Today, there are 100 choristers between the ages of nine and fourteen, divided into four touring choirs. Each choir spends nine to eleven weeks of the academic year on tour. Together, the choirs give around 300 concerts each year, attended by almost half a million spectators around the world. The choir regularly tours Europe, Asia and Australia, and the Americas.
The Choir has a long history and tradition. We have been educating children for more than 500 years. We are part of society, to which we contribute. Outreach and philanthropic endeavours are important to us.
Boys have been singing at Vienna's Imperial Chapel since 1296. In 1498, Maximilian I (HRR) moved his court to Vienna, lock, stock, and choir, thus founding the “Hofmusikkapelle” (Chapel Imperial), and the Vienna Boys Choir. Over the centuries, the Viennese Court attracted great musicians like Isaac, de Monte, Fux, Caldara, Gluck, Salieri, Mozart, and Bruckner; Joseph Haydn, Michael Haydn, and Franz Schubert were themselves choir boys. Until 1918, the boys sang exclusively for the court. In the 1920s, the choir was reestablished as a private organisation. Since 1926, 2482 Vienna Boys Choir has sung 1000 tours in 97 different countries. Gerald Wirth is the its Artistic Director, and its president.
Conductor: Luiz de Godoy