Dear friends of the Wiener Symphoniker,

Being new means always being curious about the past. This is why two things were especially important to me as the new Intendant of the Wiener Symphoniker: the people of the orchestra, and its long tradition. Rummaging through the archive, I was amazed by the eternal modernity that has accompanied this orchestra since it was founded in 1900.

The Symphoniker have premiered the works by visionary composers while always seeking to keep contact with the public, as with the ‘Popular Concerts’ in the Volksgarten. For this orchestra, music has never served as mere wallpaper; rather it embodies an attitude toward its own time. For the Symphoniker, music stands traditionally at the centre of life — at the centre of the world, at the centre of Europe, at the centre of Vienna.

Being new doesn’t always mean having to do everything in a new way. The orchestra’s 120 years of history are inspiration enough. And that is what we, the musicians, our new Music Director Andrés Orozco- Estrada and I, want as our aim. In our more than 100 performances in Vienna, with around 70 concerts and opera performances in the rest of Austria and on international stages, we want to convey a spirit of curiosity, openness and dialogue — this is what the Wiener Symphoniker stand for.

The Wiener Symphoniker’s connection to Viennese Modernism, to the present and to the past is also reflected in our new look — I hope you like it. And I look forward to many new and exciting encounters with you.

Yours, JAN NAST