Wiener Singakademie

As the first mixed choir in Vienna, the Wiener Singakademie was founded in 1858 to establish a "Singübungsanstalt" - an institution for the training of voices.

Composers who conducted premiere performances of their works with the Wiener Singakademie have included Edvard Grieg, Anton Rubinstein and Pietro Mascagni.

Wilhelm Furtwängler and Paul Hindemith, Karl Böhm and Hans Svarowsky, along with the young Lorin Maazel were jointly responsible for the choir's development at that time.

Since the beginning of the 1998–99 season, Heinz Ferlesch has led the choir, which features the routine training of singers, and integrates young soloists and ensembles into concert performances.

The fall 2006 performance of Händel's Judas Maccabaeus was recorded and produced as a CD in cooperation with the ORF (the Austrian Broadcasting Company).