Biography

The Philharmonia Chor Wien is an internationally active professional opera and concert choir. It was founded in 2002 on the initiative of the former artistic director of the Salzburg Festival, Gerard Mortier, and initially called itself the Chor der Ruhrtriennale or the Festspielchor Baden-Baden, depending on the project.

Since 2006, this choir has performed as an independent association under the name Philharmonia Chor Wien. The choir has performed under conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Claudio Abbado, Marc Minkowski, Kent Nagano, Thomas Hengelbrock, Zubin Mehta, Christian Thielemann, Riccardo Muti and others. in opera productions as a guest at the Musikfest Bremen ("L'Arlesienne"), in Reggio Emilia and Ferrara ("The Magic Flute"), in Baden-Baden ("Parsifal", "The Magic Flute", "Tannhäuser") as well as at the Ruhrtriennale ("Don Giovanni", "The Magic Flute").

In April 2008 the choir performed "Le nozze di Figaro" at the Salzburg Festival in Nagoya, Osaka and Tokyo. In January 2009, "Der Rosenkavalier" was performed at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden under Christian Thielemann, with concert repeats in Paris and Munich.

At Whitsun 2009, the Philharmonia Choir appeared at the Baden-Baden Festival in Robert Wilson's new production of "Freischütz" under Thomas Hengelbrock. This performance was repeated in concert at the Lucerne Festival in August 2009.

In January 2010, the ensemble performed "Elektra" under Christian Thielemann at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. At the 2010 Whitsun Festival in Salzburg, Mozart's "Betulia liberata" was performed staged and Jommelli's "Betulia liberata" was performed in concert under the direction of Riccardo Muti. In early July 2010, these two works were performed at the Ravenna Festival.

Also in 2011 the Philharmonia Choir was engaged at the Whitsun Festival in Salzburg with Saverio Mercadante's opera "I due Figaro" and with the "Cherubini Requiem", both conducted by Riccardo Muti. "I due Figaro" was also performed at the Ravenna Festival in June 2011, as well as at the Teatro Real in Madrid in March 2012 and at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires in August/September 2012.

At the 2013 Salzburg Festival, the choir was heard in "Falstaff" under Zubin Mehta and in "Giovanna d'Arco" in concert under Paolo Carignani. In 2014, it will participate here in "Don Giovanni" under Christoph Eschenbach and in concert performances of "La favorite" under Roberto Abbado.

The choir's most recent engagements include concert performances of "Rienzi" under Alejo Pérez in Madrid and of Bellini's "La straniera" under Pietro Rizzo at the Vienna Musikverein. Furthermore, since 2014 the Philharmonia Choir Vienna participated in "Manon Lescaut", "Der Rosenkavalier" and "Tristan" at the Easter Festival Baden-Baden under Sir Simon Rattle, as well as in "Faust" under Thomas Hengelbrock at the Whitsun Festival Baden-Baden and in "Mefistofele" under Stefan Soltész in 2016.

The choir's most recent successes were at the 2016 Salzburg Summer Festival in productions of "Faust" under Alejo Pérez and "Don Giovanni" under Alain Altinoglu, as well as in a concertante "Thaïs" and with "Prayer Wheel," an Armenian mass with jazz ensemble by Karen Asatrian.

The Philharmonia Choir Vienna is also in demand as a concert choir and is under the direction of its founder Walter Zeh.