With its residencies at the Musikverein Wien, Festspielhaus St. Pölten and Grafenegg, the Tonkunstler Orchestra is one of Austria’s biggest and most important musical ambassadors. Its artistic focus is the traditional orchestral repertoire, ranging from the Classical to the Romantic periods through to the 20th century. Yutaka Sado, one of the great Japanese conductors, has been the Music Director since the 2015-16 season. The Tonkunstler’s traditional Sunday Afternoon concerts at the Musikverein Wien go back nearly 70 years and remain their most successful concert cycle. The orchestra opens Grafenegg´s summer season and the world-famous Grafenegg Festival with the Midsummer Night’s Gala, broadcast on TV in several European countries. Former Tonkunstler Music Directors include such major figures as Fabio Luisi, Kristjan Järvi and Andrés Orozco-Estrada. In recent years the orchestra has welcomed Kent Nagano, Jakob Hruša, Simone Young and Robert Trevino. Renowned conductors including Michael Schønwandt, Jun Märkl, Krzysztof Urbański, Dmitrij Kitajenko and John Storgårds have repeatedly worked with the Tonkunstler. Recent concert tours have taken them to countries including Germany, Britain, Spain, the Baltic states and, repeatedly, Japan. A wide range of CD recordings reflects the Tonkunstler’s versatile artistic profile. Founded in 2016, the orchestra’s own label releases up to four CDs per year as in-house studio productions and live recordings from the Wiener Musikverein.