Swiss conductor Christian Erny has built a reputation for stylis tic versatility, sensitive programming and a dedication to musi cal detail which has come to be appreciated by numerous orchestras and ensembles internationally.

Since 2015, Christian Erny has proudly set high standards as founder and artistic director of the professional choir The Zurich Chamber Singers („A rising star in the international choral scene…“, concerti.de, 2022). His deep knowledge of singing, voice and text as well as his successful background as a concert pianist translate into his work with orchestras, where he is greatly respected for his precise rehearsal techniques and energetic performances.

Christian Erny has developed an eclectic repertoire ranging from Renaissance polyphony to contemporary music, and surprises audiences time and again with ingenious programs in which he combines works from the standard repertoire with new music, thereby bringing familiar pieces to the audience in new ways. He feels particularly close to the era of Viennese Classicism, especially to the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

To date, Erny has premiered works by Burkhard Kinzler (DE), Julian Revie (USA), Rhiannon Randle (GB), Patrick Brennan (GB) and Kevin Hartnett (USA). Among the composers who appreciate his work and entrust him with their compositions for premiere in the next two years are David Philip Hefti (CH), Ola Gjeilo (NO), Paul Mealor (GB) and Alfred Felder (CH). He has worked closely with American composer Caroline Shaw in June 2023, conducting a portrait concert of her works together with the Zurich Chamber Singers and the Musikkollegium Winterthur.

In the upcoming seasons Christian Erny will work with orchestras such as the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, the CHAARTS, the Morphing Chamber Orchestra, the Musikkollegium Winterthur and the Argovia Philharmonic. Extensive tours with the Zurich Chamber Singers will take him to venues such as Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Brucknerhaus Linz, Tonhalle Zürich, Künstlerhaus Boswil and Stiftskirche Stuttgart.

Among the orchestras Erny has conducted are the Biel Solothurn Symphony Orchestra (TOBS), the Mannheim Chamber Orchestra (KKO), the Orchestra of Europe, the baroque orchestras Les Passion de l’Âme and Cardinal Complex, the Junge Philharmonie Zentralschweiz, the Sofia Symphony Orchestra and the Ruse Philharmonic. He made his opera debut at the Lucerne Theater in 2019. In the same year, as part of a conducting forum, he was one of three young conductors selected to work for a week with the Chor des Bayrischen Rundfunks.

After studies in piano, conducting and music theory at the Zurich University of the Arts, the Jacobs School of Music and the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Christian Erny first began a career as a pianist. He made highly acclaimed recordings of Mozart, Schoenberg, Debussy, Liszt and Lourié, for which he was awarded the Gramophone Editor’s Choice and nominated for the German Record Critics‘ Award.

At the International Piano Competition Île de France he received a special prize for the best interpretation of a work by Arnold Schoenberg. Concerts have taken him to many European countries, South America and the USA. He now devotes himself fully to conducting.

In 2019, his hometown of Winterthur awarded him the annual Cultural Promotion Prize for his artistic work to date.