Metropole - October 2017

PHOTOS FROM LEFT: ANDREAS FRIESS, SHMALTZ.

ON MUSIC

orchestras

For the Fun of It

A plethora of orchestras for non-professionals

makes Vienna a paradise for amateur music

by Cynthia Peck

You took piano lessons and then you quit.
The lessons were because of your mother,
quitting was because it got boring. Such a
shame! But luckily, many people still play
instruments – despite moms and looming
boredom – because they discovered the ex-
citement of playing with others, be it in a
rock band or a symphony orchestra.
Vienna has plenty of orchestras for peo-
ple like that. Week after week, hundreds of
non-professional musicians around the
city pack up cellos, tubas, flutes and drum
sticks and go off to rehearse. They find their
way to church basements, community cen-
ters, school gyms or backstage at concert
halls, and then spend a couple of hours in
serious concentration. Just for the fun of it.

THE SOUND OF ACADEMIA
One of the largest organizations of ama-
teur music making is the Vienna University
Philharmonie, with 900 members of all
levels in 2 orchestras and 8 choirs making
music from classical to pop, world music
to jazz. Indian-born, Austrian trained con-
ductor Vijay Upadhyaya has directed the
Philharmonie since 1994, with an enthu-
siasm that he is able to pass on, it seems, to
anyone. Under his baton, the Vienna Uni-
versity Philharmonic Orchestra often
attacks major pieces that are considered
nearly too difficult for many. Nonetheless
they are able to swim along for a once-in-a-
lifetime experience. Upadhyaya has a pas-
sion for huge musical events involving as
many people as possible – Mahler’s Resur-
rection Symphony, for example, with its
gargantuan choir and giant brass and
woodwind groups, as well as “the largest
possible contingent of strings,” as ordered
by the composer. Anyone can join – you
are not required to work or study at the
university – and it is possible to schedule
an audition at most times of the year.
Other universities in Vienna also spon-
sor orchestras, including the Vienna
University of Technology. The weekly re-
hearsals of the TU Orchester are usually
held in the TU main building’s wonderful
Kuppelsaal (Cupola Hall), four floors

above the central entrance on Karlsplatz.

The 10-meter-high ceiling rises on

200-year-old curving wooden beams, like

the belly of a ship turned upside down.

This imposing space inspires the orches-

tra members, who choose their repertoire

together with their spunky conductor,

Marta Gardolińska. Auditions are once a

semester, with preference given, albeit

not exclusively, to musicians somehow as-

sociated with the TU.

To become a member of the Academic

Symphony Orchestra of the University

of Economics, you don’t have to study

business there – students at any university

can take part, even exchange students.

And after graduation, it is possible to keep

playing. Auditions aren’t held on basic

principle; interested musicians should

just write an email, then come to a

rehearsal. Low instruments are currently

needed – viola, cello, double bass and

trombone – and, Beethoven’s 9th is on the

program next spring.

ENSEMBLES FOR ALL SEASONS

Vienna’s oldest orchestra for amateur mu-

sicians is the Orchesterverein der Ge-

sellschaft der Musikfreunde (that is, the

Musikverein), founded in 1859 at a time

when “amateurs” weren’t considered less

important than “professionals.” The

Musikverein – the organization, not the

concert hall it runs – still supports its

For more information about how to join, check metropole.at/orchestras-vienna