From September 18 - 19, 2014, Austria Connect, the annual conference for executives of Austrian subsidiaries in the U.S. and Canada, took place in Boston, MA. The renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston served as the prestigious conference location for this year's event entitled "Blueprints for the Future." MIT's think tank and its long-term approach to revitalizing the manufacturing sector in North America was presented by top experts. Leading economists gave an outlook on the business environment as well as forecasts concerning the U.S. and Canadian economic situations. Around 100 executives from both sides of the Atlantic attended the conference, making it the prime networking event of the year of Advantage Austria.
Exhibition | ::Moods:: Young Austrian Photography
When: Friday, September 5, 2014 – Friday, October 3, 2014
Where: Lomography Embassy Store Chicago
The exhibition ::MOODS:: combines the works and creations of six Austrian photographers. Every single photograph is a unique expression; the exhibition as a whole unveils an abstract perspective on the human ability to express moods in a variety of ways. The stories behind the photographs are unlimited. The purpose of the photographers' work turns out to be unlimited as well – as are their individual means of photographing. And yet there still seems to be common ground between all the pictures shown.The exhibition already received wide recognition during the Fotoweek DC 2012 and was also displayed at the Lomography Gallery Store in New York City. For more information on the exhibition and the artists, please visit: http://bit.ly/1sQlkoi
Energy Globe Awards 2015
ENERGY GLOBE is one of the world's most respected environmental awards, recognising sustainable initiatives from across the globe every year. Participants are invited to submit innovative projects for 2015 by 22 September 2014.
The goal of the ENERGY GLOBE Award is to bring outstanding sustainable projects to a wider audience and to show that feasible solutions already exist for many environmental problems. Over 1,000 projects from more than 160 countries are submitted to the awards every year.
Exhibition | Innovation@Upper Austria
When: Thursday, September 18, 2014 – Friday, October 10, 2014
Where: Embassy of Austria, Washington, D.C.
The exhibition Innovation@Upper Austria presents Austria's fourth-largest state as a modern, innovation and future-oriented region and highlights its successes in the fields of economy, research, sciences and culture on an international scale. The exhibit is divided into four different categories, "power regions" "economy," "sciences," and "culture." All participating partners, including various companies and academic institutions from Upper Austria, were invited to submit eye-catching photos that were subsequently printed on high-quality acrylic glass.
Between September 18 and October 10, 2014 the exhibit will be displayed in the sun-filled atrium of the Embassy of Austria in Washington, D.C. and will be open for visitor from Monday through Friday between 9:30AM and 4:30PM.
For more information visit: http://bit.ly/1pBuDe1
Upholstery Store in New York Reopens after Revamp
Austrian chef Kurt Gutenbrunner's Upholstery Store is scheduled to reopen its doors on September 12, 2014 after a six month renovation period. The restaurant is brand-new in both concept and design, and merely has a name relative to the former space. Upholstery Store: Food and Wine celebrates its historical West Village architecture while drawing inspiration from early 20th century design as well as personal and contemporary elements that speak to Kurt and Leo's Austrian heritage. The restaurant shows the influence of an eclectic array of design visionaries, including, but not limited to, Hoffmann, Moser, Thonet, and Loos. This can be found specifically in our coffered ceilings, leather banquettes, bentwood chairs, marble tables, mirrors, and artwork.
In terms of wines, Partner and KG-NY Wine Director Leo Schneemann carefully selected fine wines from Germany, Austria, the United States, France, and Spain for Upholstery Store: Food and Wine's unique beverage menu. The organic and biodynamic wines, known for their quality, are being offered at reasonable prices by the glass and poured out of magnums.
For more information: http://kg-ny.com/the-upholstery-store
New Austrian Honorary Consuls Inaugurated
Austria has two new Honorary Consuls: Reinhold Krammer in Chicago, IL and Clement H. Luken in Cincinnati, OH. Honorary Consul Clement H. Luken in a high-profile business lawyer. His wife Irene is Austrian-born and is active as coordinator of the German Program at Xavier University in Cincinnati. For years already, the Lukens are committed to Austrian causes and initiatives in the Cincinnati area.
Austrian Coffee in Chicago
Cooking for the Austrian coffee experience? In addition to its coffee houses in the northern part of Chicago, traditional premium coffee maker Meinl now opened a brand new location for delicious coffee and Austrian desserts in the downtown area of the city, just steps away from the famous shopping street, North Michigan Avenue. Characterized by Vienna’s unique coffee house tradition and Viennese charm, the new outlet will serve something for every coffee lover's taste.
