The leaves are getting crispier, along with the air surrounding them. All the more reason to hunker down in a warm space and get lost in the sphere of a new tune or album. Equally satisfying: get yourself to one of the home-based or international shows by artists, bands and ensembles you know and love, or are soon about to. Austrian Music Export once again invites you to take a stroll down our AUSTRIAN MUSIC HIGHLIGHTS list this month to get to know all the current and upcoming musical goodies in and out of town.
Release Radar
In “Geh ma net” (released on Ink Music on 9/26/25) Yasmo & Die Klangkantine fuse rap with big band horns and heavy guitars. It’s an energetic track about boundaries being drawn and crossed. “Please don’t deny my anger, I don’t care what you say now, I don’t care what you do now. Don’t whistle, just say hello,” Yasmo raps. The music video shows Yasmo & Die Klangkantine with artists such as Elif Duygu, Berglind, and Robert Palfrader. The single announces the new album “Augen auf & durch” (Eyes Open & Through). It is the band’s fourth studio album and will be released on November 7. With the new album, the band, which has been around for 10 years, is going on tour with stops in Graz (November 29), Vienna (December 12), Salzburg (December 17), and Munich (December 21), among others. Translated from the mica – music austria original by Sophia Olesko and Dominik Beyer.
The Stroll by Alex Kranabetter (Trumpet/Effects/Sampler) & Pete Prison IV (Electric Guitar/Effects) is now available on all digital platforms. Their musical styles are as diverse as their backgrounds—but it’s precisely this contrast that sparked their first joint improvisation session, created as part of the smallforms program. The Stroll captures the essence of that encounter: a spontaneous walk through sound and intuition, a musical first date where discovery and dialogue unfold in real time.
Five years have passed since Purple is the Color released their last album, Epic—a period during which the band led by pianist and composer Simon Raab was anything but idle. The Austrian-Czech quartet toured across Europe, refined their sound, and grew together as an ensemble. In 2023, they received the ultimate accolade: as the house band at the Viennese jazz club Porgy & Bess, they presented nine individual programs – a creative marathon that ultimately culminated in “Unbemanntes Raumschiff” (Unit Records). The new work documents this leap forward in their development: intuitively recorded, with minimal post-production and filled with immediate musical energy. Between contemporary jazz, delicate melodies, and unexpected twists, a sound unfolds that appeals to both the head and the heart. Translated from the mica – music austria original interview (German).
The new release on Kairos: “Joanna Woźny: like little … sunderings” brings music which is fragmented, elusive, and constantly evolving, drawing vitality from everyday noise. Joanna Woźny‘s compositions blur the lines between sound and noise, sense and abstraction, dissolving structure into ongoing process. Each piece becomes an open inquiry into presence, perception, and the delicate links between inner and outer worlds.
“Call The Things By Their Name” by LYLIT (released on SYRONA RECORDS on 9/19/25) is a moving track. LYLIT composes and produces all kinds of musical genres, including film music, for which she has already won a Romy Award, among other accolades. As a composer and producer, she works with artists such as Conchita Wurst and Christl and collaborates with international producers such as Pnut (Amy Winehouse) and Eric Alcock (Celine Dion). Her new single is for anyone who likes minimalist sound, honest lyrics, and sensual vocals. With piano, string arrangements, and polyphonic vocals, it is one of those songs that fills the room and makes you listen attentively. LYLIT will release her second album, “her,” on December 5, and will celebrate the release with a concert at the Konzerthaus Wien on December 15. Translated from the mica – music austria original by Sophia Olesko and Dominik Beyer.
Bernd Richard Deutsch – Okeanos. Concerto for Organ and Orchestra: The Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Stefan Asbury, presents a stunning live recording of the world premiere of Bernd Richard Deutsch’s “Okeanos”, captured in 2015 at the Musikverein Wien on the venue’s then brand-new organ. In this virtuosic concerto, Deutsch unfolds a vivid, elemental sound world—powerful, fluid, and ever-changing like its namesake, the ancient Titan of the ocean. Since its acclaimed premiere, Okeanos has been performed in Cleveland, Stavanger, Stockholm, and Berlin, and now exists in two studio productions, underscoring its growing recognition and lasting impact. The work’s inclusion in concert programs worldwide attests to its compelling musical language and its place among the most striking contemporary compositions for organ and orchestra.
The new release Paramyth 1–3 on Austrian label col legno – by Clemens Gadenstätter and the Arditti Quartet – is a string quartet cycle that has been commissioned over the years by various festivals, including the Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music, the Arcana Festival, and Wien Modern. It was composed for three different quartets: the JACK Quartet, the MIVOS Quartet, and the Arditti Quartet. From the outset, composer Clemens Gadenstätter saw the individual pieces as part of a cycle. Several years after the premiere of the individual works, the entire cycle was finally performed by the Arditti Quartet. The three Paramyth compositions—häuten, schlitzen, and reißen—each illuminate familiar experiences that are accessible to all of us and show how they can be intensified and transformed through art.
