Baroque Ensemble of the Vienna Symphony

The  Vienna Symphony Orchestra´s Baroque Ensemble was established in 1989 in order to play a series of concerts of finest  baroque music in the baroque church of Maria Bildstein near Bregenz as a part of the internationally renowned “Bregenzer Festspiele” music festival.

These concerts have since gained enormous popularity amongst audiences and are sold out every year. As a result of this success, the ensemble was invited to play at the festive church service celebrating “100 Years Wiener Symphoniker” in Bregenz in July 2000 and was a guest performer at the “Stiftskonzerte Millstatt” festival, the “Schloßkonzerte Fulda” and the highly regarded “Schubertiade Schwarzenberg” festival. The ensemble frequently performs at Wiener Symphoniker-Events such as the “Symphonikertag Bregenz” or the “Ball der Wiener Symphoniker”.

In July 2009, the Ensemble played a concert together with the famous Choir of St. John’s College, Cambridge as part of the “Bregenzer Festspiele” In July 2010, they opened a cycle of six concerts of old music called “Music for a while” in Bludenz, Austria.

The signing of a five-year-contract with the municipality of Triberg/ Germany and the resulting CD collection “Fiori musicali Triberg” were a great honour for the ensemble. This contract was extended twice , and 15 CD albums were recorded altogether. These recordings were broadcast multiple times by the Austrian Cultural Radio Ö1 and by Bayerischer Rundfunk and Deutschland-Funk.

A really remarkable honour for the ensemble was the broadcast of Händels “Watermusic” in the “ARD-Nachtkonzert” in September 2015, live on 4 important German Broadcaststations: ARD, NDR, BR and WDR Köln.

A great moment also was the concert in May 2016 in Beijing in the “National Center of Performing Arts”. It was the closing concert of the “Bijiong May Festival 2016” and was recorded by the Chinese TV.

In 2018, the ensemble received awards by two Viennese Radiostations. “Radio Klassik Broadcast” appointed the Album “Ave Maria” as “Album of the Week” and the Radiostation “Radio Maria” appointed the same Album as “Album of the Month”.

In 2022, the Ensemble performed at the Festival “Musiksommer St. Leonhard” and in the “Völkerkundemuseum Wien” as part of the Festival “Wir sind Wien”.

In 2024, they will play Händels “Music for the Royal Fireworks” at the Festival “Tonspuren Leogang” and will therefor be the first ever Baroque Ensemble to play on the top of the Mountain Asitzberg.