Venues & travel

The competitions take place in central Vienna; the festival at a castle in Lower Austria’s Mostviertel.

Ehrbar Saal

Finals and gala concerts of both competitions; Round II for young musicians

The piano maker Friedrich Ehrbar had the hall built in his palais in Vienna’s Wieden district; it opened in 1877. The historic hall is still a home for chamber music and song. The Kleiner Ehrbar Saal and the Vienna Beethoven Conservatory are in the same building.

Palais Ehrbar
Mühlgasse 30, 1040 Vienna

U4 Kettenbrückengasse, about 5 minutes on foot · U1, U2, U4 Karlsplatz, about 10 minutes on foot

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Participants and teacher of the 2026 piano masterclass in the Ehrbar Saal

Kleiner Ehrbar Saal

Preliminary round of the opera competition

The smaller hall in the Palais Ehrbar, an intimate room for auditions, masterclasses and song recitals.

Palais Ehrbar
Mühlgasse 30, 1040 Vienna

As for the Ehrbar Saal, in the same building

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C. Stadler/Bwag, CC BY-SA 4.0

Burg Plankenstein

Festival & Summer Academy (accommodation, classes, concerts)

First recorded in 1186 and enlarged into a Renaissance residence around 1540, this hilltop castle stands at about 650 metres above the forests of the Texing valley in Lower Austria’s Mostviertel. Today it is a hotel with a tavern and halls for events.

Plankenstein Castle
Plankenstein 1, 3242 Texingtal, Lower Austria

By car from Vienna about 90 minutes via the A1 western motorway, exit Loosdorf; parking near the castle. The nearest railway stations are Loosdorf and Melk, then by taxi.

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Travel, visas, accommodation

Vienna is served by Vienna International Airport and the Hauptbahnhof and Westbahnhof railway stations; the Ehrbar Saal is five minutes on foot from Kettenbrückengasse on the U4.
Visas: if you pass the video round, you receive an official invitation. You arrange your own passport, visa and health insurance, so apply early.
Accommodation: for the competitions you book your own. For the festival, accommodation and meals are included in the fee.

Questions

I need a visa. Who can help?

If you pass the video round, you receive an official invitation to the rounds in Vienna. You arrange your passport, visa and health insurance yourself, so apply for the visa early.

Are travel and accommodation covered?

Not for the competitions: participants cover travel, accommodation, insurance and visa. For the Festival & Summer Academy, accommodation and meals are included in the fee.