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CHOIR HISTORY

The Austrian Choir was founded by its present conductor, Dieter Bajzek, in 1981.
Find out more about Dieter on our about the conductor page.

The Austrian Choir, founded by its present conductor in 1981, has established itself in Australia and overseas with over 300 public performances and is now celebrating its 25th anniversary year. Its aim is to present a wide spectrum of Austrian vocal and instrumental music, ranging from authentic traditional to classical. One of the features of its major concerts is the challenging juxtaposition of classical and traditional music, being greatly aided by top Australian guest vocalists and instrumentalists.

The Choir has added to this variety with its own traditional instrumental ensembles, which have been tailored to various needs and currently include hammer dulcimer, violin, accordion, flute, guitar and bass, its Yodel Duo, and first-class pianist Majella Drew. The Choir stages several concerts every year, always aiming to present a great deal of Austrian music never before heard in Australia, as well as being keen on sharing its music with artists from many other cultures of the world. In particular, its annual European Christmas Concert, now having reached its 22nd year, has become a well-respected Melbourne musical institution.

Originally the Choir was made up of a small group of singers, mainly of Austrian origin, but had soon expanded to about 40 members, many of whom are Australians or other nationalities.

Indeed, one of the Choir's main achievements is the mutual inspiration and integration - within performers and audiences alike – of musical, social and cross-cultural understanding and enjoyment. This is also very evident by the extensive airplay it receives not only from ethnic radio stations, but in particular the live broadcasts and attention given to by ABC Radio and other mainstream media, organisations and festivals.

The Choir has performed in practically all the major concert venues in Melbourne, was the first to instigate a public concert in the grand ballroom of Government House (broadcast live on ABC Radio 1986), and has participated in many concerts and festivals, including Moomba and Melbourne International Festival of the Arts 2004. It has performed interstate in Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Alice Springs, and in many Victorian country towns.

In 1990 it undertook an extensive and highly successful three-week concert tour of Austria, appearing in thirteen concerts, including major centres like Salzburg, Graz and the international Choral Festival in Linz. The Choir also toured the main cities of New Zealand (Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland) in 1994 and 2001.

After its first cassette recordings in 1985 and 1986, the Choir released a compact disc in 1990, the first by a community choir in Australia, Austria Down Under. This was met with excellent reviews by many Australian and Austrian radio stations and music experts, and was followed by two more cassette live recordings made in 1991 and in 1993. ABC Radio also made studio recordings of the Choir and the Yodel Trio in 1995, which were broadcast on the ABC. Another Christmas Concerts Highlights cassette album followed in 1995, and in July 1997 the Choir released its second CD of traditional Austrian music, Old Songs for a New Country, featuring also its Yodel Trio and the “Stubenmusik” Ensemble.

Two more CDs have been released since: The Austrian Choir 1981-2001 - Live in Melbourne, diverse highlights taken from recordings of these 17 years, and in December 2001 the first Christmas CD: Christmas in Australia – With the Austrian Choir, an album of delightful and some rare Christmas music