The Vienna Boys Choir is one of the most celebrated and historic choirs in the world. Boys have sung at Vienna’s Imperial Chapel since at least 1296, and in 1498 Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I formally established a Court Chapel in Vienna, specifying that boys be included among its singers. This act laid the foundation for the Vienna Boys Choir, whose early members traveled with the imperial court to perform at coronations, weddings, state ceremonies, and other important occasions throughout the Holy Roman Empire.

Over the centuries, the Viennese court attracted many of Europe’s greatest musical figures, including Heinrich Isaac, Johann Joseph Fux, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Anton Bruckner. Joseph Haydn, Michael Haydn, and Franz Schubert all sang as boys with the choir, linking the ensemble directly to some of the most important names in classical music history.

Today, the Vienna Boys Choir is a private, nonprofit organization and an entire educational campus devoted to choral training. Its schools serve 330 boys and girls ages six to nineteen, all of whom receive individual voice lessons and sing in one of the campus choirs. In addition to the four internationally touring boys’ choirs, the institution includes the Vienna Girls Choir, Chorus Primus, and Chorus Juventus. Its educational tradition is recognized by UNESCO as cultural heritage and is open to students regardless of origin, gender, nationality, or religion.

The 90 active boy choristers are divided among four touring choirs, each performing under the name Vienna Boys Choir. Together, they give nearly 300 concerts each year for audiences around the world. Since 1924, the choirs have completed more than 1,000 tours in 100 countries and performed more than 29,000 concerts.

In Vienna, the choirs continue their historic role by singing Sunday Mass in the Imperial Chapel with members of the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera men’s chorus. They also appear regularly in major symphonic concerts, at the Salzburg Festival, and with the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s Concert.

In 2023, the Choir celebrated its 525th anniversary, marked by major recording and publishing projects. In 2024, the Vienna Boys Choir and Vienna Girls Choir jointly received the European Culture Award. Erasmus Baumgartner was appointed Artistic Director in 2023.