Vienna Sets the Tone
The Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna Boys' Choir set the international tone, while the State Opera House and the Golden Hall at the Musikverein are among the world’s leading venues. Traditional strengths endure to this day – the electronic sound pioneered by local musicians and leading DJs enjoys worldwide popularity. Vienna is the world capital of music: The New Year's Concert by the Wiener Philharmoniker thrills millions of TV viewers in over 90 countries each year. The Vienna Boys' Choir, which has its own concert hall called "MuTh" in the Augarten, celebrates its success on every continent. And the Wiener Symphoniker causes a sensation. Vienna has two world class concert halls, the Musikverein and the Konzerthaus. The city is also the ideal setting for a high-caliber range of festivals covering everything from ancient music at Resonanzen or contemporary compositions at Wien Modern. The Vienna Festival, the Vienna Jazz Festival and the Summer Nights concert by the Vienna Philharmonic are among the other program highlights. The stars of tomorrow can be seen at 1,300 events of the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna – one of the best music universities in the world.
The world-famous Vienna State Opera offers performances 300 nights a year and a different billing virtually every day. The Theater an der Wien has established a name for itself as “the other” venue for opera and is noted for premieres ranging from baroque to contemporary. The Volksoper presents classic operas, lively operettas and countless musicals in German. Fans of musicals also entertain themselves at the Ronacher with "Cats”, followed from October by "Der Glöckner von Notre Dame" (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), and at the Raimund Theater, where "Miss Saigon" gives way to "Rebecca" in September. In the summertime, enjoyment is celebrated every evening with free music films and a diverse culinary offering on City Hall Square.
Numerous music festivals are dedicated to specific genres just waiting to be discovered: The Accordion Festival presents the amazing diversity of the instrument, Vienna Blues Spring sets powerful impulses, the Africa Days present world music, and Wien im Rosenstolz the Wienerlied. The KlezMore Festival is all about Jewish klezmer music, the Vienna Jazzfloor invites visitors to 120 concerts in eleven of the city’s clubs, while Voice Mania is totally committed to a-cappella music.
Such creative musical surroundings make Vienna a hotbed for contemporary musicians. Clubs such as Fluc, Pratersauna and Grelle Forelle play the electronic sound of local musicians such as Ogris Debris and HVOB, who also cause a sensation around the world. The musical styles are more diverse than ever. With Bilderbuch, Wanda and Co., a new generation of German-language pop has become established.
The pop festival brings the newest trends in Austrian music to the stage on Karlsplatz. The soundtrack for the Gürtel Nightwalk is laid down by bands at the vanguard of the indie and electronic scene. The Danube Island Festival, Europe’s largest open-air festival with free admission, pulls in well over two million visitors each year – pandemics excepted – with acts from a host of genres on the billing. Vienna's club festival Waves Vienna presents over 100 live acts between Alternative, Electronic and Rock on three days.
Facts and figures “Music”
- Vienna State Opera: a different program on 300 evenings every year (Source: www.wiener-staatsoper.at)
- New Year's Concert by the Vienna Philharmonic: millions of TV viewers in 90 countries (Source: www.wienerphilharmoniker.at)
- Vienna Boys' Choir: oldest boy group in the world (since 1498), UNESCO World Cultural Heritage since 2017. Each lad performs 80 times a year. (Source: https://wsk.at/campus)
- The mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna takes place 2 in the QS University Ranking 2022. (Source: https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/university-subject-rankings/2022/performing-arts
- Only retained Viennese residence of Mozart in the Mozarthaus Vienna
- No other city was home to so many composers: Mozart, Mahler, Haydn, Beethoven, Strauss, Schubert …
- Most successful German-language musical "Elisabeth", with a total audience of 11 million in twelve countries. (Source: Vereinigte Bühnen Wien (United Stages Vienna), www.musicalvienna.at)
- Curiosity of the Viennese song: Vienna is the only city with its own musical genre
- Danube Island Festival: biggest music festival in the world according to Guinness World Records (2019: 2.7 million visitors). (Source: www.donauinselfest.at)
- Music Film Festival on City Hall Square: Europe’s biggest culture and food festival with 950,000 visitors annually, 250,000 visitors in 2021 due to coronavirus (Source: www.filmfestival-rathausplatz.at )
- ImPulsTanz: Europe’s biggest festival for contemporary dance, more than 100,000 visitors (Source: www.impulstanz.com/festivalinfo/ )
- 2,000 hours of dancing pleasure each year at 450 balls during Vienna’s ball season. Source: Austrian Economic Chamber)
- 636 bars, dance clubs, discotheques. (Source: Austrian Economic Chamber, Jahresstatistik 2020)