On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the world-famous Blue Danube Waltz by Johann Strauss II, the Austrian Cultural Forum Washington organized a short film competition to bring the classical waltz into the age of multimedia and film.

During a multimedia event on January 25, 2017, the submitted films were shown and the audience selected the best five submissions, while Burnett Thompson played his own transcription of the Blue Danube Waltz and also performed waltzes by various other composers.