As the son of a musical family (his father Georg was a viola player in the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra for over 40 years[1]) Franz Patay's interests were encouraged from a young age.
Franz Patay, who holds a doctorate in law, was Secretary General and executive director of the IMZ – International Music + Media Centre Vienna since October 1994.
In this office, which he held until 1994, his principal responsibilities lay in the legal and organisational management of the university; the main focus of his work were the departments of voice and stage performance, film and television, as well as acting and directing the Max Reinhardt Seminar.
Franz Patay's profile as an arts administrator is distinguished by the high number and variety of the individual projects carried out as part of large-scale international cultural events.
As Chief Executive of the Vienna Mozart Year 2006, Franz Patay was responsible for overall coordination and implementation alongside Peter Marboe as artistic director.
In October 2016 Franz Patay succeeded Thomas Drozda as CEO of the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien, who has been appointed to the federal minister of culture.