The

VIENNA CLARINET CHOIR  

was founded in 1993 by Prof. Mag. Kurt Schmid. During his time as clarinet player at the Tonkünstler Orchestra of Lower Austria he made many concert tours to Japan where he came in contact with the Tokyo Clarinet Choir. Inspired by that ensemble he founded his own clarinet choir.

Leopold Hager and Prof. Rolf Eichler

From the beginning Mag. Kurt Schmid invited guests to appear at our concerts to vary and richen the sound of our performances. In the last years the following singers performed with the Vienna Clarinet Choir: Herta Aschenbrenner, Alexandra Farkas and Ingrid Sonnleithner. Other guests at our concerts were for example Prof. Alfred Hertel (oboe and English horn) and, at our last concerts, Helmut Maurberger (xylophone).

Helmut Maurberger, xylophone

The unusual orchestration - our ensemble consists only of various sized clarinets  - is responsible for the extraordinary and fascinating sound. Apart from the ordinary Bb and Eb clarinets, alto and bass clarinets are used. Additionally one contralto and one contrabass clarinet are very important parts of our instrumentation. The combination of these instruments creates a sound quality that is similar to a string ensemble or a church organ.

our manager, Gabi Egle, in front of  the "subbasses"

The first concert took place on June 27^nd 1994. Since then a lot of interesting and successful performances have been made. The clarinet choir was invited three times for broadcasting-productions.

The two concerts together with the Tokyo Clarinet Choir in the Vienna Konzerthaus 1997 and in Tokyo 1998 are the highlights in the artistic development of the ensemble.

conductor Reinhold Nowotny

Viennese music takes up a big part of the ensembles repertoire. Arrangements for this kind of ensemble are hard to find, there are only few sources. Some arrangements can be found at american publishers, very interesting pieces are made available to us by our friends from the Tokyo Clarinet Choir. More and more arrangements are made by members of our ensemble, mainly by Prof. Rolf Eichler.

our "3rd ones"

The Vienna Clarinet Choir, which consists mainly of amateur musicians, is on his way to find his own unmistakable sound and style.

Acclamation for the soloists