Each our traditional summer Festival-Tour is product of exciting cooperation of many individuals and organizations from both the United States and Austria. We like to recognize them by Opus number. In August 2027 the Golden Key Music Festival of Vienna will celebrate its Twentieth edition by series of special events and concerts in the Vienna prestigious concert halls such as Ehrbarsaal and Boesendorfersaal at Mozarthaus, as well as in Salzburg, Baden and Eisenstadt. The Festival-Tour combines a unique artistic, performing, and educational experience for professional musicians and students with an exciting vacation for music lovers of all ages.
The core of the Festival-Tour retain its focus on providing participants with wonderful performance opportunities and an unforgettable experience of Austrian musical culture. Participants will:
• Spend the week with instrumentalists, vocalists, composers, and their families from all over the world.
• Perform at the Festival’s gala concert at the world-famous Ehrbarsaal, where Brahms, Bruckner, Mahler, and other famous musicians have performed.
• Attend Master Classes given by notable European music teachers, professors of the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts (mdw)
• Have the opportunity to play in a special concert dedicated to Mozart at the Boesendorfer Hall in Mozarthaus.
• Attend the premiere performance of the compositions written by the Golden Key Music Festival Piano Composition Competition’s Winners.
• Attend recitals of the Festival-Tour’s guest artists.
• Enjoy informative guided bus trips to historic Salzburg, Eisenstadt, Baden, and attend guided excursions to Mozarthaus Museum, Haus der Musik, Esterhazy’s Palace, Holographic Museum of Haydn, Beethoven Museum and others.
• Take walking tours of historic sites of Vienna, Salzburg, and Baden related to Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and other celebrities of the music world.
In addition to what it offers students, the Festival-Tour also provides music teachers an opportunity to play of their own in publicly acclaimed recitals in Vienna.
Finally, the Festival-Tour allows music lovers of all ages to join and attend the concerts as well as all scheduled trips and excursions.
Now in its twentieth year, the Festival-Tour continues to get outstanding reviews from participants. See our Kudos page for a sample of reactions to this and other Golden Key Music Festival programs and also the promotional clip –
The Festival-Tour is open to instrumentalists, vocalists, and composers of all ages. Participants under 15, however, must be accompanied by a parent/guardian. Participant in the Festival-Tour can be of any age.
See the details of the day-to-day activities during the Festival-Tour HERE
In 2027, there are four different classes of applicants for the Golden Key Music Festival of Vienna:
• Winners the Golden Key of Vienna Competition, who had been granted Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Honorable Mention Diploma and Medal in four age categories: Junior 1, Junior 2, Senior, and Young Artist.
• Winners of the Golden Key Piano Composition Competition.
• Teachers, parents, siblings of performers and independent music lovers who wish to participate in the Festival-Tour.
Note: Festival-Tour’s participants must sign and agree to the terms and conditions of the Tour as stated in the Statement of Consent, Release, and Risk Allocation before being allowed to participate. Please, print out the Statement, fill in required information, sign the Statement and email to us it’s image.
Registration for the Golden Key of Vienna Competition:
To be accepted to the 2027 Golden Key of Vienna Competition the instrumentalists and vocalists (solo and ensembles) should apply before March 1, 2027 for the online audition by emailing us the following information:
Applicant’s first and last names
Applicant’s date of birth
Applicant’s gender
Mailing address and email
Full title of the performing composition and full composer’s name. Please, note: only one composition will be accepted per an entry.
In the attachment, send us clickable link to uploaded on Youtube or similar public site composition’s performance
Attach the image of proof of the Application fee payment
The Audition Fee $90 should be paid online at the time of submission via PayPal. If you have any questions regarding the registration procedure, please use our email address for communication: goldenkeyfest@gmail.com
The Competition’s results will be emailed to the candidates not later than March 15, 2027
*Please note, there are two Fees for the Competition’s Winners: Audition Fee and Tour Fee please find here
To perform at the Gala Concert and participate in the Festival-Tour, please, email to us before April 1, 2027:
• the Winner’s First and Last names, email and mailing addresses, and phone number.
• Proof of the Festival-Tour Fee(s) payment.
*NOTE: Parents, teachers, siblings, and friends of the Winner are also welcome to the Festival-Tour as Music Lovers. We expect to receive their names, gender, and DOB.
Registration Winners of the Piano Composition Competition
Email to us before March 15, 2027:
• Composer’s First and Last names, email and mailing addresses; phone number.
• Proof of the Festival-Tour Fee(s) payment.
