We would like the opportunity to share this experience with you.

This beautiful project brings together a precious cultural heritage:

• the musical instruments by the finest luthiers of the past (all of them museum pieces, but restored and made available to the musicians of today)
• the exquisite acoustical properties of these instruments
• musical masterpieces of very high artistic value performed on these instruments. In essence, a feast for the eye, the ear and the intellect!

Three composers are being commemorated in 2009, who are directly related to the instruments of the two collections

Henry Purcell (born 1659), Georg Friedrich Händel (†1759), Joseph Haydn (†1809)

The project consists of the following parts :

I. Exhibition of the collections of Orpheon and Musica Kremsmünster

• Orpheon: string instruments from 1560 to 1800
• Musica Kremsmünster: Keyboard instruments from 1780-1840
• Wind instruments from 1580-1800

The exhibition includes all sort of audio-visual and high-tech electronic media, data base information retrieval, etc.

II. Concert series: Purcell, Händel, Haydn

Four concerts during the exhibition, performed by Orpheon:
As examples:
1. Henry Purcell and his Time : Music from Dowland, Byrd, Gibbons, Lawes, Purcell
2. Händel in Germany : Music by Händel, Bach, Telemann
3. Händel in Italy : Händel, Scarlatti, Vivaldi
4. Haydn at Esterhazy : Trios for baryton, viola and violoncello by Haydn, Lidl, Tomasini

III: Educational Programme
specially geared for school classes of all levels, the programme includes instructional materials for the teachers and workbooks and games for the pupils. Special guided tours for school classes. Conferences on instrument-making, performance practice.

ORPHEON FOUNDATION
Praterstrasse 13/1/3, A-1020 Vienna, Austria
Tel. / Fax : +43-1-21 430 21

Castle of Kremsegg: info [@] schloss-kremsegg.at

Y OUR ROLE AS OUR HOST:

Each host - your festival, for instance - has total independence in organising the project in its own country. You decide the following aspects entirely on your own:

1. EXHIBITION: date and duration
2. CONCERTS: number of concerts and which programs
3. LECTURES, SYMPOSIA, COURSES: entirely up to you.

Further, each host can decide to do any combination of the three parts above: exhibition and concerts, but no lectures, for instance. I will be glad to personally advice you in the develompent of this project for your festivals, considering your personal needs.

FINANCING: A full 60% of all the costs of this project will be covered by the European Union; Only 40% of the funding need be supplied by the hosting organisation. This extraordinary offer will enable many festivals to enrich their cultural programming by the presentation of this unique collection of historical musical instruments, all restored and placed at the disposal of professional musicians, the series of concerts with these instruments and the series of lectures and presentations

If you need clarification of any of the above points, do not hesitate to contact me personally.

Prof. José Vázquez
University of Vienna

Please see also the pdf document : collection on tour

• a film for Orpheon : extract from " The living museum"

JV : "Originally I wanted to form an ensemble, which played on really fine instruments. Since most people don't have access to such instruments, I decided to collect them myself so that the others can use them. Since I play both violin and viola da gamba, I began collecting these. The violin family consists of the violin, the viola, the violoncello and the double bass; the viola da gamba family comes in seven sizes of instruments; there are also violas d'amore in the collection and several keyboard instruments, which are necessary for the performance of this music...."