Since its founding by Bernhard Paumgartner in 1951 and the subsequent leadership of Sándor Végh from 1978-1997, the Camerata Salzburg has developed a signature Camerata Klang (or „Camerata Sound") through a dedication to the repertoire of the Viennese Classics, by fostering a multicultural family of musicians representing over 24 nationalities, and by developing a rehearsal discipline unlike any other ensemble. Sandór Végh candidly characterized the Camerata Salzburg's niché as performing as an „enlarged string quartet".

The ensemble draws many internationally acclaimed guest artists, including conductors Franz Welser-Möst, Trevor Pinnock and Sir Neville Marriner and soloists Murray Perahia, Mitsuko Uchida, Joshua Bell, Steven Isserlis and Anne-Sophie Mutter. To further the Camerata Salzburg's artistic priorities, Leonidis Kavakos was installed as principal guest artist beginning in 2001/02 for a four-year term. He is charged with intensifying the work of Camerata Salzburg in the area of soloist-lead concerts.

Highlights of the 2001/02 season include subscription concerts in Salzburg's Mozarteum and in Vienna's Konzerthaus, guest appearances in New York's Carnegie Hall, the Cologne Philharmonie, the Luzern Festival, Munich's Prinzregententheater and in Madrid, Istanbul, Pittsburgh, Paris and a concert tour of Italy. Regular invitations to the Salzburger Festspiele (in 2001, Le Nozze di Figaro with Sylvain Cambreling/Christoph Marthaler), the Salzburg „Mozartwoche" and Camerata Salzburg's own „Festival Begegnung" (in collaboration with the International Mozarteum Foundation) round-out performance activities.

Historic recordings under the supervision of Sándor Végh with the core Viennese repertoire are available on Capriccio, Decca and Philips. More recently, the Mozart violin concerti with Augustin Dumay were recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, HK Gruber's Frankenstein with Franz Welser-Möst for EMI, and the Bach Cantatas with Matthias Goerne and Roger Norrington for Decca.

The Camerata Salzburg performs over 80 concerts per season and is funded mainly through private initiatives. Major annual support is provided by the S-Versicherung and the Salzburger Sparkasse.

Contact details and further information

E-mail Camerata Academica Salzburg

For further details, see Camerata Academica Salzburg