Vienna Singing Academy

Vienna Singing Academy on the stage of the Vienna Concerthouse (2003)

Vienna Singing Academy ( German: Wiener Singakademie ) is an Austrian mixed choir based in Vienna. It was founded in 1858.

The initiative to create the Vienna Singing Academy belonged to the Vienna Society of Friends of Music , the experience of the Berlin Singing Academy was taken as a model. From the first year of its existence, however, the Academy acted independently.

The concert activity of the collective was not the main task, the choir was aimed primarily at joint music-making in order to increase the skill of the participants. Nevertheless, in the history of the Academy there are a number of notable concert events - in particular, the Vienna premiere of “Passion for Matthew” by Johann Sebastian Bach (1862).

For the first 55 years, the Academy did not have its own premises, and in 1913 became a resident of the Vienna Konzerthaus . Johannes Brahms , Gustav Mahler , Bruno Walter , Paul Hindemith collaborated with the Academy. In 1957, the Vienna Singing Academy was awarded the Karl Renner Prize established by the city of Vienna.