Festive
Open Jazz Vienna returns in two editions — November 2025 & June 2026 — bringing jazz into Vienna’s atmospheric venues.The first leg takes place November 20–21 at The Loft and new club Lucia. Highlights include Meetups to spark exchange, First Contact sets pairing Austrian scene stalwarts in fresh duo/trio formats (e.g. Golnar Shahyar & Oliver Potratz; Ferstl/Perusich/Sticker), a Walking Concert through Vienna’s streets with headphone transmissions, and a Club Night where newcomers and established acts share the stage (featuring Viberqueen_DUO, Tsombanis4, Katatropic).The festival aspires to open jazz to new audiences and create spontaneous musical encounters.
In November 2025, Sophie Hassfurther will perform in her Austrian-Dutch duo Hassfurther/Schouten in two landmark events known for spotlighting adventurous, boundary-crossing music: Germany’s Moers Festival and the Dutch Basklarinet Festijn. At the Basklarinet Festijn, the duo will appear in Amsterdam on 23 November 2025 at Salon de IJzerstaven, as part of a program that highlights new works, improvisation, and the expressive possibilities of bass clarinet alongside saxophone and other voices. Meanwhile at Moers, Hassfurther and Schouten are slated to appear on 21 November in a duo set for the festival’s jazz/impro division, framed within a broader Moers program that bridges free improvisation, contemporary jazz, and experimental forms. These appearances will allow the pair to immerse themselves in festival atmospheres that embrace exploration, cross-genre dialogue, and bold sonic experimentation.
To Everything, Tour, Tour, Tour
In November 2025, the Vienna-pop band Freude will embark on their “Between Worlds” tour, traveling through Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Balancing introspective melancholy with vibrant energy, the trio guides its audience through soundscapes that blend pop, indie, and electronic elements with finesse. The new songs build bridges between light and darkness, closeness and distance—themes that Freude bring to life on stage with striking presence and poetic intensity. With stops including Cologne, Frankfurt, Dresden, and Munich, the tour promises an atmospheric concert series full of emotional nuances and musical surprises.
In November 2025, indie-pop Austrian sensation OSKA embarks on her Refined Believer Tour with dates across Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands. Highlights include Nov 21 in Berlin (Prachtwerk), Nov 23 in Vienna (Halle D, Wiener Stadthalle), Nov 26 in Hannover (Kulturzentrum Pavillon), Nov 27 in Amsterdam (Cinetol), and Nov 29 in Hamburg (Nochtwache). On this tour, OSKA presents her new album Refined Believer in a stripped-down solo format, translating intimate lyrics and emotional soundscapes into raw live performances under minimal yet evocative staging.
After ten years together, Viennese indie trio DIVES are heading into their final chapter with a heartfelt Abschiedstournee 2025. The farewell tour spans Austria and Germany, including stops in Munich, Freiburg, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Dornbirn, Linz and Ebensee, before culminating in a grand finale on December 3, 2025 at Arena Wien. Expect a celebration of their favorite songs, emotional moments, and a communal goodbye to longtime fans. New and last single “Keep Talking” came out Oct 17!
In autumn 2025, Cantando Admont continues to showcase its versatility and precision across Europe with a series of international performances. The ensemble joins the Munich Philharmonic on October 24 and 25 for Luciano Berio’s Sinfonia at Munich’s Isarphilharmonie, bringing its trademark clarity to one of the 20th century’s most intricate vocal-orchestral works. On November 1, the group appears in Dortmund for SLOW Night – Musikalische Nachtwache, a contemplative late-night concert in St. Petri Church, followed by a performance at the Azores Music Festival on November 13, expanding its reach to the Atlantic stage. Later in the month, Cantando Admont performs at the University Mozarteum Salzburg (November 25), collaborating with young composers, and returns to Munich for further symphonic concerts with the Philharmonic (November 20 & 22). Together, these engagements highlight the ensemble’s growing international profile and its commitment to bridging contemporary and classical traditions.
In October 2025, composer and media artist Marko Ciciliani embarks on an international tour that showcases his multifaceted approach to sound, space, and performance. The international journey began in Berlin on October 9 at Silent Green with the world premiere of Planetary Runway, a monumental 50-meter-long audiovisual installation presented as part of the Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House Night. Two days later, in Bremen (October 11), Ciciliani appeared at Spatial Audio Currents with Archipel Arpeggio, an exploration for live electronics and spherical loudspeaker at the Hochschule der Künste. The tour continues to Gdańsk (October 24) for the NeoArte Festival, where Barogue – Absolute Plunder receives its premiere—an ambitious work for acoustic and electric string quartet, electronics, and video. Finally, at Glasgow’s Gleam Festival (October 30), Ciciliani presents Why Frets?, a two-part reflection on the electric guitar’s legacy, featuring a performance lecture and the audiovisual piece Downtown 1983. Together, these events trace a vivid portrait of Ciciliani’s artistic universe—where music, technology, and visual art intertwine across borders.
SUMIM’ Special
Der tollste Tag, an opera by Johanna Doderer with a libretto by Peter Turrini based on his own play, received its world premiere on October 10, 2025, at the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz. Drawing on Beaumarchais’s Figaro and Mozart’s famous adaptation, Turrini and Doderer reimagine the story for today: beneath its familiar intrigue of desire and deceit lies a stark confrontation with power, sexuality, and resistance. In this modern retelling, wit gives way to violence, and the promise of liberation turns uncertain—Doderer’s music amplifying the tension with visceral immediacy.
Catch all the AUSTRIAN MUSIC HIGHLIGHTS, past and present, here.
Arianna Alfreds
