Jürg Dähler, born in Zurich, studied the violin with Hedwig Maey, Sándor Végh and Heribert Lauer, and the viola with Christoph Schiller and Fjodor Drushinin. He went on to study with Pinchas Zukerman and Kim Kashkashian. Following his debut at the Tonhalle in Zurich with the world premiere of Daniel Schnyder’s viola concerto, dedicated to him, he has appeared as a guest with many renowned orchestras under conductors such as Giorgio Bernasconi, Douglas Boyd, Emond de Stoutz, Friedrich Cerha, Thierry Fischer, Beat Furrer, Reinhard Goebel, Heinz Holliger, Brenton Langbein, Petri Sakari, Stefan Sanderling, Heinrich Schiff, Jac van Steen, Marcello Viotti and Thomas Zehetmair. Concert tours as a soloist and much sought-after chamber musician have taken him to Australia, the USA and throughout Europe, with performances at venues including Wigmore Hall in London, the Salzburg Festival and the Vienna Festival, the City of London Festival, the Lucerne Festival, the Venice Biennale and the Montreux Jazz Festival. From 1984 to 2000, he was a member and first violist of the legendary Kammermusiker Zürich. In 1993, he was one of the co-founders of the Collegium Novum Zürich. From 1995 to 2008, he served as artistic director of the Kultur Herbst Bündner Herrschaft festival. Since 1993, he has served as principal violist with the Musikkollegium Winterthur orchestra and is a member of the Winterthur String Quartet. Since 1999, as a co-founder, he has been part of the artistic direction of the Swiss Chamber Concerts and, in the same capacity, has directed the Pfingstfestival Schloss Brunegg since 2015.
Around 30 CD recordings on labels such as ECM, NEOS, Accord, Cantando, Claves, Genuin, Grammont, Jecklin and Naxos bear witness to his wide-ranging work spanning early music, classical, contemporary and jazz. He has premiered countless solo and chamber music works, many of which are dedicated to him. In doing so, he has collaborated with composers such as Harrison Birtwistle, William Blank, Ursina Maria Braun, Charles Bodman-Rae, Friedrich Cerha, Wilfried Maria Danner, Xavier Dayer, Fjodor Drushinin, Richard Dubugnon, Pascal Dusapin, Alfred Felder, Beat Furrer, Eric Gaudibert, Stefano Gervasoni, Hermann Haller, David Philipp Hefti, Hans Werner Henze, Heinz Holliger, Christian Jost, Mischa Käser, Rudolf Kelterborn, Gerd Kür, Hans Ulrich Lehmann, György Ligeti, Roland Moser, Arvo Pärt, John Polglase, Philippe Racine, Daniel Schnyder, Nadir Vassena, Jürg Wyttenbach and Alfred Zimmerlin. He teaches violin, viola and chamber music at Kalaidos University Zurich and gives masterclasses at many renowned institutions such as the Conservatorio di Musica Arrigo Boito di Parma, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the National Academy of Music in Melbourne. In 2007, he was awarded the Executive Master of Arts Administration (EMAA) with summa cum laude from the Faculty of Arts and Economics at the University of Zurich. In 2008, he was awarded the Zollikon Culture Prize for his artistic work and his services to the Swiss cultural scene. He plays a violin by Antonio Stradivari, Cremona 1714, and a viola by Raffaele Fiorini, Bologna 1893.
