Vienna Art Orchestra

Vienna Art Orchestra
Vienna Art Orchestra, Hamburg, 1985
Background information
Origin	Vienna, Austria
Genres	Jazz
Years active	1977–2010
Labels	Extraplatte, hat ART, Amiga, Moers Music, Amadeo, Quinton, Verve, Art
Website	www.vao.at
Past members	Robert Bachner Juraj Bartos Georg Breinschmid Urszula Dudziak Thomas Gansch Mario Gonzi Nico Gori Herwig Gradischnig Herbert Joos Martin Koller Thomas Lang Anna Lauvergnac Ronny Matky Jojo Mayer Adrian Mears Matthieu Michel Christian Muthspiel Lauren Newton Ingrid Oberkanins Ed Partyka Harry Pepl Werner Pirchner Dominique Pifarély Wolfgang Puschnig Christian Radovan Joris Roelofs Mathias Rüegg Andy Scherrer Arkady Shilkloper Harry Sokal Dominik Stöger Hans Strasser Hans Theessink Tobias Weidinger Stephan Zimmermann

The Vienna Art Orchestra was a European jazz group based in Vienna, Austria. Organized at different times as either a big band or as a smaller combo, it was regarded as one of the leading European jazz ensembles and was an official cultural ambassador of the Republic of Austria.

History[]

Founded in 1977 by director and composer Mathias Rüegg, the band started out by performing Rüegg's postmodern compositions on stages throughout Europe. Among the founding musicians were mallet percussionist Woody Schabata, saxophonists Wolfgang Puschnig and Harry Sokal, singer Lauren Newton, trombone player Christian Radovan and tuba player . In 1980, the ensemble signed a recording contract with the Swiss hatART label, and in 1984 they toured the United States for the first time.

The group essentially disbanded for a brief period at the end of the 1980s. In 1992, the VAO opened a new phase with a smaller complement of musicians. The band played fewer of Rüegg's compositions and concentrated on arrangements of works by Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, and other noted American jazz composers, as well as music inspired by the classical music of Verdi, Wagner, Schubert, and Erik Satie.

In 1997, the ensemble's personnel changed once again, increasing in size and adding younger musicians. New compositions by Rüegg became a regular feature of VAO concerts, which often included visual and dramatic elements.

The Vienna Art Orchestra has performed more than 800 concerts and released more than 35 recordings. The film An Echo from Europe: Vienna Art Orchestra on Tour by was released in 1998.

The ensemble was nominated for an Amadeus Austrian Music Award in 2001 for the album All That Strauss, and again in 2003 for Art and Fun.

On July 10, 2010, Mathias Rüegg announced that the Vienna Art Orchestra had been disbanded for financial reasons.^[1]

Discography[]

Vienna Art Orchestra[]

Vienna Art Special[]

Vienna Art Choir[]

Vienna Art Orchestra with Ernst Jandl[]

See also[]

• List of experimental big bands

References[]

External links[]

• Vienna Art Orchestra official website
• Mathias Rüegg official website
• Vienna Art Orchestra unofficial discography (with details taken from actual LPs/CDs) - https://vao.neocities.org/