The boys are divided into four touring choirs, named after Austrian composers Bruckner, Haydn, Mozart and Schubert, which combined perform about 300 concerts each year before almost 500,000 people.

The Wiener Hofmusikkapelle was established by a letter from Emperor Maximilian I of the Holy Roman Empire on 30 June 1498, instructing court officials to employ a singing master, two basses and six boys.

Over the centuries, the choir has worked with many composers, including Heinrich Isaac, Hofhaimer, Biber, Fux, Caldara, Gluck, Salieri, Mozart, Franz Schubert and Bruckner.

The choir adopted the now-famous blue-and-white sailor suit, replacing the imperial military cadet uniform that included a dagger.

However, since then, the choir has come under pressure to modernize and has faced criticism of their musical standards, leading to a split with the Vienna State Opera.

VBCMA carries on with the pedagogical traditions of the Vienna Boy Choir, offering year-round music programmes with songs from different cultures and in different languages.

[7] The Vienna Boys Choir Music Academy Foundation (VBCMAF) is a registered charitable organization under the Section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance in Hong Kong.

The 'Hong Kong - Vienna Music Festival' was set up by the Foundation in 2016, promoting the exchange of musicians from both places and presenting joint performances by them, such as the 'Mahler Symphony No 8' and the 'Beethoven from Day to Night - Piano Sonatas Marathon".

[8] In 2010, following sexual abuse allegations from two former choristers stemming from the late 1960s and early 1980s, the Vienna Boys' Choir opened a confidential phone and e-mail hotline to allow others to come forward.