Cham-Hünenberg Orchestra off to a good start

The outdoor performance of the Cham-Hünenberg Orchestra on Saturday was a complete success. And thereby a successful prelude after the long period without rehearsals or concerts.

Dark thunderclouds and occasional gusts of wind accompanied the members of the Ennetsee Orchestra Cham-Hünenberg at their concert on Rigiplatz in Cham on Saturday. In a sense, it was a setting that suited the programme, because, unlike the usual concerts with classical music in an indoor environment, pop songs and film music were performed outdoors on Saturday afternoon.

The 36 men and women on the string instruments were supported by an electric bassist and a drummer. The prgramme consisted of eight arranged compositions, from "The Pacific", through "Rolling In The Deep" to the highlights of "The Greatest Showman", a selection that enabled the orchestra, under the direction of Samuel Nyffeler, to achieve a wide range of musical expression. Well-known films and their music, such as the series "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End", were quickly recognised by the audience. As a result, they willingly engaged in the musical journey, and thanked the orchestra with a long applause and shouts of bravo. The musicians, for their part, thanked them with two encores.

The conditions were difficult
This kind of music is a direct experience for the listener, said concert master Salome Hagenbüchle during an interview after the concert. And even as a professional violinist, she finds herself infected by this groove, just like her colleagues – the majority of whom are amateur musicians. The rehearsal period for the Rigiplatz concert was short, she added. Because of the restrictions on the people in the rehearsal room, only half of the strings could rehearse at the same time, which did not exactly simplify the interaction.

There was open-air music to be heard In Chamon Saturday
Photo: Pascal Schönenberger

In addition to the numerous listeners in the seated area, there were also a number of onlookers who followed the one-hour concert standing, including some families with their children. It was wonderful to see how the little ones sat down on the ground to listen to the music, or moved with the beat while standing. Something like that would be a bit more difficult in a concert hall.

"The time of uncertainty is now hopefully over," said Michèle Willimann, President of the association, in her welcoming address. She was all the more pleased that this concert, which had had to be postponed due to the weather, could finally take place outdoors in front of the orchestra's rehearsal room. The Cham-Hünenberg Orchestra wanted to celebrate its 125th anniversary last year, and performances of the major project, to be known as "Flashback", were planned for the end of October 2020. This was intended to present "meaningful images from Zug's history that would be staged musically". After the project had to be postponed twice due to corona, it will now be performed in the spring of 2023.

Concert lovers will not have to wait that long for the next performance, however. On November 28 of this year the next concert will take place in the parish church Hünenberg at 5 p.m., with classical compositions on the programme.