Grafenegg Music Festival
Encyclopedia
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n festival for classical music close to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. The annual festival takes place on the grounds of Grafenegg Castle. Two major venues have been built for the festival in the park of the castle: The open-air stage Wolkenturm (capacity 1,730, opened 2007) as well as the new concert hall Auditorium (capacity 1,372, opened 2008).
The artistic director is pianist Rudolf Buchbinder
Rudolf Buchbinder
Rudolf Buchbinder is an Austrian classical pianist.-Biography:Buchbinder studied with Bruno Seidlhofer at the Vienna Academy of Music. In 1965 he made a tour of North and South America. In 1966 he won a special prize awarded at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition...
. The festival's program consists of symphonic and chamber music as well as recitals. International guest orchestras are performing as well as the Austrian Tonkünstler Orchestra
Tonkünstler Orchestra
The Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich is an Austrian orchestra based in Vienna and St. Pölten, Lower Austria.-Origin of the name:The orchestra's name has its origins in the Tonkünstler-Sozietät, Wien, which was organizing concerts in the era of Haydn and Mozart...
, which serves as orchestra in residence. The first festival started on August, 23rd, 2007 and lasted until September, 9th, 2007.