Daniel Ottensamer (Clarinet)
Noah Bendix-Balgley (Violin)
Sebastian Gürtler (Violin)
Thilo Fechner (Viola)
Stephan Koncz (Cello)
Ödön Rácz (Double Bass)
Christoph Traxler (Piano)

The Vienna Berlin Music Club — or the Philharmonix as they call themselves. Founded by members of the Berliner and Wiener Philharmoniker, the Philharmonix play everything they have always wanted to play. Their trademark: brilliant arrangements, incomparable virtuosity, and, above all, unbridled joy in making music together, which spills over to the listener in a matter of seconds. In their brilliant new adaptations, they work on pop, jazz, swing, folk music, klezmer, and famous melodies from big Hollywood films in addition to classical works. They bring out previously unheard, original aspects to all compositions - and skilfully combine things that otherwise do not belong together. So not everything is classical music; but everything has musical class.

Their music is influenced by the sound aesthetics and tradition of the top orchestras for which they also work: Thilo Fechner (viola), Daniel Ottensamer (clarinet), and Ödön Rácz (double bass) play with the Wiener Philharmoniker; Stephan Koncz (cello) and Noah Bendix-Balgley (violin) with the Berliner Philharmoniker. They are joined by the outstanding soloists Christoph Traxler (piano) and Sebastian Gürtler (violin), who, together with Stephan Koncz, is also the compositional head of the ensemble. Their aspiration: 'The head must rejoice, the heart exults, and the leg twitches.'

The ensemble records exclusively for Deutsche Grammophon and released their two albums ‘The Vienna Berlin Music Club Vol. I’ and ‘The Vienna Berlin Music Club Vol. II’ in 2018 and 2019. In September 2022, the third album ‘The Vienna Berlin Music Club III’ was released. ‘Classical Music without Borders’ — rarely has a category name been more fitting than in the case of the Philharmonix, who were awarded the OPUS KLASSIK award in 2018 for their first recording. The classical music expertise demonstrated by all members does not prove to be a barrier, but rather an inspiring door opener to new listening experiences.

The Philharmonix appear regularly at the Wiener Konzerthaus. Here they have held a subscription cycle in the Great Hall for several seasons, as well as at the Berliner Philharmonie, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Kulturpalast Dresden, Philharmonie Essen, Philharmonie Luxembourg, and the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg.

SEASON 2024/2025