*NOTE: Parents, teachers, siblings, and friends of winning composers also can join the Festival-Tour as Music Lovers by emailing us their names, gender, and DOB.
Registration Music Lovers
To join the Festival-Tour as an independent music lover unaffiliated with either a student performer or a winning composer, you should before March 15, 2027:
• Email to us your First and Last names, contact information (address, email, phone), gender and DOB
• Proof of the Festival-Tour Fee(s) payment.
We recommend you wire the Tour Fee directly to our bank account (send the request for our account information to goldenkeyfest@gmail.com). However, if you prefer to use PayPal for the transaction, please, add 5% to the amount (PayPal charge). The Fees’ schedule, please, see below. (Fees) If you have any questions regarding to the registration procedure, email to us.
Please note that all correspondence must be conducted via our ONLY official email address: goldenkeyfest@gmail.com
• The music selection should be a part of the standard repertory from the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, or Modern Era. Total the selection’s performance time should not exceed 10 minutes.
• Recorded performances can be emailed as an attachment, or sent as a link to YouTube or some other publicly accessible internet site.
Video-performance Requirements
We suggest you to upload the pre-recorded performance on Youtube or similar public site and send us the clickable link. We do not require professionally made recording. The home video made by iPhone or simple video camera will provide to us acceptable level of quality.
Festival-Tour Fees
The Application Fee per performer is $90. It should be paid online at the time of submission via PayPal.
The Festival-Tour Fee is $2170 per person. We recommend you wire the Tour Fee directly to our bank account (send the request for our account information to goldenkeyfest@gmail.com) However, if you prefer to use PayPal for the transaction, please, add 5% to the amount (PayPal charge).
Fee includes:
• Accommodation in a double or twin bed room in 4 stars Hotel “ANANAS” in the City’s central part for 7 nights, including hot breakfast.
• Practicing time at Vienna Musik Quartier and warm-up rehearsal on the Ehrbar Hall stage, performances at the concert halls, and commemorative awards and honors.
• Master Classes.
• Transportation (metro, tram, bus) within Vienna from August 2 to 9.
• Admission to music and art museums that are part of the Festival-Tour.
• Admission to all concerts, receptions and banquets organized during the Festival-Tour.
• Tours and guided excursions to musical and artistic landmarks in Vienna, Baden,
Eisenstadt and Salzburg.
If, however, you do not choose to stay at the Festival Hotel, but make your own arrangements for accommodation, the Festival-Tour Fee is reduced to: $1810 per person.
Performers at the Festival, including Winners of the Golden Key of Vienna Competition and Piano Composition Competition, as well as the other Tour participants are all responsible for the Tour Fee.
* All fees are non-refundable. Festival participants must email to us filled in and signed the Statement of Consent, Release, and Risk Allocation before being allowed to participate.
• Laureate Diploma and Commemorative Medal will be presented at the Award Ceremony in Vienna to the applicant who successfully passed the Audition and performed in the Gala Concert in Vienna.
• Special Certificate will be given to those who participate in the dedicated to Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven’s concert.
• The Certificate of Participation in the Master Class will be given immediately after the Master Class.
• The teachers of the Laureati (who also attend the Festival-Tour) will receive Certificates of Excellence.
NOTE: In order to receive these Awards, Laureate must have registered for the Festival-Tour and paid the appropriate fees.
For Students
In addition to the Festival Gala Concert at the Ehrbar Hall, Festival winners could also participate in the special concert dedicated to Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven in Boesendorfer Hall at the Mozarthaus. Only one selection per participant will be accepted. The selection’s performance time should not exceed five minute. Please, email a request to our office (goldenkeyfest@gmail.com) by April 15, 2027. We reserve the right do not accept the performing requests after this date. In your message, write full name of the performer, full title of the selected music piece including opus, number and movement (if any), the composer’s name and indicate, please, your performing time. We encourage you to select for this recital music written by Viennese composers of the Classical Era.
For Teachers
The Golden Key Music Festival in Vienna cordially invites music teachers of the Festival winners to perform at the Festival’s concert. The repertoire can range as widely as you wish within the realm of academic music from the Baroque through the Modern eras. Solo instruments as well as chamber groups are welcome. The performing time may not exceed 10 minutes. Please, contact our office by email goldenkeyfest@gmail.com with performing proposal not later than April 15, 2027
To perform in the Festival’s public concerts, the teacher should be a registered member of the Golden Key Music Festival Tour.