For more information visit: http://northamerica.meinl.com
New Flights from Vienna to Newark
On July 2, 2014, the Austrian Consul General in New York, Georg Heindl, participated in the festive launching of the new Austrian Airlines flight route between Vienna and Newark at the Newark Liberty International Airport, together with Lufthansa Regional Director Thomas Scharfenberger and Airport GM Rich Heslin. Austrian Airlines is now flying directly to Newark five times a week in addition to its daily flight service each day to New York's JFK airport.Austrian Airlines also serves Washington, D.C. and Chicago with non-stop flights from Vienna.
For more information visit www.austrian.com
Concert | Philippe Raskin & Johannes Fleischmann
On August 8, 2014, the Austrian Consulate General in Los Angeles together with Villa Aurora will present Philippe Raskin & Johannes Fleischmann in concert. The duo, which first met in 2009 during the Pablo Casals Festival in Prades, France, has already toured extensively throughout Europe, Africa and South America. Their performance in Los Angeles will include pieces by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Nino Rota and Erich Wolfgang Korngold. The concert starts at 8 PM at Villa Aurora, 520 Paseo Miramar, Los Angeles, CA 90272.
Parking is available. Tickets can be bought online at www.brownpapertickets.com
For more information on the artist please visit: www.two4music.com
Mostly Mozart Music Festival at Lincoln Center in NYC
From July 25 until August 23, 2014, the Lincoln Center hosts the classical music festival Mostly Mozart sponsored by Bloomberg.
The festival will feature hour-long, late-night recitals by the Festival Orchestra under the leadership of Renée and Robert Belfer Music Director Louis Langrée. The program will include many of Mozart's popular pieces, a rare Festival performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. as well as performances by the Emerson String Quartet, joined this year by the lyrical clarinetist Martin Fröst; the Mostly Mozart debut of the lively pianist Yuja Wang; and virtuosic presentations by Joshua Bell, Richard Goode, and Christian Tetzlaff.
Composers of today are also showcased in performances by the Mostly Mozart Festival artists-in-residence, the International Contemporary Ensemble; in the world premiere of John Luther Adams's Sila: The Breath of the World, commissioned jointly by Mostly Mozart and Lincoln Center Out of Doors; and in an intimate presentation of Adams's Mathematics of Resonant Bodies by the masterful percussionist Steven Schick.
Find the full program and further information at http://mostlymozart.org/
Special Olympics World Winter Games 2017
Above from left: Peter Wheeler, Special Olympics Chief, Strategic Properties; Timothy Shriver, Special Olympics Chairman of the Board; Mayor Hermann Kröll; Janet Froetscher, Chief Executive Officer; Ambassador Hans Peter ManzOn Friday, August 1, 2014, the President of Special Olympics Austria, Hermann Kröll, visited the Special Olympics headquarters in Washington, D.C. to give an update on the next World Winter Games, which will be hosted by Austria in 2017.
Hermann Kröll served as Mayor of the City of Schladming from 1975 to 2005 and was a Member of the Austrian Parliament from 1996 until 1999. In 1993, Mayor Kröll was responsible for hosting the first Special Olympics World Winter Games outside the United States, which took place in Schladming and Salzburg in 1993. Since then, Special Olympics Austria has grown into one of the strongest Special Olympic Programs in the world.
Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and competitions to more than 4.2 million athletes in 220 countries. Special Olympics competitions are held every day, all around the world—including local, national and regional competitions, adding up to more than 80,000 events a year.
For more information visit http://www.specialolympics.org
Austrian Pianist Mark Damisch in Concert for Friendship and Peace
When: Friday, August 8, 2014 | 7:30 p.m.
Where: Austrian Cultural Forum (Embassy of Austria) | 3524 International Court NW | Washington, DC 20008
Admission: FREE | Please register for this event at http://markdamisch.eventbrite.com/
On August 8, 2014, the Austrian Cultural Forum Washington presents a classical music evening featuring a concert for friendship and peace by Austrian pianist Mark Damisch. Mr. Damisch will play a classical mix comprised of the following pieces:
Romanian Folk Dances | Béla Bartók
Romanian Folk Dances is a suite of six short piano pieces composed by Hungarian composer Béla Bartók in 1915. He later orchestrated it for a small ensemble in 1917 as Sz. 68, BB 76. It is based on seven Romanian tunes from Transylvania, originally played on fiddle or the shepherd's flute.
Piano Sonata No. 23 | Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 (colloquially known as the Appassionata, meaning "passionate" in Italian) is among the three famous piano sonatas of his middle period (the others being the Waldstein, Op. 53 and Les Adieux, Op. 81a); it was composed during 1804 and 1805, and perhaps 1806, and was dedicated to Count Franz von Brunswick. The first edition was published in February 1807 in Vienna.
Wanderer Fantasy | Schubert
The Fantasie in C major, Op. 15 (D. 760), popularly known as the Wanderer Fantasy, is a four-movement fantasy for solo piano composed by Franz Schubert in November 1822. It is widely considered Schubert's most technically demanding composition for the piano. Schubert himself said "the devil may play it", in reference to his own inability to do so properly.
