About Tonkunstler Orchestra

With its residencies at the Musikverein Wien, Festspielhaus St. Pölten and in Grafenegg, the Tonkunstler Orchestra is one of Austria’s biggest and most important musical ambassadors. Their traditional Sunday Afternoon concerts at the Wiener Musikverein go back more than 70 years and remain their most successful concert cycle to date. The Festspielhaus St. Pölten was officially opened by the Tonkunstler Orchestra on 1 March 1997. Since then, as resident orchestra, its opera, dance and educational projects, as well as an extensive range of concerts, have formed an integral part of the overall cultural repertoire in the Lower Austrian state capital. In Grafenegg, the Tonkunstler have two acoustically outstanding venues at their disposal in their capacity as orchestra in residence: the Auditorium and Wolkenturm. The focus of the orchestra’s artistic work is the traditional orchestral repertoire, ranging from the Classical to the Romantic periods through to the 20th century. The Tonkunstler’s unique approach to programming is appreciated by musicians, audiences and press alike.

Its former Music Directors include such important figures of the music world as Walter Weller, Heinz Wallberg, Miltiades Caridis, Fabio Luisi. Kristjan Järvi and Andrés Orozco-Estrada. Yutaka Sado, one of the most important Japanese conductors of our time, has been the orchestra’s Music Director since the 2015–16 season. Recent tours have taken the Tonkunstler to Germany, Britain, the Czech Republic, the Baltic states and, repeatedly, to Japan.

The orchestra’s versatile artistic profile is reflected in a wide range of CD recordings. Founded in 2016, the Tonkunstler’s own label releases up to four CDs per year. These include both live recordings, mostly from the Wiener Musikverein, and independent studio productions.
www.tonkunstler.at