Each month, we spotlight up-and-coming jazz artists from Austria as part of the “5 Million Pesos” series — a monthly concert and radio broadcast dedicated to young jazz in and from Austria, presented by Radiokulturhaus Vienna and the Ö1 Jazz Department. For November, the spotlight shines even brighter! On November 16th, 5 Million Pesos brings us a special event, with a 3-band lineup and a live broadcast on Ö1. Scroll down to find out more!
Concert: MON| Nov. 16, 2026 | 7:20 PM | Main Broadcasting Hall
Broadcast: Live, with Andreas Felber
In collaboration with the Ö1 Jazz editorial team and in partnership with Quinton Records.
5 Million Pesos Special
Mon, Nov. 16, 2026, 7:20 p.m. – Live broadcast on Ö1!
Main Broadcasting Hall
Thomas Quendler Motion (album presentation)
Maximilian Glanz (tenor saxophone)
Johannes Mandl (guitar)
Thomas Quendler (piano)
Jakob Gönitzer (bass)
Andreas Reisenhofer (drums)
Carla Kaltenböck & Carla’s Cafe
Carla Kaltenböck (vocals)
Tom Silver (piano)
Azin Seraj (double bass)
Max Plattner (percussion)
Alan Bartus Trio
Lineup to be announced
5 Million Pesos Special
The focus of this special 5 Million Pesos evening is on three musicians who have also distinguished themselves in recent years as recipients of the Ö1 Jazz Scholarship. As such, they have benefited—or will benefit—from a two-year program at the Jam Music Lab private university in Vienna, as well as a CD production in the “Jazz Cats of Tomorrow” series by Quinton Records, the Vienna-based label of Andreas Rathammer.
Pianist Alan Bartus, who hails from Slovakia and grew up partly in Austria, is the 2022 Ö1 Jazz Scholarship winner and has since continued his studies at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. The 25-year-old has demonstrated his great talent on the U.S. jazz scene—including as the only European semifinalist in the 2023 Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz International Piano Competition and as the winner of the 2024 Dave Brubeck Composer and Pianist Award.
His fellow keyboardist, Thomas Quendler, hails from Carinthia, is celebrating his 26th birthday today, and was named the 2025 Ö1 Jazz Scholarship winner: Today, Quendler presents the very sophisticated modern jazz album “Continuum,” just released on Quinton Records, for which he has expanded his trio—featuring guitarist Johannes Mandl and tenor saxophonist Maximilian Glanz—into the quintet Motion: In addition to original compositions penned by Quendler, the album features standards by Miles Davis and Oliver Nelson.
The youngest member of the group is singer Carla Kaltenböck, who was born in Baden near Vienna in 2002 and grew up in Vienna: On April 30, 2026, during Ö1 Jazz Day, she was presented with the certificate for winning the 2026 Ö1 Jazz Scholarship during the evening’s live Ö1 broadcast from the Treibhaus in Innsbruck. Kaltenböck cites American jazz singer Cécile McLorin Salvant as a particular musical inspiration, sharing with her the distinctly vivid performance style of her songs and a penchant for storytelling. With her quartet Carla’s Café, Carla Kaltenböck released the single “A Dream” in late June 2026; today she will offer further previews of her debut album, set to be released in 2027 on Quinton Records.
“5 Million Pesos” – Young Jazz in and from Austria. A concert series presented by ORF RadioKulturhaus Vienna and the Ö1 Jazz Editorial Team.
Translated from the German original by Arianna Alfreds.