Vincent Pongracz

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BIOGRAPHY

“Pongrácz is a young arranger and composer that must be taken seriously. He fortunately also plays his instrument very well.“ – Mathias Rüegg

Vincent Pongrácz (born 1985 in Vienna) is an Austrian saxophone and clarinet player, composer and arranger.He graduated in 2013 at the University for Music and Performing Arts Vienna (MDW). Pongrácz was invited to lead the stage band at the jazz club Porgy & Bess in Vienna for the concert season 2012/13 . In 2019 Pongrácz was commissioned to write the music for the contemporary jazz opera Leelah which is being performed by the Jazzorchester Vorarlberg, Renee Benson and himself. The program has so far been hosted by festivals and concert venues including the Popfest Wien, Porgy & Bess, Jazz & The City and the Jazzwerkstatt Bern. In 2020 he received a Staatsstipendium for composition from the Austrian Ministry of Art and Culture and was selected by the European Forum Alpbach to write a piece for their 75 year anniversary which was performed in 2021 by Klangforum Wien.

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