The 2024 Military Music Festival is history: yesterday evening, the joint event organized by the Austrian Armed ForcesLower Austria, Licht ins Dunkel and ORF ended last night at the Grafenegg Castle took to the stage. 4,000 visitors attended the event live in the castle, while a further 1,400 visitors took advantage of the public viewing opportunity. The charity event was performed by around 350 musicians from seven military bands.
Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner: “Especially in challenging times in terms of security policy, the Austrian Armed Forces must focus on military national defense. However, part of this is also a reflection on military traditions – including our cultural values. I am delighted that our military bands, with their long tradition of military music, were able to perform together again this year and inspire numerous spectators with their performances.” The Minister continued: “Every year, the Military Music Festival is one of the largest musical events of the Austrian Armed Forces and our partnerships also support a good cause. I am particularly proud of our soldiers who, together with Licht ins Dunkel, make their contribution to our society in Austria in this way.”
“I am particularly proud of our soldiers who, together with Licht ins Dunkel, are making their contribution to our society in Austria in this way.”
Verteidigungsministerin Klaudia Tanner
Seven military bands show off their skills
Seven military bands took part in this year’s military music festival, including the military bands from Vorarlberg, Salzburg, Upper Austria, Burgenland, Carinthia and the guard band from Vienna in addition to the hosts, the Military Band of Lower Austria. In addition to musical performances by well-known composers, the highlight of this year’s Military Music Festival was the world premiere of the newly composed work “Dream of an Austrian Reservist” by Carl Michael Ziehrer.
Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner: “The Military Music Festival is a great enrichment for Lower Austria. Here in Grafenegg, where classical music normally reigns supreme, brass music is now also playing. And this has a particularly long tradition in Lower Austria with around 500 bands and associations and almost 25,000 musicians. I am convinced that many of them will be inspired by military music. Military music is an important part of our country’s tradition and I am delighted that they performed so impressively in Lower Austria. It was a celebration of music, a celebration of joy and a celebration of living diversity!”
This year, the musicians’ musical repertoire was once again extremely varied. In addition to classical marching music, such as the opening march “Stolz auf Niederösterreich” (Pride in Lower Austria), the military musicians presented musical pieces from a wide range of genres, from pop to rock and on to classical music. The military music show program included works by Johann Strauss, Anton Bruckner and Hans Eisler with visualizations on video walls. The military music festival also showcased the latest equipment of the Austrian Armed Forces. The last item on the program was “The Great Austrian Tattoo” with historical traditional units.
ORF Director General Roland Weißmann: “It has now become a fine tradition that the Military Music Festival – this time in Grafenegg – marks the symbolic start of the new campaign year of Light into Darkness and this year, too, this has been impressively successful. As the media platform of Licht ins Dunkel, it is very important to ORF to promote inclusive awareness-raising in Austrian society, which is why we support Licht ins Dunkel in all our media and thus motivate people in Austria to donate. I would therefore like to thank all donors to Licht ins Dunkel as well as the Austrian Armed Forces, who once again ensured a successful start with the military music festival.”
The Military Music Festival is a charity event at which donations are collected for the aid organization Licht ins Dunkel (Light into the Darkness) according to the motto “The ticket is free – your donation to Licht ins Dunkel is valuable”.
Ines Stilling, President of the Licht ins Dunkel association: “The cooperation between the Austrian Armed Forces, the ORF and the Licht ins Dunkel association has been a successful partnership for many decades. Three years ago, this partnership was enriched by the musically valuable element of the military music festival. This year, we are once again able to embark on this musical journey at a very special location. The festival site in Grafenegg with its cloud tower forms the impressive backdrop and offers the opportunity for thousands of people on site and as many as possible in front of the TV sets to follow the event and hopefully support Light into Darkness with their donation. They will all help us to help children and their families in difficult life situations quickly and unbureaucratically. Thank you to everyone who supports the Military Music Festival and Licht ins Dunkel.”
On May 25, ORF will broadcast the recording of the event on ORF 2 (starting at 10 p.m.).
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