Later on, he obtained a rich musical education at the Vienna Conservatory under violinist Joseph Böhm, and played in the orchestra of Johann Strauss I.

From 1867 he regularly performed with the "Bilse's Band" (Bilse'sche Kapelle) at the Concerthaus on Leipziger Straße in Berlin.

Although initially facing trouble gaining traction, the orchestra became increasingly popular by targeting the middle class as its audience through offering food and drink during concerts.

This concept of a laid-back experience aimed at the middle class also spread across the Atlantic where it inspired Promenade Concerts in Boston, Massachusetts.

[1] Bilse toured Europe and gave guest concerts in Saint Petersburg, Riga, Warsaw, Amsterdam, Vienna, as well as at the 1867 Exposition Universelle in Paris, where his band performed The Blue Danube together with Johann Strauss II.