The philarmonic Lyre de Chêne-Bougeries was founded in 1897 by Mr. François Valenti, who was its first director.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the repertoire consisted mainly of marches and pieces for percussion. It was not until the 1980s that the repertoire extended to classical music, rock and jazz, but also to arrangements of film music.

Today, the group has nearly 40 musicians, who, despite the differences between generations, enjoy coming every week to play together and share moments of friendship during rehearsal.

In addition to its two traditional concerts (Advent and Spring), the Lyre is regularly called by the town halls of Chênois for various services, namely school feasts, Chênois award of merit, « Vows » aperitif.
One of the peculiarities of the Lyre is the average age of the association, which ranges between 20 and 30 years. Young musicians are also present thanks to the music school which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2007.

Now, let’s look behind the Lyre, and take a closer look at its last 20 years : in June 2001 the Lyre took part in its first federal competition, which took place in Friborg. Under the dynamic direction of Bernard Metrailler, the association obtained a well deserved 12th place out of 86 associations.

Since 2001, the association participated to several federal holidays and had also toured Italy during several organized trips.

Today, under the direction of Maestro Francesco Grassini and President Frédéric Gueniat, the philarmonic Lyre de Chêne-Bougeries continues its journey with the purpose of continuing the progress of the orchestra.

 

 

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