The Orchestre des Pays de Savoie (France) and the Orchestre de Chambre de Genève (Switzerland) have created a joint project, the Orchestre des Alpes et du Lac Léman, which brings together more than 60 musicians around a common ambition: to expand the repertoire, enhance the visibility of orchestral music, and develop artistic and educational projects on a cross-border scale.

Supported by two ensembles rooted in their respective territories – the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and the canton of Geneva – this new orchestra pools its resources to meet current performance expectations. It explores new formats, combines different styles and reaches out to a variety of audiences.

The OAL is a project supported by the France-Switzerland ERDF program, the Ministry of Culture, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, the Republic and Canton of Geneva, and the Swiss Confederation.

Beyond this, the two core orchestras continue their own activities.

The Orchestre des Pays de Savoie is a professional chamber orchestra composed of 23 permanent musicians (19 strings, 2 oboes, 2 horns). Created in 1984 at the instigation of the Departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie, the Rhône-Alpes Region and the Ministry of Culture, the Orchestre des Pays de Savoie has had Patrice Fontanarosa, Tibor Varga, Mark Foster, Graziella Contratto, Nicolas Chalvin, and Pieter-Jelle de Boer as its musical directors. Since September 2025 Arie van Beek is Music Director. This same van Beek was Music Director of the Geneva Orchestra from 2013-2014.

The Geneva Chamber Orchestra is a Mannheim-style orchestra founded in 1958 under the name Collgium Academicum. Raphaël Merlin has been its musical and artistic director since 2023.

The Orchestre des Alpes et du Lac Léman has no connection with the Orchestre Symphonique des Alpes, which brings together amateur musicians from Haute-Savoie and the surrounding area.