MICHAEL BLADERER received his first instruction on the piano at the age of 8 and on contrabass at age 13. After graduating with distinction from the Vienna College of Music, he served as the principal contrabass of the Komische Oper Berlin for 3 years. He joined the Vienna State Opera in 1999 and the Philharmonic in 2002. He also performs in the Vienna Hofmusikkapelle and several other chamber ensembles. He is currently the General Manager of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
Karin Bonelli was the first woman to join the wind section of the Vienna State Opera and became a member the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in 2012. She began studying the flute at a young age with her mother and her father, a professional flute player and professor. As a young musician studying all over Europe, Karin gained a precocious comprehension of various regions, concepts of sound and styles of playing which allowed her to develop her own individual musicianship without stifling her desire to be a professional musician. She is a devoted soloist and chamber music performer and encourages young flute players to discover their own musical talent as an instructor at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.
Born in Vienna in 1987, he received his first cello lessons at the age of eight from his father Ricardo Bru. He joined the Vienna State Opera Orchestra in 2006 at the age of 18, was selected for the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in 2013 and has been principal cellist since 2016.
In the 2010/2011 season he was first solo cellist in the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and gained orchestral experience as a solo cellist with the Munich Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Berlin Philharmonic. As a soloist, he works with orchestras such as the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Orquestra OFUNAM, the Czech Philharmonic and others. As a chamber musician he performs with colleagues from the Vienna Philharmonic, Rudolph Buchbinder, Ildiko Raimondi and others.
Sebastian Bru plays a cello made by G.B. Guadagnini "ex Zweygberg" on generous loan by the National Bank of Austria.
Sophie Dervaux grew up in France and began her musical education with the guitar and clarinet before taking up the bassoon in 2003. She studied in France and in Germany and in 2012 won the contrabassoon position with the Berlin Philharmonic. She won the ARD Competition in Munich in 2013 and has been the laureate of more than 10 other international competitions. She has played the bassoon in the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra since 2018. In addition to her work in the Orchestra and as a soloist, she has given master classes at renowned conservatories around the world. As an ambassador for her instrument, she is also committed to expanding the bassoon repertoire by rediscovering works or commissioning new works. She has been a “Püchner Artist” since 2014 and is passionate about making her instrument even better known.
DANIEL FROSCHAUER is the Chairman of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, First violinist and section leader. He was born in Vienna, Austria and began his musical career as a member of the Vienna Boys Choir. His studies on the violin led him to the Juilliard School of Music. He made his debut in 1993 in the Brahmssaal of the Vienna Musikverein with an evening of sonatas. He has been a member of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra since 1995 and joined the Vienna Philharmonic in 1998. Mr. Froschauer is actively involved in organizing and participating in charitable projects through concerts and workshops including the Suntory Music Aid Fund in Japan to benefit Fukushima survivors and Music in Medicine, a research project which studies the effects of classical music on cancer patients. Daniel Froschauer performs on the violin "Ex Benvenuti, ex Halphen" by Antonio Stradivari from the year 1727.
Former Academist Kelton Koch, from Lake Jackson, Texas, won a blind audition and joined the Vienna State Opera full time in January of 2020. He substitutes with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. He received his Bachelor of Music from Northwestern University, where he studied with Michael Mulcahy. Prior to joining the VPO Academy, he was enrolled at the Hochschule der Künste Bern, Switzerland where he studied with Ian Bousfield. He was a member of Michael Tilson Thomas’ New World Symphony in Miami Beach from 2014-2017 and the Orchestra Academy of Opernhaus Zürich from 2017-2018. He has performed as principal trombonist with the London Symphony Orchestra, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, and London Philharmonia. He has also played with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony. In 2019 he was awarded a “Special Prize” at the XVI International Tchaikovsky Competition in St. Petersburg, Russia. Kelton joined the Orchestra on their October 2019 tour to Korea, China and Japan.
