Heinz Ferlesch

Heinz Ferlesch is artistic director of the Vienna Singakademie and the Ad Libitum Choir as well as conductor of the original period ensemble Barucco Orchestra. With his ensembles he is present in both national and international musical life. He conducts productions at the Vienna Konzerthaus and the Theater an der Wien, the Brucknerhaus Linz and the Festspielhaus St. Pölten, the Tyrolean Festival Erl and the Carinthian Summer as well as at the International Baroque Days Sift Melk, the European Festival Passau, the International Händel Festival Halle, the Müpa Budapest and the Žofín Palace in Prague.

As conductor of the Choir of the Vienna Konzerthaus he works with conductors such as Simon Rattle, Gustavo Dudamel, Valery Gergiev, Philippe Jordan, Simone Young, Kent Nagano, Franz Welser-Möst, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Daniel Harding and Ton Koopman. Productions with the Wiener Singakademie and regular concerts at the Wiener Konzerthaus have led him to the most important concert halls in the world.

Together with the oboist Andreas Helm, Heinz Ferlesch founded the original period ensemble and Consort Barucco, which consists of internationally renowned baroque specialists. Their passionate interest in questions of interpretation true to the original results in highly acclaimed performances for audiences and media alike. The orchestra’s repertoire includes the great masterpieces of the Baroque as well as chamber music cantatas, concerti and suites of this age.

Heinz Ferlesch has an intensive collaboration with the Ad Libitum Choir, which he founded in 1993. The mixed choir is one of the most sought-after musical ensembles of its genre in Austria and is a popular musical partner of ensembles and orchestras such as Percussive Planet, the piano duo Önder, Pro Brass, the Bruckner Orchestra Linz and Barucco.

Heinz Ferlesch teaches at the University of Music Vienna, is musical director of the Vocal Academy Lower Austria and coordinator of the choir scene Lower Austria. His successful work makes him an internationally sought-after guest conductor, juror and workshop leader, among others with Choeur de Radio France, Orfeó Català, Kodaly Choir Debrezen, Berkshire Choral International, Summa Cum Laude and Interkultur. He is also a member of the World Choir Council.

Heinz Ferlesch was awarded the Ferdinand Grossmann Prize, he is the winner of the Culture Prize of Lower Austria and the winner of the Golden Cultural Needle of his hometown of St. Valentin.