The Vienna Project - Call for Letters
“The Vienna Project” is an open memorial project which aims at remembering the victims of National Socialism in Austria. Its founder, Dr. Karen Frostig, started the project after inheriting letters of her grandparents who have perished in the Holocaust.
Today the archive of “The Vienna Project” consists of various sorts of art with a strong focus on letters. As the project is coming to its end, the organizers are planning a final ceremony on October 18 in the Austrian National Library where some of the letters will be read to the audience.
New Location for Austrian Restaurant Bierbeisl
The Austrian restaurant will open in its new location at the Spring Arcade building (between Broadway and Spring at 5th Street) this fall just in time for the famous Oktoberfest. If you are in the area and looking for delicious Austrian food, drinks and snacks in a casual setting stop by.
For more information and a menu visit: http://www.bierbeisl-la.com
2014 Regional Leaders Summit in Atlanta, GA.
The governor of the Austrian federal state Upper Austria, Dr. Josef Pühringer, participated in the Seventh Regional Leaders Summit in Atlanta, GA, June 2-3, 2014.
The Regional Leaders' Summit is a forum of seven regions (states, federal states and provinces) from four continents in which perspectives and strategies for a sustainable world are discussed under the main topic "Policy For Generations".
The regions are home for 177 million people and represent a Gross Domestic Product of more than USD 3,000 Billion.
Member regions include Bavaria, Georgia, Upper Austria, Quebec, Sao Paulo, Shandong and Western Cape. The Austrian Ambassador to the U.S. Hans Peter Manz was also present at the summit.
For more information, please visit:
http://www.georgia.org/2014/06/20/georgia-hosts-seventh-regional-leaders-summit/
http://www.land-oberoesterreich.gv.at/cps/rde/xchg/ooe/hs.xsl/54153_DEU_HTML.htm
George C. Marshall Visit to Austria 2014
his year's George C. Marshall visit to Austria on "Smart Infrastructure" took place from June 2 to 6, 2014.
The American visitors included representatives from the cities of Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, and New York, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Universities of California/Irvine and Minnesota as well as from the Office or the Governor of Virginia.
After a political and economic overview about Austria given by the Austrian Foreign Ministry, the participants toured best practice projects in Vienna and Salzburg: from "Seestadt Aspern" – Vienna's Urban Lakeside, a new, multifunctional urban district in Vienna – to the Smart Grids model village Köstendorf in Salzburg; from AIT's SmartEST Laboratory to the Vienna Municipal Sewage Treatment Plant; from the world's first passive high-rise building in Vienna to the housing development project "Rosa Zukunft" in Salzburg.
Transit: Creative Placemaking in Baltimore
The project "Transit: Creative placemaking in Baltimore" is a cooperation project between the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts (BOPA), European Union National Cultural Institutes (EUNIC) and EUNIC Washington D.C.
In creative placemaking, partners from public, private, non-profit, and community sectors strategically shape the physical and social character of a neighborhood, town, city, or region around arts and cultural activities. Creative placemaking animates public and private spaces, rejuvenates structures and streetscapes, improves local business viability and public safety, and brings diverse people together to celebrate, inspire, and be inspired.
21st Austria Investor and Business Conference
On June 16 and 17, 2014, 21st Austria and Advantage Austria teamed up for the 2014 Austrian Investor & Business Conference at the St. Regis Hotel in New York City. The conference was a private initiative to foster dialogue between Austria, Central and Eastern Europe, and the United States in the areas of investment and business.
LAUNCH OF WASHINGTON CHAPTER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF GRAZ
On April 28, 2014, Austrian Ambassador Hans Peter Manz and Rector Christa Neuper of the University of Graz together with around 35 guests celebrated the launch of a new chapter of the University of Graz in Washington, D.C. By establishing chapters the University of Graz is building a strong international network to be able to stay in touch with former students, alumni and friends of the University that live across the globe. So far chapters exist in New York, Zurich, Moscow, Brussels, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Turkey. The chapter in Washington D.C. will be headed by the Austrian Embassy's Deputy Chief of Mission, Sigurd Pacher.
WITH PEOPLE TO PEOPLE INTERNATIONAL IN KANSAS CITY, MO
From May 14-16, 2014, Mr. Sigurd Pacher served as keynote speaker for People to People International’s (PTPI) Americas Regional Meeting in Kansas City, Missouri. Mr. Pacher met with Clark Plexico, CEO of PTPI, and several leaders of the organization in addition to participating in meetings with business and community leaders in Kansas City. On May 15, 2014, Mr. Pacher led a market briefing on doing business with Austria for Kansas City businesses in partnership with the World Trade Center Kansas City.