Born in 1950 in Lucerne, Switzerland, Alfred Felder studied violoncello and composition at the Lucerne Conservatory. After receiving his teacher's diploma with distinction for violoncello he went on to gain his soloist's diploma from the Mozarteum University of Salzburg, Austria.
From 1977 until 1983 he was a member of Festival Strings Lucerne. In addition to being solo ‘cellist of various chamber orchestras, Alfred Felder has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in most European countries, as well as Canada, India, China, and Japan.
As a composer, Mr. Felder has received numerous commissions for works from for example; the city of Zurich, the Tonhalle Gesellschaft Zurich, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Festival Strings Lucerne, the Zurich Chamber Soloists, the Swiss Philharmonic Orchestra and the Forum for New Music, Theater am Gleis, to name but a few. His orchestral works have been performed at various festivals including in Tokyo at the Osaka Festival, in South Africa, in the USA, in Russia and at the IMF Lucerne.
Âtesh (Persian for fire), for choir, soprano, bariton and large orchestra was performed in two concerts in 2007 in Zurich to rave reviews. The concerts were under the joint patronage of the Swiss and Turkish national commission for UNESCO. In october 2011 âtesh has been played in the Berlin Philharmonie as a first performance in Germany. 3 choirs (Berliner Konzertchor, Konzertchor Harmonie and G.F. Händel Childrens choir)
Mr. Felder has written for many different chamber music groups from duo to octett as well as concertos for violin and orchestra, ‘cello and orchestra, and double concerto (violin,‘cello and orchestra), performances of which have taken place in several European countries.
“...pasar por la calle...” for string orchestra has been performed by many orchestras, for example SONYC (string orchestra of New York City), Festival Strings, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Les Solistes de Genève etc.
Alfred Felder composed the compulsory pieces for the International Shlomo Mintz Violin competition (2006 Capriccio and 2007 Variations for Violin Solo).
As a commission from the Brandenburgischen Staatsorchester Frankfurt Alfred Felder is working on a composition for large orchestra, that will be premiered in the fall 2014.
Several CDs of his work have been published by VdE Gallo, swiss pan, Centaur Records and roccosound. Alfred Felder's works are published by the Swiss Music Edition SME, Breitkopf & Härtel, Kano-Verlag, and Gilgenreiner-Verlag. All his manuscripts have been donated to Zurich's Central Library.
