe, attracts an international audience to Lucerne. With this elegant counterpoint, the watch brand and the orchestra complete each other.

United Through Creativity

It seems almost inevitable that Carl F. Bucherer and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra would celebrate their partnership with two unique creations which will be presented during Watches and Wonders. One is a timepiece of unparalleled complexity. The other is an intriguing composition by Lisa Streich, who was commissioned by the Lucerne Festival Orchestra to write a piece honoring this groundbreaking expression of the fine art of watchmaking. Lisa Streich, born in 1985 in Norra Råda, Sweden, studied composition and organ in Berlin, Stockholm, Salzburg, Paris, and Cologne. She composed the orchestral piece “SEGEL”, which was premiered in 2017 as part of the Summer Festival in Lucerne. Since then, she has been able to position herself internationally as one of the most interesting and exciting composers of our time. In her music, she often deals with mechanical sounds and translates them into poetic and original sonic worlds.

Her composition “PERIPHERY”, along with the horological marvel that inspired it, will be premiered during Watches and Wonders in 2021. Aficionados of fine watches and fans of genre-defying music will be intrigued to discover how the composer has brilliantly interpreted the elements of the watch in her masterpiece.

Carl F. Bucherer and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra are united by a commitment to perfection in performance. They share a hunger to succeed and a mission to take a bit of Lucerne out into the world. The brand’s most complicated watch and the sublime new musical composition it inspired are destined to do exactly that.