The New Austrian Sound of Music
A Long-Term Sponsorship Program Still Going Strong
Top Photo: Trio Alba: Philipp Comploi (violoncello), Chengcheng Zhao (piano), Livia Sellin (violin). Trio Alba
The Austrian International Cultural Policy Concept is broad by design. Bearing in mind the rich Austrian artistic and scientific heritage, the Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs focusses in its work abroad on the presentation of the innovative and creative side of Austria. Through increased cultural cooperation, the ministry would like to further develop European integration, both inside and outside of the European Union. Furthermore, the dialogue among cultures and religions helps to build trust and to support reconciliation and stability. Bearing in mind the purpose of international cultural policy, music plays a particularly important role in the representation of Austrian culture (and serves as a significant mediating tool).
In 2002, the Austrian Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs founded a longterm sponsorship program for promoting young musicians from Austria. The name The New Austrian Sound of Music—in short NASOM—reminds of the global hit musical The Sound of Music and was therefore chosen on purpose for this program.
The young artists accepted for this program are selected by an independent jury consisting of professional experts from local music universities. In cooperation with the Music Information Center Austria (mica) and the Foreign Ministry, five young musicians or ensembles from the classical, jazz, world, contemporary and pop music genres are chosen to participate in the sponsorship program. The global Austrian network of embassies, cultural fora and consulates arew then informed in order to provide those performing artists with as stage and funding for two years. Successful examples of former NASOM participants, such as Gottlieb Wallisch, Hugo Wolf Quartet, Radio String Quartet Vienna, Radian or Electro Guzzi show that the program helped them to build an enormous international reputation within a few years.
NASOM specifically endeavors to support female artists such as the successful musicians Clara Luzia, Eva Jantschitsch aka Gustav, Nataša Mirković, Catch-Pop StringStrong and Mira Lu Kovacs aka Schmieds Puls.
The program reached measurable results over the years: In 2013, a total of 107 international concert tours were organized by the network of the Foreign Ministry. The number of concert tours supported by NASOM rose to 232 in 2017 with 426 music events. In 2018, a total of 436 concerts and workshops were supported in more than 70 countries. In the U.S. alone, the NASOM concerts organized by the Cultural Fora in New York City and Washington, DC as well as the Consulate General in Los Angeles accounted for 20 events in 2017 and 24 in 2018.
As part of the concert event The New Austrian Sound of Music goes around the world, the succesful outcome of the program was presented at MuTh concert hall in Vienna in June 2016.The world music duo Ramsch & Rosen (Julia Lacherstorfer, Simon Zöchbauer), for instance, gave a fantastic insight into how traditional Austrian folk music can be mixed with modern elements. They spontaneously performed a traditional piece of folk music in a new way together with well-known Austrian musician Hubert von Goisern, who had toured the United States in 2016 with concerts in New York City, Washington, DC, and at the SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas.
Among the best examples showing the success of The New Austrian Sound of Music is Duo Aliada (classical music), which received 60 international invitations— including a concert at Carnegie Hall—after having been in the program for only six months. And so is the pop band HVOB (Her Voice Over Boys), which had the privilege to perform the opening concert in Donostia-San Sebastian, a European Capital of Culture 2016, and at the Ying Yang Festival on the Great Wall of China. Trio Alba is another example of a successful classical music act. They performed twice in the United States within the past years.
Twenty-five ensembles or young musicians have been nominated for the seventh edition of The New Austrian Sound of Music in the 2020-2021 biennium. Audiences across the world will hear from them.