Ensemble Kontrapunkte

The Ensemble Kontrapunkte, founded in 1965 by Peter Keuschnig, consists mainly of members of the significant Viennese orchestras and specialises primarily in chamber music of the 20. and it is specialised in the 21st century. Since the 1974/75 season, the Ensemble Kontrapunkte has continuously organised a subscription cycle for the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna. It also undertakes guest tours and performs at international music festivals. In 2017, the Ensemble Kontrapunkte under Peter Keuschnig was awarded the Louise Zemlinsky Prize of the Alexander Zemlinsky Fund at the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna. In 2021, Peter Keuschnig handed over the artistic direction to Gottfried Rabl, who juxtaposes established significant ensemble works literature and the latest works at the centre of Ensemble Kontrapunkte’s creative work.

ORF RSO Wien

The ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra is a world-renowned top orchestra that is committed to the Viennese tradition of orchestral playing and is known for its unusual and bold programming: it often combines the classical-romantic repertoire and works of classical modernism with contemporary pieces and rarely performed works from other eras. Marin Alsop has been the Chief Conductor since September 2019.

In Vienna, the RSO Vienna plays two subscription cycles, one at the Musikverein and one at the Konzerthaus. The orchestra also performs at major festivals in Austria and abroad: It has close ties to the Salzburg Festival, Musikprotokoll at the Steirischer Herbst and Wien Modern. Tours regularly take the Vienna RSO to Japan and China, Thailand, Taiwan, the USA and South America, Spain and Germany, where it makes guest appearances at the philharmonic orchestras in Berlin, Cologne and Hamburg, among others.

Composer in focus: Clara Iannotta

A “sound image” – for composer Clara Iannotta, this is often the starting point for a work. When the works of the “composer in focus” are performed at the Musikverein in October in cooperation with Wien Modern, you can get an impression of what she means by this: “When I compose, I don’t start from the instruments, but from something that I imagine internally. And then I strive to get as close as possible to this ideal image with what the instruments provide,” says Iannotta in the interview. If she deems it necessary, she sometimes modifies the instruments. “This has its roots in my childhood when my father didn’t buy me toys but showed me how to make one. I take a similar approach to my music.”