Born: May 22, 1914 - La Tour de Peilz, Canton of Vaud, Switzerland
Died: June 30, 2000 - Area of Geneva, Switzerland

The Swiss conductor, Pièrre Colombo, had started his musical studies at the Institute Ribaupierre before continuing at the Conservatoire de of Basle with Hermann Scherchen and H. Münch in their class of orchestra conducting.

Pièrre Colombo was conductor of the Choeur Bach de Lausanne since 1947, and was once called by Ernest Ansermet in order to assist him with L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. Three years later he founded the Orchestre de Chambre de Genève. It is at that time that he became also director of the programs in the Radio Suisse Romande and was even invited to conduct in South Africa the Municipal Orchestra of Johannesburg. His fame as a conductor brought him an important European career and led him to conduct in Germany, Belgium and France, as well as Yugoslavia and Portugal. He was particularly distinguished in the interpretation of modern composers. Later he was also president of Tribune Internationale des Compositeurs (UNESCO).

Source: Musica et Memoria Website, English translation by Aryeh Oron (December 2006)
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (December 2006)

Pièree Colombo: Short Biography | Recordings

Links to other Sites

Obituaires de janvier à juillet 2000 (Musica et Memoria) [French]