Each participant in the Golden Key Music Festival of Vienna has the opportunity to attend Master Classes taught by some of Vienna’s notable musicians. Festival masters have included, among others:
• Konstantin Semilakovs
• Wolfram Wagner
• Anna Leyerer
• Stephan Möller
• Liubov Kalmykova
Konstantin Semilakovs (Austria/Germany)
Konstantin Semilakovs, born 1984 in Riga, Latvia, won First Prize at the International Piano Competition in Porto, Portugal. In 2018 he was appointed professor of piano at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. He is particularly interested in studying the phenomenon of colour perception in the classical piano repertoire as well as in synesthetic…
Konstantin Semilakovs (Austria/Germany)
Konstantin Semilakovs, born 1984 in Riga, Latvia, won First Prize at the International Piano Competition in Porto, Portugal. In 2018 he was appointed professor of piano at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. He is particularly interested in studying the phenomenon of colour perception in the classical piano repertoire as well as in synesthetic performances of the music of Olivier Messiaen, Alexander Scriabin, and other composers.
Konstantin Semilakovs has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician at the International Beethoven Festival Bonn, the Braunschweig Classix Festival, and at the music festivals of Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. He performed Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy with the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra at the Meistersingerhalle. Semilakovs was awarded the Classical Music Prize of WDR Radio and the City of Münster, the Hans Sikorski Memorial Award, and the Sponsorship Award of the Ingolstadt Concert Association.
Semilakovs studied with Wolfgang Manz at the University of Music in Nuremberg and with Michael Wladkowski at the École Normale de Musique Alfred Cortot in Paris.
Preceding the professorship in Vienna, he taught at the Universities of Music in Nuremberg and Regensburg, as well as at the University Mozarteum Salzburg.
https://www.semilakovs.com
Wolfram Wagner (Austria)
Wolfram Wagner, born Austria, composer with a busy performance schedule in almost all of Europe, USA, Japan. Radio and CD recordings. Numerous national and international composition awards. Since 1992 professor in harmony and counterpoint at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst (mdw)in Vienna, lectures at the Coservatory in Pariser Konservatorium…
Wolfram Wagner (Austria)
Wolfram Wagner, born Austria, composer with a busy performance schedule in almost all of Europe, USA, Japan. Radio and CD recordings. Numerous national and international composition awards.
Since 1992 professor in harmony and counterpoint at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst (mdw)in Vienna, lectures at the Coservatory in Pariser Konservatorium and at the Universities in Amsterdam and Greensboro/USA.
studied composition at the Universität für Musik in Vienna with Erich Urbanner and Francis Burt;
Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London with Robert Saxton; Musikhochschule Frankfurt with Hans Zender.
Publishers:
Doblinger; Hofmeister; Helbling; NÖ Musikedition; Apoll Edition; Contemporary Art and Edition
Compositions:
•so far 5 operas, 2 short operas, 4 oratorios, 1 ballett, works for orchestra, choir, chamber music, songs
•performances and broadcastings in many European countries, USA, South America, Aegypt, India, Korea, Japan
•several CD productions (ORF, Gramola, Extraplatte, Vienna Modern Masters, KKM Records et al.)
http://www.wolfram-wagner.com
Anna Leyerer (Austria)
Anna Leyerer is a concert pianist living in Vienna, Austria. Anna Leyerer regularly performs at music festivals and concert halls all over the word. As a soloist and member of chamber music ensembles Anna has performed in concert halls in Armenia, Austria, Czech Republic, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Russia, Ukraine and the United States…
Anna Leyerer (Austria)
Anna Leyerer is a concert pianist living in Vienna, Austria. Born in the rural city Penza (Russia), she received her early musical education at the Penza Music School and the Penza Music College in the class of G. A. Grossman. She pursued and completed her graduate degree at the Saratov State Conservatory L. V. Sobinov under Prof. L. I. Shugom. After a short stint as lecturer at the Saratov State Conservatory she moved to Austria to continue her piano performance studies with Prof. Oleg Marshev at the Anton Bruckner University where she graduated with distinction in 2016. Anna also holds a Master of Arts degree in pedagogy from the Anton Bruckner University in Linz, which she finished under Prof. Michael Korstick in 2019. Recently Anna completed her post graduate studies at the Piano Academy Neue Sterne in Hanover, where she refined her piano playing craft with the renowned teacher and pianist Albert Mamriev. Anna also had the privilege of receiving masterclasses form notable musician such as A. Greene, Ch. Hinterhuber, M. Korstick, E. Kupie, S. Möller, W. Nabore, N. Petrow, S. Pochekin, N. Trull and M. Voskresensky.
