The Austrian Music Fund (ÖMF) has announced another new funding initiative in addition to the Impulse program: supported by the recent infusion of money by the Austrian Ministry of Culture, the OMF+ program will offer financial support for music marketing. The OMF+ program is designed to support artists, ensembles, and bands in establishing themselves on the music market or broadening their audiences. Subventions can be production-based (marketing an album, EP, or other release) or project-based (marketing a tour, fostering international collaborations, etc.). They are intended to support mode ..read more

From September 18 – 21, Europe’s largest showcase festival will once again be taking over the city of Hamburg. For artists, the Reeperbahn Festival is a springboard to Germany and a gateway to the wider world – and Austrian Music Export is looking for acts to represent the Alpine Republic in the far north of Germany! The Reeperbahn Festival has been thrilling music fans and professionals with its colorful programming since 2006. As usual, Austrian Music Export will be representing in 2024 with its own Austrian Heartbeats showcase. The showcase will be taking place this year at the Twenty Five ..read more

THE GREAT ESCAPE (TGE) is returning this year, taking place in 30+ venues across Brighton from May 15th to the 18th. As always, the renowned festival will feature a cutting-edge assortment of brand-new and established artists from all over the world – including Austrian acts like oh alien, Oskar Haag, Bon Jour, and Sharktank – and, as in past years, an Austrian Heartbeats reception and showcase on May 17th. About TGE The Great Escape is a UK festival for new music, showcasing 500 emerging artists from all over the world in 30+ walkable venues across Brighton and a pop-up festival site on Brigh ..read more

In German, they say “April does what it will”, which seems to be particularly true this year. We’ve hardly had time to take note of the weather, though – we’ve been out in the great wide open, fulfilling our raison d’être of representing Austrian music to the world. Curious? Then scroll on, gentle reader – it’s your Austrian Music Highlights for April. Making the rounds Austrian Heartbeats stand at jazzahead! 2024, (c) Philip Yaeger We spend most of our time in Vienna, but in the last few weeks, we’ve been getting out a lot – to Estonia for Tallinn Music Week, to the spring meetings of network ..read more

It’s a band for spring, for evenings outside and – just maybe – to fall in love to: Gardens is FM4 Soundpark’s homegrown act of the month. It’s April. There’s no way around it: spring is officially here. Time to dream dreams that are just a little kitschy…picture it: a sunset sky streaked pink and orange. You’re on your old bike, riding to meet your friends, who are already waiting for you at the lake. You press play on – why not? – the tape player stuffed into your backpack…and the song you hear, after a couple of clicks, is “Talk” by Gardens. Video: Gardens – “Talk” This is your band fo ..read more

Austrian Music Export is happy to announce the recipients of the second wave of Impulse grants. 21 applications were submitted during the second call period, for a total of €89,475. The jury had a total of €18,500 to disburse for this round, which it chose to distribute as follows… Impulse Recipients – call 24-02 Elmo Nero, for a performance at jazzahead! in Germany Friedberg, touring as an opening act for Giant Rooks in the USA Freude, for the Diffus Live Session in Germany Le Mol, for an audiovisual performance at the DUNK! Festival in Belgium oh alien, for a showcase performance at The Gre ..read more

A lot of Austrian musical groups or institutions are celebrating twentieth anniversaries this year, and FAT – the Fabulous Austrian Trio. Guitarist Alex Machacek, bassist Raphael Preuschl, and drummer Herbert Pirker are all in great demand as musicians, and they live in three different countries, on two different continents – but they all see the project as a core element of their musical lives, and manage to schedule a fixed period for it each year. The band has always had a love for contrasts – complex rhythms and harmonies share space with straight-ahead grooves and melodies that get stuck ..read more

At the Wien Modern festival in 2019, the Vienna Konzerthaus was treated to a one-hour tour de force from pianist Ingrid Schmoliner. Now, the performance is available as a meticulously designed physical release on Ventil Records. Christoph Benkeser recently spoke to Schmoliner via Zoom in her Vienna apartment: fresh tulips on the table, a pair of cats stalking past the camera from time to time. “A hell of a week,” she says. Perhaps that’s what made for such an unusually open, honest conversation – about aggression and depression, the memory of stones, and the right piano for a marathon. And mus ..read more

The northwest German ART Ensemble NRW, specializing in contemporary music, has announced a Kafka-themed composition competition for the 2024 edition of the festival Klangräume Düsseldorf. 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Franz Kafka, that unique chronicler of a world stumbling into modernity and the psychological effects on the individual. The ART Ensemble NRW has announced a commemorative composition competition for pieces referencing Kafka’s work. Just the facts Submissions should be no longer than 8 minutes long and should make reference to Kafka’s writings, including poems ..read more

The world has changed a lot in the last twenty years, and so has Austrian music. In this series, we’re checking in with artists chosen over the past two decades to take part in NASOM – The New Austrian Sound of Music – an initiative of the Austrian Foreign Ministry (BMEIA) to foster the international careers of young Austria-based musicians and groups. This time, we’re especially excited to feature an act from the very beginnings of the NASOM project: Vienna musical legends Die Strottern. They’re a little like those guys in school who were super-cool and popular but were al ..read more