Wiener Singakademie

The Wiener Singakademie is a choir in Vienna, Austria.

As the first mixed choir in Vienna, the Wiener Singakademie was founded in 1858 to establish a "Singübungsanstalt" - an institution for the training of voices. It aims to promote the works of the traditional masters, and include contemporary works. In 1862, the young Johannes Brahms was invited to come to Vienna as the choir’s director.

Conductors with whom the primarily worked included Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss and Bruno Walter, the latter becoming the choir’s director for a number of years. Composers who conducted premiere performances of their works with the Wiener Singakademie have included Edvard Grieg, Anton Rubinstein and Pietro Mascagni.

After 55 years as an independent choir, the Wiener Singakademie moved in 1913 to the newly opened Wiener Konzerthausm as part of the Wiener Konzerthausgesellschaft. In the 1950s and 1960s the choir was led by Hans Gillesberger. Wilhelm Furtwängler and Paul Hindemith, Karl Böhm and Hans Svarowsky, along with the young Lorin Maazel were jointly responsible for the choir's development at that time.

In 1983, Agnes Grossmann assumed the post of artistic director, as the first woman to head the Wiener Singakademie.

Alexander Pereira was Secretary General of the Wiener Konzerthausgesellschaft from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, later succeeded by Herbert Böck. It has worked with artists including Georges Prêtre, Yehudi Menuhin, Claudio Abbado, Sir Roger Norrington, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Sir Simon Rattle and Kent Nagano.

...
Wikipedia