Gert Hofbauer (born 13 March 1937 in

Knittelfeld Knittelfeld () is a city in Styria, Austria, located on the banks of the Mur River, Mur river. The name of the town has become notorious for the Knittelfeld Putsch of September 7, 2002, a party meeting of the Freedom Party of Austria, which resul ...

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

, died 4 August 2017 in Marz) was an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n conductor and

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

er. Born in

, Hofbauer studied the trumpet in

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

in 1958 and in 1960 at the University of Music and Performing Arts in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in Austria. He had his first engagements as a trumpet player in 1962 at the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg and in 1964 in the

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

Tonkünstler Orchestra The Tonkunstler Orchestra (German: ''Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich'', ) is an Austrian orchestra based in Vienna and Sankt Pölten, Lower Austria. Origin of the name The orchestra's name has its origins in the ''Tonkünstler-Soziet ...

, playing the first trumpet. During his time in the orchestras he also completed his conductor studies with Professor Richard Österreicher (1969). In 1971 seventy-five of the best musicians from all large orchestral societies in Vienna close ranks and formed the Vienna Hofburg Orchestra under the direction of Hofbauer as conductor. Their paramount goal is to cultivate

Viennese waltz Viennese waltz () is a genre of ballroom dance. At least four different meanings are recognized. In the historically first sense, the name may refer to several versions of the waltz, including the earliest waltzes done in ballroom dancing, dance ...

and operetta music and carry it into the world. Regional and international radio and television productions, international engagements at symphonic concerts, as well as various recordings have spread the orchestra’s fame and popularity. The Johann Strauss and

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

concerts take place from May until December every year in the Vienna

Hofburg The Hofburg () is the former principal imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty in Austria. Located in the Innere Stadt, center of Vienna, it was built in the 13th century by Ottokar II of Bohemia and expanded several times afterwards. It also ser ...

Halls.

External links

Vienna Hofburg Orchestra
1937 births 2017 deaths People from Knittelfeld Austrian conductors (music) Austrian male conductors (music) Austrian trumpeters Male trumpeters University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna alumni {{trumpeter-stub