Anna Leyerer regularly performs at music festivals and concert halls all over the word. As a soloist and member of chamber music ensembles Anna has performed in concert halls in Armenia, Austria, Czech Republic, Croatia,
France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Russia, Ukraine and the United States, where she debuted with a recital at the Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall) in New York in 2015. She also has been featured
as soloist with various symphony orchestra headed by A. Ivanov (Russia), E. Serov (Russia), V. Ponkin (Russia), I. Kazhdan (Ukraine), O. Balan (Cantu, Italy), F. Krager (USA), I. Iliev (Bulgaria) and Ch. Fitzner (Germany).
https://www.annaleyerer.com
Stephan Möller (Austria/Germany)
Stephan Möller first gained prominence as a prizewinner at the 1985 International Beethoven Competition in Vienna. Since then his busy concert schedule has taken him to Japan, China, North and South America as well as all over Europe. Performing all the standard repertoire, Stephan Möller has concentrated especially on the interpretation of the Viennese Classics…
Stephan Möller (Austria/Germany)
Professor Stephan Möller first gained prominence as a prizewinner at the 1985 International Beethoven Competition in Vienna. Since then his busy concert schedule has taken him to Japan, China, North and South America as well as all over Europe.
Performing all the standard repertoire, Stephan Möller has concentrated especially on the interpretation of the Viennese Classics, in particular Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas, as well as on Franz Liszt’s paraphrases of Wagner opera scenes and his transcriptions of Beethoven Symphonies. Among his CD recordings, there are such rarities as Beethoven’s “Grosse Fuge” and the complete piano works by Richard Wagner.
Born in Hamburg, Germany, Stephan Möller studied piano and conducting at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. From 1983 to 1989 he assisted Herbert von Karajan and other world-renowned conductors at the Salzburg Festival. In 1990, he took up an appointment at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. He is president of the Vienna International Pianists Association and their festival, the “VIP Academy.” href=http://www.richard-wagner-konservatorium.at/en/departments/keyboard/stephan-moeller-en/
Liubov Kalmykova, (Austria/Norway)
Liubov is a prize-winner of several national Norwegian as well as international competitions. She performed as a soloist with orchestras in Norway, Austria and Russia and took part in festivals like Sion Festival (Switzerland), Festspillene in Bergen (Norway), Kronberg Festival, Wien Modern (Austria), Festspillene Helgeland…
Liubov Kalmykova, (Austria/Norway)
Liuba Kalmykova was born in Saint-Petersburg, Russia. At the age of 12 she moved to Norway, where she entered the prestigious Barratt-Due Music Institute in Oslo to study with Professor Isaac Schuldman. From the year 2011 she continued her solo violin studies with Prof. Pavel Vernikov at the Music and Arts University of Vienna and later on a chamber music degree with Prof. Johannes Meissl at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, and graduated with honors.
Liubov is a prize-winner of several national Norwegian as well as international competitions. She performed as a soloist with orchestras in Norway, Austria and Russia and took part in festivals like Sion Festival (Switzerland), Festspillene in Bergen (Norway), Kronberg Festival, Wien Modern (Austria), Festspillene Helgeland.
As a soloist and a chamber musician she played at prestigious venues such as Wiener Konzerthaus, Wiener Musikverein, ORF Radio Kulturhaus (Austria), Small Hall of Saint-Petersburg Conservatory (Russia). She attended master classes of among others Miriam Fried, Pavel Vernikov, Pierre Amoyal, Hatto Beyerle, Diotima Quartet.
As a founding member of the Selini Quartet (2015-2022) and later on the Ineo Quartet, Liubov is an active chamber musician. The Selini Quartet is a prize-winner of several international competitions, such as “Prague Spring International Music Competition” 2021 (Czech Republic), “Ysaye International Music Competition” 2021 (Belgium), “mdw great talent award” 2021 (Austria), “Szymanowski International Music Competition” 2018 (Poland) as well as of the “Artis Quartet Prize” of ISA Competition (Austria) 2018 and appeared in concerts across Europe and USA.
As an orchestra musician Liuba collected her experience in Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, Wiener Symphoniker, Tonkünstler Orchester Niederösterreich, aswell as leading positions in many youth orchestras.
Liuba plays a Storioni violin kindly on loan from the Goh Family Foundation.
https://www.seliniquartet.com/ljubakalmykova