What a Sold-Out Concert in a 700-Year-Old Church Tells Promoters About USO's Draw

On 18 April 2026, United Soloists Orchestra sold out Chiesa San Francesco, a centuries-old church in Locarno, Switzerland, with none of a concert hall's acoustics, rigging or backstage. The next day, Corriere del Ticino's review placed USO's sound in the lineage of MFSB, Salsoul, Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra, Bert Kämpfert and James Last.

What Happened, Exactly, at Chiesa San Francesco?

On Saturday 18 April 2026, United Soloists Orchestra played its Symphonic Greatest Hits program inside Chiesa San Francesco in Locarno — a roughly 750-seat, centuries-old church normally reserved, at symphonic level, for Ascona's Settimane Musicali. The show sold out, closing a season Corriere del Ticino called “almost triumphant,” with a set spanning Tchaikovsky to Hans Zimmer to ABBA.

It was a genre-spanning ninety minutes with an interval: excerpts of Richard Strauss's Also sprach Zarathustra and Tchaikovsky's Waltz of the Flowers sat next to film themes from Inception (Hans Zimmer), Cinema Paradiso (Ennio Morricone) and La La Land, and pop-rock staples from The Beatles, the Eagles, The Verve and ABBA — the recognisable, genre-spanning span USO builds this show around.

• Venue: Chiesa San Francesco, Piazza S. Francesco, Locarno — roughly 750 seats
• Date: Saturday 18 April 2026, evening show
• Program: Symphonic Greatest Hits — classical excerpts, film themes and pop-rock, arranged for orchestra
• Result: sold out, with tickets originally priced CHF 20–45

What Did the Press Actually Say About the Show?

The morning after, Corriere del Ticino critic Mauro Rossi reviewed the concert as “il piacere della leggerezza” — the pleasure of lightness. He placed USO's sound alongside MFSB, the Salsoul Orchestra, Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra, Bert Kämpfert and James Last, noting the orchestra had deliberately left its more danceable tracks at home for this room.

“…in ossequio al luogo che la ospitava, la USO ha lasciato a casa i brani più «tirati» danzerecci del suo repertorio, allestendo una scaletta più pacata…” — Mauro Rossi, Corriere del Ticino, 19 April 2026
(translation: “…out of respect for the venue hosting it, USO left home the more upbeat, danceable tracks of its repertoire, putting together a calmer set list…”)

Rossi also described the room's response: after ninety minutes of “leggiadra, solare e disimpegnata” music — light, sunny, unpretentious — the crowd got two encores, and the calm tone of the opening gave way, in his words, to “un'atmosfera di festa”: a festive atmosphere. That's a real, dated, third-party account of a room reacting to the room it was in, not a marketing line.

What Does a Venue Like This Demand From a Touring Orchestra?

A 700-year-old church gives an orchestra atmosphere, not infrastructure — no concert-hall acoustic treatment and no house rig built for a symphony orchestra. Making a night like Locarno work means two things: choosing a program the space can actually hold, and carrying enough of your own equipment that the church doesn't have to become something it isn't.

Why Churches Get a Different Program

USO plays in churches often — “they're beautiful and have an incredible atmosphere,” as founder and conductor Arseniy Shkaptsov puts it — but almost always with an acoustic-leaning, classical- and film-music-forward set rather than the full disco book. Locarno's calmer Symphonic Greatest Hits program, and the CdT review documenting it, are a direct example of that routine choice, not a one-off compromise.

It isn't a fixed rule, though. USO has once brought a Coldplay and Symphonic Alternative Rock program into a church, and the stone acoustics forced a real, on-the-day adaptation: the sound engineer had to move the PA to different positions in the room and dial in extra delay to keep the mix intelligible against the reverberation. Every unconventional room gets read on its own terms.

Why USO Brings Its Own Gear

USO tours self-equipped: its own stage console and a complete in-ear-monitor system travel with the orchestra, along with its own microphones for the violin section on every show. For rooms under 1,000 seats — San Francesco's roughly 750 among them — USO also brings its own wired vocal microphones, rather than relying on whatever the venue happens to own. The full breakdown of what that includes, and why it keeps a promoter's rental bill down, is in USO's technical and hospitality rider explainer.

What Does This Mean If You're Booking an Orchestra for an Unconventional Venue?

If your venue isn't a concert hall — a cinema, a castle, a piazza, or the back of a truck — that isn't a reason to rule out a symphonic show. USO has played all of those, adapts its program and gear to the room, and has now proven, with one dated, reviewed, sold-out night, that the audience follows.

• Churches — a regular booking, almost always with a calmer, classical/film-forward set
• Cinema theatres — full productions staged inside a screening hall
• Castles — courtyards and historic halls with no fixed rig
• Train stations — platforms and concourses used as a stage
• Flatbed trucks and pickups — a mobile stage for outdoor and street settings

For more of the same kind of evidence, see how USO filled halls of 500 to 3,000 seats on its 14-concert China tour, or how a single season-opening invitation turned into a recurring collaboration with Stefano Bollani. The full touring record and press dossier sit on USO's promoter hub, alongside the photo gallery and official documents on /for-promoters.

Here's a look at USO adapting on tour:

And from the Locarno night itself, there's a short clip on Instagram.

Bring us your floor plan. Talk to Arseniy Shkaptsov about your venue — whether you're booking an orchestra for a church, a concert hall or something stranger — email ars@uso.swiss or use the enquiry form on /for-promoters, and he'll tell you honestly what's possible in your room.

FAQ

Does USO only play concert halls?

No. Alongside concert halls, USO regularly plays churches, and has performed in cinema theatres, castles, at train stations and even from the back of a truck. Chiesa San Francesco in Locarno is one dated, reviewed example of a non-standard room selling out.

What if our venue has no rigging or acoustic treatment?

USO tours self-equipped — its own stage console, a full in-ear-monitor system and its own microphones for the violins travel with the orchestra, plus its own wired vocal mics for rooms under 1,000 seats. The program is also adapted to the room: churches typically get a calmer, classical- and film-forward set, and the sound engineer repositions the PA and adjusts delay where stone acoustics demand it.

How much lead time do you need for an unusual venue?

A realistic minimum is one month, to leave time to align the technical rider with your space and, if needed, adapt the program to the room.

Will you adapt the setlist to fit our room?

Yes — this is routine, not exceptional. For Locarno, USO deliberately left its more danceable tracks at home in favour of a calmer set; Corriere del Ticino's review documents that choice directly.

Can we see photos or video from the show?

Yes. USO's after-concert photos from Locarno sit alongside this article, its touring reel is embedded above, and a short clip from the night itself is on Instagram. USO's full photo archive and press dossier are on /for-promoters.

About the author: Arseniy Shkaptsov is the founder, Music Director, conductor and arranger of United Soloists Orchestra. Trained at the Central Music School in Moscow, the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano and the Zurich University of the Arts, he was mentored by Paavo and Neeme Järvi, Daniele Gatti and Vladimir Fedoseev, and has collaborated with musicians including Kurt Masur, Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Marta Argerich, Stefano Bollani and Gidon Kremer.