Born 1987 in Konstanz into an Austrian-Hungarian family of musicians and raised in Vienna, Christoph Koncz received his first violin lesson at the age of four and entered the Vienna University of Music only two years later. At the age of just nine, he received worldwide acclaim for starring as child prodigy Kaspar Weiss in the Canadian feature film The Red Violin, which won an Academy Award for Best Original Score. He made his North American debut as a violin soloist at age twelve with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. In 2008, at the age of twenty, he joined the Vienna State Opera Orchestra and in 2011 became a member of the Vienna Philharmonic, where he is now a principal second violinist.
He has already established himself as one of the outstanding musicians of his generation. He had his conducting debut at the 2013 Salzburg Mozartwoche which was followed by concerts at such prestigious venues as the Berlin, Cologne and Munich Philharmonie, Vienna Konzerthaus, KKL Lucerne and Concertgebouw Amsterdam as well as at the Salzburg Festival. He is currently the Chief Conductor, Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss am Rhein and Principal Guest Conductor, Les Musiciens du Louvre.
He plays the 1707 ex Brüstlein violin by Antonio Stradivari on generous loan by the National Bank of Austria.
Thomas Lechner first took percussion lessons at age six and by the following year was playing in the town band in Bischofshofen with his father and grandfather. He studied at the Anton Bruckner Private University in Linz and the Vienna Conservatory. Through his work with the Salonorchester Bischofshofen, the Symphonische Landesblasorchester Salzburg, the European Philharmonic Orchestra and the Jeunesse Orchester in Vienna, he became a regular substitute with the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra, the Bruckner Orchestra Linz, the Orchestra of the Vienna Volksoper and finally with the Vienna State Opera Orchestra, where after his successful audition, he has been a member of the percussion section since 2007. He was selected for membership in the Vienna Philharmonic in 2010. As a teacher, he has given numerous master classes at home and abroad (including cities such as Tokyo, Shanghai and many others), teaches at the Angelika Prokopp Summer Academy of the Vienna Philharmonic, lectured at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna from 2011-2015 and has been a professor for percussion instruments at the University of Arts in Graz since 2016.
Originally from Belguim, harpist Anneleen Lenaerts is one of the leading soloists of her instrument and has been the Principal Harpist for the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra since December of 2010. She has studied at conservatories in Brussels and Paris and holds a Harp Master’s Degree with highest distinction. She is the recipient of 23 prestigious prizes including the ‘Grand Prix international Lily Laskine’ and the ARD International Music Competition in Munich where she was both a prizewinner and the winner of the Audience Prize. As a soloist, Anneleen has performed with the of Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Mozarteum Orchestra, the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra, the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Collegium Musicum Basel, the Brussels Philharmonic, and the National Orchestra of Belgium amongst others.She has released CDs featuring the Brussels Philharmonic and Oboist Karel Schoofs as well as several solo recordings. In 2019 she released a compilation of works by Italian composer Nina Rota with Swiss Flutist Emmanuel Pahud and the Brussels Philharmonic conducted by Adrien Perruchon titled Nino Rota (1911-1979), Works for Harp.
Daniel Ottensamer has been principal clarinetist of the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera since 2009. He is a prizewinner of the most prestigious international competitions, including the “Carl Nielsen International Clarinet Competition” in Denmark 2009. As a soloist he is regularly invited to perform with renowned orchestras, among them the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, the NHK Symphony Orchestra, with conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Gustavo Dudamel, Andris Nelsons, and Adam Fischer. As a chamber musician he has worked together with musicians including Daniel Barenboim, Angelika Kirchschlager, Barbara Bonney, Thomas Hampson, Bobby McFerrin, Julian Rachlin, Mischa Maisky and others. He is founding member of the ensemble "Philharmonix" which won the Opus-Klassik-Award 2018. Daniel Ottensamer has recorded various CDs with SONY-Classical and Deutsche Grammophon.
