+creating musical independence
in View of Heinrich Schiffs Vision
making Music since 2011,
playing concerts since 2013
VIEW Orchestra
+creating musical independence in View of Heinrich Schiffs Vision.
+ Die Kunst als Selbstzweck und
rein ästhetischer Kunstgenuß wird
scharf abgelehnt.
Hanns Eisler (1898-1962)
In 2011, León de Castillo invited several young colleagues from the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna to create a distinctive orchestral sound that would serve as an unconventional accompaniment for a singer.
The Orchestra gave its debut concert in March 2013 at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna. From the very beginning, its artistic identity was shaped at the intersection of history, politics, and the arts, driven by the ambition to rethink the role of classical music in Vienna.
Heinrich Schiff:
During its first three seasons, the renowned cellist and conductor Heinrich Schiff (1951–2016) worked closely with the View Orchestra, preparing the orchestra for its performances.
He embraced the Orchestra’s collaborative spirit and encouraged the initiative of its young musicians, who had come together with the shared conviction that music could inspire meaningful social and cultural change.
Carnegie Hall, Musikverein,
Konzerthaus, Palacio Bellas Artes:
Since then, the Viennese chamber orchestra has performed in internationally renowned concert halls, including Carnegie Hall in New York City, the Wiener Musikverein, the Wiener Konzerthaus, the Palacio de Bellas Artes (Mexico), and the Sala Nezahualcóyotl in Mexico City.
Additional performances have taken place at the Schlosstheater Schönbrunn, Theater Odeon, Sofiensäle, Ehrbar Saal,
Palais Schönburg, Castillo de Chapultepec (Mexico), Teatro Peón Contreras (Mexico), Teatro de la Ciudad (Mexico), Teatro Juan de la Cabada (Mexico), and the Großer Sendesaal of Vienna's Radiokulturhaus.
Driven by a commitment to artistic innovation, the View Orchestra launched a series of transdisciplinary open-air concert formats in 2016, creating connections between classical music, electronic music, alternative pop, visual arts, history, and politics.
Erich Lessing:
One notable project at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna combined a theatrical work about the young photographer Erich Lessing's escape in 1939 with anti-fascist music by composers who had been forced into exile.
Classical Music x Electronic Music:
The Orchestra also collaborated with contemporary composer Gavin Gamboa (*1985) and the Los Angeles-based artist collective Teaching Machine on an interdisciplinary project that brought together the music of Georg Friedrich Händel, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Domenico Scarlatti with electronic music and visual art.
Format focused on Women in
classical Music:
Remembering the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 and the first Women's Sunday in June 1908 of the Women's Social and Political Union the View Orchestra started in summer 2018 with a new yearly based concert format focused on the works of female composers from baroque until contemporary music.
To mark the 280th anniversary of Antonio Vivaldi's death, the Orchestra presented the interdisciplinary multimedia project IV Viertual Dimensional Reality: Vivaldiana in 2021.
Centered on the symbolic number four, the project featured large-scale projections on Vienna's Karlskirche and a performance of The Four Seasons near Vivaldi's grave.
Also in 2021, the View Orchestra made its debut at Donauinselfest, the world's largest open-air music festival, attracting around three million visitors over three days. The orchestra became the first classical ensemble to perform on the festival's main stage in its 40-year history.
Baustellen Klassik:
In the year 2022 the Orchestra created the "Baustellen Klassik" to focus on the objective of construction sites as a vehicle of time travel on the constant journey as an investment for a better future.
For these series the conductor and composer Bernhard Melbye Voss wrote immersive concept music interacting with the sounds of the machines and the construction workers.
It was performed next to the construction site for the new metro station at Kirchengasse, Vienna.
XCES:
Techno Meets Classical Music
With XCES, the View Orchestra brought classical music and techno together in a new open-air format, combining orchestra, conductor, DJs, and electronic music. Created with DJ and producer Alecid, the project transformed Vienna’s Donaupark into an immersive space where classical and contemporary music met beside the Danube and the Donauturm.
The View Orchestra is the Festival Orchestra of the human-rights festival Primavera Festival Wien.
The main conductor is Bernhard Melbye Voss (Denmark).
A new Chapter:
From Valsassina Ensemble to VIEW Orchestra
From its foundation until 2024, the orchestra performed under the name Valsassina Ensemble, by which it became internationally known through its concerts and interdisciplinary projects.
Since 2024, the ensemble has appeared under the name VIEW Orchestra.
The new name serves as an abbreviation of the original title while reflecting the orchestra's expanded artistic vision. VIEW stands for Valsassina Interdisciplinary Ensemble Wien, emphasizing the ensemble's commitment to crossing the boundaries between classical music, contemporary art, technology, history, politics, and other artistic disciplines.
While the name has evolved, the orchestra continues the artistic mission established with the Valsassina Ensemble in 2011.
