NASOM – The New Austrian Sound of Music was initiated in 2002 by the Austrian Foreign Ministry (BMEIA) to support young Austria-based musicians. Every two years, five acts in each of the genres classical, jazz, global, contemporary, and pop/electronic are selected to receive the Ministry’s assistance in their international endeavors. The acts for 2025-2026 were recently announced; on Monday, September 2, the ninth edition of the program will kick off with a gala concert in the Vienna club Porgy & Bess.
Piano Duo Kalabova & Gugg
In their many years as a duo, Tereza Gugg-Kalabova and Johannes Gugg have developed a particularly keen understanding of how to play together. Their sensitive and balanced interpretations have won them numerous prizes, brought them to stages such as Vienna’s Konzerthaus and Musikverein, and garnered them international attention.
Samuel Toro Pérez
Samuel Toro Pérez is an Austrian-Colombian guitarist, composer and performer based in Vienna and specializing in contemporary music, in concert and in contexts such as theatre, performance and media art. They prefer working in collaborative settings, questioning the roles between composing, performing, creating and curating. Recent collaborations have led to solo pieces by and with Elena Rykova, Alexander Kaiser and Jorge Sánchez-Chiong.
Yvonne Moriel: SWeetlife
Yvonne Moriel released “Sweet Life”, an EP fusing jazz with dub, hip-hop, and electronic sounds, at the end of 2021. Her live band, featuring Stephanie Weninger on keyboards, Andreas Tausch on guitar, und Raphael Vorraber on drums, presents a freer, more jazz-centric, constantly evolving version of the music from the recording.
Duo Minerva
Duo Minerva, consisting of Tyrolean clarinettist Johanna Gossner and Vorarlberg accordionist Damian Keller, are an example of the kind of new and exciting sounds that result from freeing oneself of all musical traditions. Their most recent album, Sound of Servus, is a artful crossover work combining Alpine folk music and avant-garde sounds. The duo reinterprets classical masterpieces with refinement and humor, telling their stories in an elegant, unique manner.
Haezz
This “Austrian all-star jazz trio” (Andreas Felber) specializes in mature, compact compositions: warm, intimate chorales finely woven counterpoint, energetic grooves, and rhythmic complexity, all performed with incredible virtuosity by Tobias Vedovelli, Štěpán Flagar und Martin Eberle – three musicians who have transcended the need to prove themselves and who know exactly what they’re doing. Music that touches the heart and stimulates the brain.
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