Save Longest Concert Series in Salzburg, Austria !!

Schlosskonzerte is trying to save high quality musical history and music culture in Austria and in Salzburg, However there is no support from neither the city nor the country. 

For more than 60 Years, over a hundred thousand guests have attended the Schlosskonzerte Concert Series at the “birthplace” ...of Mozart, Mirabell Palace in Salzburg, Austria.

The Schlosskonzerte concert series at Mirabell Palace takes place more than 250 times a year and is the longest running series in the city’s musical and cultural tradition. Unfortunately, this very well- known and important concert series may be forced to close by Salzburg City’s request.

 other lunguage to read:    Deutsch​   Japanese​  русский язык 

“ About the Schlosskonzerte at Mirabell Palace“ 

  Professor Siegfried Hummer founded Schlosskonzerte in August 31, 1954.  Daniel Barenboim’s, now a world-renowned conductor and piano virtuoso was the first musician to debut at the initial Schlosskonzerte concert on September 15, 1954.  At that time, Barenboim was only 11 years old. The debut concert was held in the Marble-hall in Mirabell Palace and became the beginning of the “Schlosskonzerte” series. The Marble-hall is the room where genius Mozart, born and raised in Salzburg, enjoyed playing at the Palace.  In 1990, renowned violinist Luz Leskowitz took over this concert series from Mrs. Hummer after her husband’s death and was inducted as owner and music director of this concert series.  Since the foundation of this series and up to the present time, lots of prominent soloists and chamber ensembles have given splendid performances at this concert, featuring such music greats such as Amadeus Quartet, Alban Berg Quartet, Ingrid Haebler, Paul Badura Skoda, Jörg Demus, Detlef Kraus, the Oistrach family, Menuhin family, Schiff, and Geringas.  The Concert Series has also served as the debut concerts for many Austrian musical greats such as Benjamin Schmidt, Thomas Zehetmair, and Hagen Quartet and others. In addition to this musical greats, members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra often play and enjoy themselves here at the Schlosskonzerte.  

The Schlosskonzerte continues to provide high quality music for tourists from all over the world and to entertain classical music lovers.  Moreover, the aim of Schlosskonzerte is to give the opportunity for young musicians to perform at Salzburg.  The concerts are given by talented young prize winners from Austria, Europe, Russia, the United States and countries in Asia.  These concerts are also loved by international audiences. Because of this, Schlosskonzerte is the only concert to be permitted during the biggest music festival in the world, the “Salzburg Music Festival” during the summer season.

   According to the Salzburger Newspaper, „Salzburger Nachrichten":

  " ... This makes evenings in the Mirabell palace one of the most famous international music events next to the Salzburg Festival. The Schlosskonzerte can rightfully claim to be the only institution able to organize concerts of high quality with internationally known soloists and chamber musicians”u musicians on the verge of achieving fame, highly welcome this unique opportunity to perform in Salzburg. The concerts given by talented young prize winners from Salzburg and whole Austria, are a beloved 

 

 “Financial situation at Schlosskonzerte“

Since the foundation of the Schlosskonzerte concert series in 1954, it has been operating without

any sponsors or support from the City or the country.  All operating expenses were completely covered through ticket sales revenue. The City of Salzburg, the Owner of Mirabell Palace, requires the Schlosskonzerte to pay 650 euro per concert as maintenance and operation costs.   In 1990, Prof. Leskowitz obtained a loan of 5 million shilling, which is about 350,000 Euro (approximately 400,000 US dollars)  under his name and took over covering the costs of operating Schlosskonzerte.  In 1991, during the “Mozart Year,” the concert series was very successful and he was able to pay back 1/5 of the debt.  However, from 1992, with the rapid decrease of tourists coming to Austria due to the Gulf War, the Yugoslav Wars and the depreciation of Italian lira, Schlosskonzerte’s financial situation was in trouble.  In 1996, Professor Leskowitz was determined to sell his own instrument, the “STRADIVARIUS Ex-Prihoda 1707” to help cover all operating costs and to save Schlosskonzerte.  Thanks to that, Schlosskonzerte went into the black at first time.  In 2006, the “Mozart Year” was a big success and earnings from that year were able to cover expenses for the next 3 years. However, the Economic downturn precipitated by the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy in 2008 brought them into dire financial straits in 2010.  A variety of cost-cutting measures and many musicians tried to help by performing at Schlosskonzerte without payment.

In 2014, Schlosskonzerte was able to pay back 65,000 Euro (about 73,450 US dollar) to the city for

Arrears of 2013. The total amount of arrears is now 41,660 Euro (about 47,000 US dollar) from September of 2014 to end of April 2015.

 The City sent them a final notice:

“ If Schlosskonzerte is not able to refund whole amount by end of June 2015, then this concert series will be closed at the end of December 2015.”

  Schlosskonzerte is now urgently looking for sponsors or business partners or indiviaul donation to help save this concert series which paved the way for many musical legends.  Schlosskonzerte is a place where many legendary musicians love and continuously give opportunities for the young musicians who will represent the future generation of great music.  Salzburg is a city where Mozart was born and raised and is famous for the Salzburg Music Festival in summer.  The city unmistakenly has music history.

Schlosskonzerte is trying to save high quality musical history and music culture in Austria and in Salzburg, However there is no support from neither the city nor the country.    Your assistance will be greatly appreciated.