The roots of the International Chamber Orchestra CAMERATA PANNONICA (CAMPAN) whose name
is derived from the Austro-Hungarian border region Pannonia - go back to the international
association of Amateur Chamber Music Players (ACMP), which was founded more than 50 years
back. Presently, the members of the orchestra come from all over the world: Europe, USA,
Canada, Israel, South America, Japan, New Zealand etc. All of them have had professional
training on their instrument but don't make their living by it.
24 years ago,Martin Donner, orthopedic surgeon and passionate flutist in Vienna,had the idea
of forming an international chamber orchestra out of the about 7000 members out of the ACMP pool.
Between 1993-2003, CAMPAN played its yearly concerts in the Hungarian Eszterházy Castle in Fertöd;
between 2004 and 2006 we played in the lovely castle of Köszeg (see below) and since 2007, our
concerts take place in the new-built Franz Liszt-Concert Center in Raiding (Liszt's birth village,
204 years ago) in Burgenland (the easternmost province of Austria), with wonderful architectonic and -
above all -acoustical qualities. The musicians have their rooms, rehearse in the orchestra
and play chamber music (which is also very important to many of them) in an International
Gymnasium, not used as such during the summer, in Köszeg/Güns, a charming small medieval town on the
former Austro-Hungarian border, about 1 hr south of Vienna.
The concert programs are chosen from the entire orchestral literature with restrictions due
to the degree of difficulty and the amount of musicians required by the individual piece -
CAMPAN usually consists of approximately 55-60 players. Nevertheless we manage to find an
interesting mixture of classical, romantic and 20th century music every year, appealing to
the players as well as to the public.
Extremely positive is the cooperation with the Viennese conductor Nicolas Radulescu who knows
exactly how much performance quality he may demand from a non-professional orchestra on a high
musical level, thereby motivating the musicians to an extent that results in enthusiastic
acceptance, which again is spreading into the audience, strongly being felt by the public -
a musical-emotional interaction !
The Liszt Center in Raiding was founded by the Liszt society in Burgenland, and inaugurated in October 2006. The concert hall is an outstanding example of modern architecture and marvelous acoustical characteristics. Every concert performed in this hall becomes a great musical event.