After a late-summer heat wave, it’s suddenly fall. And what a fall it is! September is proving more action-packed than ever this year, so let’s get right to it…rejoice, dear reader: it’s your Austrian Music Highlights for September.
Jazz and everything after
We’ve devoted a fair amount of space to the JazzWerkstatt Wien collective this year, not without reason: twenty years ago, they laid the groundwork for today’s vital, revitalized, internationally respected, highly diversified Vienna jazz scene. They’re winding up the festivities this month with a bang: a five-day festival at five different locations around the city, featuring lots of names from the good old days – Studio Dan, Willi Landl, Clemens Salesny – as well as folks who have been making a name for themselves more recently, like Kimyan Law, Mona Matbou Riahi, Stephanie Weninger, and many more. As you can tell even from that brief list, their conception of jazz is as broadly inclusive as ever, and the quality is never in doubt…so get thee hence! The festival happens from September 17 – 21 in Vienna.
theater Dreams
September is also music theater time in Vienna: every fall, the Musiktheatertage Wien welcomes forward-looking theater productions from Austria, Europe, and beyond to join the search for connections between music, text, space, technology, and artists. There’s a lot to see – the festival runs ten days, from September 18 – 28 – but if we had to pick one highlight, we’d likely go with Der Simmerring, billed as “a music-theatrical search for inspiration in Vienna’s least beloved castle”. Music by Alexander Chernyshkov (who also founded Errortheater, the producer of the work) and featuring Ensemble Platypus and Franz Hautzinger.
Also worthy of mention is Austrian Theatre Day – a series of presentations, discussions, and network opportunites happening on September 27 – 28, co-sponsored by mica – music austria and Austrian Music Export. Sound like your thing? See our recent announcement for more information and send an email to amd@mttw.at by September 25th to take part!
Hamburger Smash
Not to be outdone, the pop industry rolls on: the annual Reeperbahn Festival, Europe’s premiere platform for pop culture and international talent, is happening from September 18 – 21, and a phalanx of Austrian artists will be heading to Hamburg to play their part. Austrian Music Export and Waves Vienna will be hosting the obligatory Austrian Heartbeats Showcase, this year featuring Bon Jour, Edna Million, oh alien, and Spilif.
A Decade of Pages
2024 has been a big year for anniversaries – whether it’s the JazzWerkstatt, our parent organization mica – music austria, or the stubbornly iconoclastic Black Page Orchestra. Founded by composer Matthias Kranebitter in 2014, the ensemble has developed a reputation for radical and uncompromising music and set new aesthetic bars at the interface between music, technology, and media art. They’ll be celebrating with visits to the Warsaw Autumn on September 24th (featuring works by Kranebitter, Christof Ressi, et al) and Mixtur in Barcelona on October 12th (works by Kranebitter, Jung An Tagen, et al).
7 Decades of Furrer
And while we’re at it: Beat Furrer, one of the most important composers of contemporary art music, turns 70 this year. In addition to founding the Klangforum Wien, the composer “travels the world with open ears. What I’m confronted with, I attempt to decode, and in doing so, to understand what is happening all around me” – which has resulted in countless celebrated works for vocal and instrumental ensembles. Among the celebrations of his 70th year include the mammoth media box-set Furrer 70, now available to pre-order from the Klangforum Wien directly, and an entire festival devoted to his music – Zeitinsel, happening at the Konzerthaus Dortmund from October 2 – 6, culminating in a performance of his celebrated opera Begehren. Happy birthday, maestro!
Briefly Noted
Leyya – Half Asleep (Minor Changes)
Glittering, overdriven electropop, as full of texture as a shag rug, pleasingly gritty and glitchy: after a longish hiatus, indie darlings Marco Kleebauer and Sophie Lindinger (alias Leyya) are back with a 9-song tour de force, their 3rd full-length album. The press release has a lot about melancholy and whatnot, but our first impression: something to roll the windows down and cruise the weirdly warm September nights to.
Editor’s note: For the past year and a half, I’ve enjoyed bringing you the latest news from the Austrian music scene, in all its many facets. Starting in October, you’ll once again be in the capable hands of my colleague Arianna Alfreds, and I’ll be moving on to other responsibilites. Thus: this is me saying so long, thanks for reading, and keep your ear to the ground. – Philip Yaeger