Ödön Rácz was born in Budapest and began to learn to play the double bass at the age of nine. He continued his studies at the St. Stephan Music Conservatory and in 2001 he transferred to the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. He is the winner of numerous prizes including third prize in the renowned ARD Competition (Munich 2003) and won the "Five Olympic Rings" award of the National Artists' Institute of Budapest. Following a successful audition, Ödön Rácz joined the double bass group of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra in September 2004. He has been a double bass soloist with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra since 2009. In addition, Ödön Rácz has performed as a soloist with the Münchener Kammerorchester, the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks as well as the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, the Haydn Philharmonic and the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra. He has played as a soloist and participated in chamber music performances in Europe, Brazil, China, Korea and Japan. He has recorded works by Giovanni Bottesini, Dittersdorf, Hans Fryba, Gottfried von Einem, Paganini, Johann Matthias Sperger, Vanhal, Vask and Vecsey. He is a founding member of ‘Philharmonix – The Vienna Berlin Music Club’ along with fellow VPO musician, clarinetist Daniel Ottensamer. He regularly teaches master classes in Italy, Hungary, Germany, Japan, Taiwan and China. He plays on a double bass crafted by Michael Ignatius Stadlmann (Vienna, 1781).
Karl-Heinz Schütz was born in Innsbruck and raised in Landeck, Tyrol. He has played extensively with the Vienna Symphony, the Stuttgart Philharmonic, the Vienna State Opera and since 2015, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. He is currently a Professor at the Music and Arts Private University in Vienna and teaches numerous Master Classes as he travels the world – including for the Vienna Philharmonic Society at Carnegie Hall. Karl-Heinz is a passionate chamber musician and a member of various ensembles from baroque to contemporary. He has appeared in international festivals and has released several CDs featuring music by Bach, Brahms, Boulez, Schulhoff, Prokofiev and Mozart’s Flute Quartets.
Johannes Schneider began taking lessons on percussion instruments at the age of 5. In 2007, at age 13, he won First Place with distinction at the state and federal competition, Prima la musica. He has also trained as a conductor. He studied at the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna (MUK). He has substituted with the Tonkünstler Orchestra Niederösterreich, the ORF Radio Symphonie Orchester Wien, the symphony orchestra of the Vienna Volksoper, the Philharmonic Orchestra Graz, and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. He played with the Vienna Volksoper from 2014-2018 and joined the Vienna State Opera in 2018. He frequently substitutes with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and teaches at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw).
Enzo Turriziani, Principal Trombone of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, was born in the village of Rieti, Italy and began playing the trombone at the age of six in the village’s band which was conducted by his grandfather and in which his father, also a trombonist, played. Enzo began to play professionally at age 15 while also attending conservatory and master classes and winning awards for his musicianship. He won the position of first trombone at the Symphony Orchestra of Rome at age 20 and added the position of first trombone at the RAI (Italian radio-television) National Symphony Orchestra the following year. He won the audition for first trombone of the Orchestra of the Academia Nazionale De Santa Cecilia-Roma in 2014. At age 28, he won the audition of first solo trombone with the Vienna State Opera Orchestra and three years later he joined the Vienna Philharmonic. He continues to teach at the Ariadimusica school in Rome and plays in the Human Rights Watch Orchestra, an ever-expanding community of European musicians who support humanitarian and social projects with fundraising concerts.
Tamás Varga was born in Budapest and began learning the violincello at age 7. He graduated with distinction from the Franz Liszt Academy and the Rubin Academy of Music in Tel Aviv and won the Hungarian National competition twice. He joined the Vienna State Opera in 1998 and the Vienna Philharmonic in 2001 where he is the principal cellist. He performs as a soloist and in chamber music ensembles around the world. Mr. Vargas is committed to the education of the next generation of musicians and teaches at the International Orchestra Institute in Attergau, Austria, as well as conducting Master Classes around the world.