The Vienna Boy’s Choir is one of the oldest boys' choirs in the world and an enduring symbol of Austria for more than 500 years.
One of the oldest boys' choirs in the world, the Vienna Boys’ Choir has been an enduring symbol of Austria for more than 500 years. A foundation charter issued by Emperor Maximilian I in 1498 called the first dozen boys to the imperial court as members of the newly formed court music band. Ever since, the Vienna Boys' Choir has been a fixture in Austrian musical life. The choir has produced numerous highly respected musicians, among them Joseph Haydn and Franz Schubert. Today, the 100 or so boys range between the ages of 10 and 14 years and give about 300 concerts each year, performing in front of about 500,000 spectators around the world.
They not only follow a busy schedule around the world, but also invent and re-invent programs in their home base in
Vienna. “MuTh,” the new concert hall of the Vienna Boys' Choir, opened in December 2012 in Vienna's second district, has become the official music center inside the Augarten - the oldest Baroque gardens in Vienna - offering seating for about 400 guests. In the “MuTh,” the Vienna Boys' Choir (including a few girls!) showcases a program ranging from classical to world music and from pop to the children's opera "Moby Dick".
Each season the Vienna Boys’ Choir not only performs their own program, but also leaves creative space to work with music educational institutions, contemporary festivals, such as ImPulse Tanz, as well as established partners, like the Volksoper and the Vienna Children’s Theater.