Wien Modern 2025 runs from October 30 to November 30 in Vienna, Austria’s largest festival for contemporary art music. It presents new music in diverse settings — from the Wiener Konzerthaus to experimental spaces across the city — embracing premieres, cross-disciplinary formats and cultural diversity. The festival continues its mission to reinvent Vienna’s musical identity each year while pushing boundaries in musical expression.
115 attempts at a calm approach to learning curves
“We find ourselves in year 37 after the founding of Wien Modern. The population of Vienna has grown by an astonishing 37 percent. The challenge from 1988 – to finally bring the great masterpieces of the 20th century onto the big stages of this city – isn’t really up to date anymore. Vienna feels noticeably different and less backward-looking than it did 37 years ago, at the low point of the population curve. What music is to be discovered in a growing, increasingly diverse metropolis? Which stages reach which people? Who stands on these stages and who doesn’t? Is our cultural life evolving fast enough to keep up with the pace of social dynamics? Or is it still too backward-looking? And what can music, an astonishingly diverse, touching and inspiring art form, do to help us navigate the learning curves of the present as elegantly as possible?” – Wien Modern
Program
The festival opens on October 30 at the Wiener Konzerthaus with a grand opening concert, followed by Party Modern at Ottakringer Brauerei on November 1, featuring the Ernst Krenek Prize ceremony and a performance by Angélica Castelló. Highlights include Klangforum Wien: Geschliffene Grenzen on November 16 at the Wiener Konzerthaus and the Claudio Abbado Concert on November 25 at the Musikverein. Another key event is Composing While Black, presented by ICE & the Webern Ensemble, exploring works by George Lewis and other contemporary composers.
Find out the programme of Wien Modern 38.
