The HEM Orchestra is made up of students from the HEM. It works in partnership with famous professional ensembles in the Lake Geneva region and is supported by renowned conductors. International tours are organised each year as part of music projects.

In 2009 the orchestra travelled to China for a concert tour conducted by Antoine Marguier, and in February 2010 it gave three performances of Frank Martin’s ballet Le Conte de Cendrillon at the Budapest Palace of Arts, conducted by Gábor Takács-Nagy.

In October 2013 the HEM Orchestra toured Japan in partnership with the Tokyo University of the Arts. Then, in July 2015, in association with the HEM of Lausanne and the Conservatory of Singapore, it played on the big scene of the Paléo Festival Nyon and the Esplanade of Singapore under Thierry Fischer's baguette with the young pianist miracle Louis Schwizgebel. It also takes part in regional events and in seasonal academies with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the Ensemble Contrechamps.

The HEM Orchestra regularly performs works by composers of our time. They work closely with the students, either leading them or attending rehearsals (Holliger, Kurtág, Dutilleux, Lindberg, Dusapin, Rihm, Lachenmann, Zender, etc.).

The students are conducted by renowned conductors, including Leonardo García Alarcón, Nicolas Chalvin, Jesus Lopez Cobos, Yuri Simonov, Pierre-André Valade and Domingo Garcia Hindoyan. The 2017-2018 season saw the personalities of Nader Abbassi, Kanako Abe, Boris Böhmann, Erik Nielsen, Franco Petracchi, Nathalie Stutzmann and Guillaume Tourniaire, conducting the HEM Orchestra. In 2018-2019, the Haute école de musique de Genève will welcome Pierre Bleuse, Nicolas Farine, Laurent Gay, Yann Kerninon, Julien Leroy, Pierre-Antoine Marçais, Julien Salemkour and Gabor Takàcs-Nagy.

In 2009 a CD conducted by Gábor Takács-Nagy, with the violist Nobuko Imai, was recorded and produced by Pan Classic, and was hailed by international critics. In 2012 the orchestra recorded Frank Martin’s ballet Le Conte de Cendrillon, conducted by Gábor Takács-Nagy. Issued in January 2013, the recording has since received five Diapason Awards.