Conductor Israel Yinon dies after collapsing onstage

Students mourn loss of 'big-hearted friend'

Israel Yinon who collapsed in the middle of a performance and died on Thursday

Celebrated conductor Israel Yinon collapsed during a performance at a Swiss music festival and died despite attempts to revive him by an audience-member.

The Israeli was conducting a piece by Richard Strauss on Thursday night when he was suddenly taken ill and passed away in the ambulance on the way to hospital.

According to Marc Reinhardt, a spokesman for the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts whose students were performing, an audience-member tried to save Yinon before healthcare professionals arrived.

It is not known what caused the 59-year-old conductor to collapse.

A statement from students of the Jungen Philharmonie Zentralschweiz said they had lost "not only a highly regarded musical colleague and sensitive educator, but a big-hearted friend."