Schools
Do you want to experience music with your class? We’ll be pleased to give school classes of different levels insights into the everyday life of the Orchestra. With our offers, we would like to
- raise awareness of classical music
- familiarise them with music and reduce any associated anxieties
- give all social classes access to music
- explain to children and young people the world of a symphony orchestra
- create unforgettable moments
We offer exciting and thrilling experiences with members of the orchestra: Visits to rehearsals and concerts, discussions with musicians at school, guided tours of the Tonhalle and various workshops.
In the 2023/24 season, we welcomed a total of 5550 pupils to our programmes.
All offers are organised in collaboration with the City of Zurich's Department of School Culture and the Canton of Zurich's Department of Education. You can find the current programme announcements on the city intranet and on the website School Culture website, where you can register your class directly.
Interested teachers from private institutions or schools outside the canton should contact Yvonne Gisler directly.
News
Impressions of the school project "Mittendrin" can be found in the picture gallery below. Further news and reviews of our school projects can be found here.
Offers for primary schools
Twice a year we run the school project «Mittendrin» for primary school classes, offer rehearsal visits or a whole day behind the scenes of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich at the National Future Day. Register in good time, places are limited!
School project «Mittendrin»
The children spend the morning and afternoon in the Tonhalle and get to know the orchestra members. At the final concert on the second day, they sing well-known songs accompanied by the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. The participating pupils prepare intensively for this. They attend a conducting workshop, a singing workshop and familiarise themselves intensively with the various instruments.
The final concert takes place in the Grosse Tonhalle and is open to the public (free admission).
National Future Day
On Future Day, children get an insight into the working life of adults – including at the Tonhalle- Orchester Zürich. The Tonhalle-Gesellschaft Zürich invites curious children from the 5th primary school onwards to get a taste of orchestral life. We show how many professions there are in and around the orchestra – and that these are open to all people from all backgrounds.
The children attend the dress rehearsal of the "Mittendrin" school project, go on a treasure hunt through the Tonhalle and learn how to conduct. The Future Day broadens their horizons in an exciting and enjoyable way, boosts their self-confidence and gives them courage for their own future.
For children from 5th primary
Registration exclusively at nationalerzukunftstag.ch
In cooperation with Nationaler Zukunftstag
Work samples
We give two primary school classes an insight into a rehearsal of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich at the Tonhalle. Beforehand, an orchestra member visits your class at school.
School concerts
We also offer two selected family concerts for schools in the city and canton of Zurich.
Around 2300 schoolchildren can also experience our concerts specially designed for children.
School Concert: The Great Penguin and Banana Show
School Concert: The Great Penguin and Banana Show
School concert: Conference of the Animals
School concert: The villains on their way to Umbidu
Offers for senior classes
We will be pleased to give senior classes a look behind the scenes of the Tonhalle. Or we bring music to them at school.
Guided tour and dress rehearsal – a peek behind the scenes
Let us take you and your class through the Tonhalle and its backstage facilities. We will tell you how much and what is precisely required to guarantee the smooth running of a concert hall. You will gain insight into various fields of work and the very special world of an orchestra, in which all are responsible for ensuring that, evening after evening, music that touches people can be made.
Following the tour, you and your class will attend the first half of a dress rehearsal. Experience classical music up close with your students.
Musicians’ discussion and rehearsal or concert – experience musicians
A musician from the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich will tell your class about everyday working life in the ensemble. Why does one become a musician? How much does one have to practise? Are professional musicians nervous before concerts? There will be personal and humorous answers to these and any other questions that your students may ask.
After the discussion, you and your class will attend a rehearsal or a concert. Here, your students will experience what they have previously heard and been explained with all their senses.
Concert – Contact with classical music
Many young people may have high inhibitions about attending a classical concert. But if you enjoy a concert evening together with the whole class, this view can change. Give your pupils the chance to experience classical music live.
Upper school classes from the city or canton of Zurich can order tickets for selected concerts.
«Step in!» for secondary classes
The secondary classes are prepared in several steps for a concert visit of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich. The various events take place alternately in the classroom and in the Tonhalle.
- Class visit by a member of the orchestra in the classroom
- Tour of the Tonhalle
- Introduction to the concert programme by a musicologist
- Conducting workshop
- Concert visit
