Female Members of the Vienna Philharmonic to Present New Year’s Day Concert

This year, a new ensemble in Vienna featuring female members of the Vienna Philharmonic will present an alternative New Years’ Day concert. The organization is being discussed as a potential critique of the Vienna Philharmonic’s long-standing male culture.

What’s the buzz: On January 1st, 2025, the newly founded La Philharmonica featuring female members of the Vienna Philharmonic will present a New Years’ concert in Vienna’s Ehrbar Saal. Their concert will feature works by female composers curated and narrated by the musicologist Irene Suchy, entitled 1. Neujahrskonzert der Komponistinnen. Featured composers include Gisela Frankl, Anna Gräfin von Stubenberg, Leopoldine Blahetka, Constanze Geiger, Josefine Weinlich, and Mathilde Kralik interspersed with works by Johann Strauss II.

The commentary: While the musicologist Irene Suchy instigated La Philharmonica’s concert, the concert has prompted discussions regarding whether or not the female-dominant concert should be construed as a critique of the Vienna Philharmonic. From 1842 until 1997, the self-governing Vienna Philharmonic was an all-male ensemble. Now, 24 out of the ensemble’s 145 musicians identify as female.

Perhaps La Philharmonica’s concert will inspire increased gender diversity not only in the orchestra’s musicians, but in its programming choices. An all-female composers’ New Years’ Day Vienna Phil concert could be interesting, don’t you think?

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Sara Schabas

Sara Schabas is a Dora-nominated soprano, writer and yoga teacher. She has performed and created leading roles with companies including Vancouver Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria, the Dayton Opera, and Aspen Opera, and is a former member of Barbara Hannigan’s Equilibrium Young Artists. Currently based in Montreal, she is a doctoral student at McGill University — where she recently received the Wirth Vocal Prize — and editor of Art Song Canada magazine.