Raquel 
Lechner 

Raquel Lechner, born and raised in Switzerland in 2009, is an internationally performing soloist, chamber musician and percussionist.

She made her debut as a soloist with an orchestra at the age of ten with the Rüti Zurich Children's Orchestra.

Since then, she has performed at international festivals and events, including AllegroVivo with Rotary International in Zwettl (2024 and 2025), at the opening concert of the Clarimondo Festival (2025), and at the International Summer Academy (ISA) (2026). At the Herbst in der Helferei Festival in Zurich, she performed the solo clarinet part in Saint-Saëns’ The Carnival of the Animals, alongside members of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich.

As a chamber musician, she won first prize at the Eastern Switzerland Youth Music Competition with the Trio Meraly (flute, clarinet and bassoon), as well as first prize at Prima la Musica in 2026 with the Reedlines Clarinet Quartet.

Raquel gained orchestral experience as principal clarinetist with the MGW Orchestra, including a performance at the Musikverein in Vienna, as well as with the chamber orchestra of Forum Musikae Escuela Superior de Música in Madrid.

For her, music is a special language  full of emotions.

She began playing the clarinet at the age of six with Francine Brunner (Zürcher Oberland Music School) and Letizia Zoppis. Since 2024, she had been pursuing a pre-college programme at the mdw in Vienna (University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna) with Professor Christoph Moser. Since 2026, she has been studying for her Bachelor's degree at Forum Musikae Escuela Superior de Música in Madrid with Professors Nicolas Baldeyrou while completing her school education at Academia Matura Zürich.

As a prizewinner of numerous competitions, she won first prize with distinction (25 out of 25 points) at the Swiss Youth Music Competition (SJMW) in 2026, including a performance at the prizewinners’ concert recorded by SRF. She had already reached the SJMW finals in 2022 and 2024, winning first prize on both occasions and receiving the special prize of the Ruth and Ernst Burkhalter Foundation in 2024. She is also supported by the Fritz Gerber Foundation.

Outside music, she is passionate about mountain sports and ballet.