Born in Geneva, musician Christophe Sturzenegger has won a number of awards given by advanced conservatories (Horn, Piano, Music Theory, Harmony).
As a HORN PLAYER, he studied under Gregory Cass and Bruno Schneider. Sturzenegger then joined the GUSTAV MAHLER JUGENG ORCHESTER and played with orchestras (Zurich Opera – academy- and the Basel Symphony Orchestra) for four years before deciding to pursue a career as a chamber musician and freelance performer.
He thus rubbed shoulders with some of the greatest conductors (Abbado, Levine, Santi, Marriner, von Dohnanyi, Ashkenazy,…) and appeared as a soloist conducted by Emmanuel Krivine and many others conductors (Kissoczy, Skvortsov, Béran, …)
Sturzenegger won Second Prize in the Concours National d’Exécution Musicale de Riddes (Riddes National Musical Performance Competition) and was a semi-finalist in the Concours International de Trévoux (International Trévoux Competition) (France). He was also awarded a Migros-Göhner Scholarship and won the Kiefer-Hablitzel Award given by the Swiss Musicians’ Association.
He’s member of the Geneva Brass and others chamber music groups, and plays regulary with orchestras in Switzerland.
As a PIANIST, he studied under Elisabeth Athanassova and Marc Pantillon and was encouraged by such leading instructors as Sebok, Badura-Skoda, and Starkmann.
Sturzenegger won several competitions (Friedl Wald, Dénéréaz), in addition to the Neumann and Dumont Awards. As part of the Trio Fortunate, he also received an award at the Whittaker competition.
He has taught piano as a secondary instrument and keyboard harmony at Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève (Geneva School of Advanced Music Studies) since 2003. He performs regularly as a soloist with orchestras, at recitals, and with chamber music ensembles. His records (released by Gallo, Klarthe, Sony) have received excellent reviews (4 Diapasons,
4 FFFF Télérama).
As a COMPOSER, Sturzenegger has been published by Woodbrass Music and has a catalogue of about fifty works, including various commissioned compositions, festivals, Compagnie “Le Rossignol/OSR”, Orchestre de chambre de Genève, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestre de Normandie, ….). Some of his works have been required pieces in international competitions (Lieksa in Finland or Jeju in South Korea)
Sturzenegger has already performed at a number of festivals in Europe, South America, South Africa and Japan (Salzburg, Verbier, Paléo, Istanbul, London, Budapest, Tokyo, and Aix-en-Provence,…) and has made frequent radio appearances (concerts, broadcasts, round tables,…). He has also collaborated on a regular basis with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (Orchestra of French-Speaking Switzerland), the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne (Lausanne Chamber Orchestra), and a number of other Swiss orchestras.
As a CONDUCTOR, he had the opportunity to lead several ensembles in Switzerland, France and Colombia. Note, in particular, 50 performances of the Opera de 4 sous (Brecht-Weill) at the Comédie de Genève, Théâtre de Malakoff-Paris and throughout France. The Igor Stravinsky Foundation hired him to direct a performance of Histoire du Soldat, for the centenary of the play, in September 2018, in the presence of Charles Dutoit. In 2022, he conducted the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, for many concerts.