Twenty-five Years of Wien Modern

Austria’s largest contemporary music festival is entering its 25th season, a landmark that should certainly be celebrated. The nearly month-long festival features concerts, kids’ shows, talks, workshops, exhibits, film and dance.

Visitors will not only carouse with some of the newest sounds out there, but also take in some well-deserved glances at Vienna’s avant-garde legacy: the composer John Cage, at the end of his centennial birth year, and Lothar Knessel, festival founder and Austria’s man of modern music for over 50 years.

A general pass (€86, students €56) gets you into almost all events and includes a copy of the (extensive) catalogue. Two women will be especially featured: Olga Neuwirth, composer and femme terrible, and VALIE EXPORT, Austria’s feminist actionist artist. Wien Modern opens on 22 Oct (until 16 Nov.)

For information see, www.wienmodern.at, or www.facebook.com/wienmodern.

For coverage of previous Wien Modern festivals, see "‘Here and Now’: Wien Modern" in Nov 2010 TVR and "Wien Modern: ‘Classical Hardcore’" in Dec 2011 / Jan 2012 TVR.