Association

Simone (Qin) Long:

Simone Long, originally from China, moved to Vienna at the age of 18 with the ambition of becoming a professional singer. She pursued her studies in Solo Singing under the tutelage of Professor Evelyn Schörkhuber in Vienna from 2012 to 2018. During her academic journey, Simone participated in the prestigious „Montserrat Caballé Masterclass“ in 2015 and secured the first prize at the singing competition for young Chinese singers in Vienna. She also showcased her talent as a soloist during an orchestra tour across Asia and Portugal. In 2019, Simone co-founded and assumed the role of Managing Partner at „MEA Music Education Abroad OG.“ Since 2023, she has been serving as the President of the non-profit organization „Austrian Chinese Musicians Association,” dedicated to nurturing talents and fostering international cultural exchange.

Sebastian Kovacs, Bakk. MBA:

Sebastian Kovacs is an angel investor and multiple company founder in Austria and China. The graduate in business administration is responsible for the finances of the association. He supports the association mainly because of the importance of cultural exchange, as this is the basis for deeper cooperation between two nations.

Univ. Prof. Elisabeth Kropfitsch:

Elisabeth Kropfitsch is an Austrian violinist and music teacher. She is a professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna and for several years has also been chairwoman of the violin section (violin examination senate) at the Fritz Kreisler Institute there.

Dr. Jeremy G. House:

Dr Jeremy House is an Australian-born educator with a deep belief in the value of international education for a more prosperous and peaceful world. He holds a Bachelor of Education with Honours, a Master of Education, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in International Business, and a Doctorate of Education in the field of Positive Psychology.

He has worked in numerous operational and key strategic leadership positions in boarding schools and has extensive experience in school growth and development. He is dedicated to student-centered learning and maintaining a personal and family-like, high-performance, school culture.

Christian Schulz:

Christian Schulz comes from a well-known Viennese musical family and began his musical career as a cellist by studying violoncello. Later he also studied conducting – both at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, today “mdw”.

He performs as a chamber musician, soloist and most recently as cellist of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. From the ranks of this orchestra he founded the “Ambassade Orchester Wien” in 1997 and is still its artistic director.

Schulz was assistant to the star conductors Vladimir Fedosejev, Yakov Kreizberg and Franz Welser Möst.

The list of orchestras he has conducted is considerable: from the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra Bucharest, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Halle State Philharmonic Orchestra, the Vancouver Opera Orchestra, to the Tonkünstlerorchester NÖ, the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra, the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and last but not least the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.

Opera engagements include the Bregenz Festival. The annual concerts at KAZ (Kunst aus der Zeit), which take place in the course of the Bregenz Festival, establish a close cooperation with the Wiener Concert Verein. This cooperation has resulted in joint concerts, among others at the Vienna Musikverein, and several CD recordings.

Since 2003 Christian Schulz has been Principal Guest Conductor of the Arad State Philharmonic Orchestra in Romania and since 2005 Principal Conductor of the “Mozart Collegium Wien”. He also holds the position of Music Director of the concert series “Schwingungen” in the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein.

Christian Schulz is also responsible for a revival and rehearsal of “The Magic Flute” at the Vienna Volksoper in the 2007/2008 season.

Since 2010 he has been appointed as General Music Director of the music program at OKF Tehran. The job includes conducting the AISO Symphony Orchestra, the AIC Choir, as well as the specialized master classes and the newly established Opera Studio.

In addition to his activities as a conductor, Christian Schulz has also been devoting himself to writing his own compositions for several years. In this context, world premieres in Japan, Romania, Iran and Austria (Vienna Musikverein) should be mentioned.

Univ. Prof. Stefan Kropfitsch:

Stefan Kropfitsch started his cello learning with Prof. Tobias Kühne, grandstudent of André Navarra.
1st prize at the age of twelve, Dr. Karl Bohm Prize of the Vienna Philharmonic.

Study of violoncello to the unanimous diploma with distinction at the Vienna Academy of Music.
Postgraduate studies with Prof. Wolfgang Herzer ( solo cellist of the Vienna Philharmonic ) complement the artistic experience.
It starts an international career with the Jess- Trio -Wien and in parallel as a soloist. In almost all music centers Stefan Kropfitsch is a guest.
The cellist solo career is sometimes inseparable from that of the Jess- Trio – Vienna , because the trio in its program design calls for a variety of solo work . So ( solo to quintet ) will be in concert in the trio ‘s own series at the Vienna Konzerthaus in all occupations.

Vienna ( Konzerthaus , own cycle in the Mozart Hall annually to six concerts ) , Musikverein, Vienna Society of Friends of Music , Vienna Festival , Jeunesse , Klangbogen , Salzburg ( Mozarteum )
Milan (Teatro Piccolo) , Basel ( Casineum ) , Barcelona ( Palau de Musica ), London ( Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room ) , New York ( Carnegie Hall ), Warsaw ( P hilharmonie , Jerusalem ( Rebecca Crown Hall ), Hamburg ( Music Hall ) Graz ( Stefanien hall ), Linz ( Bruckner House )
Palermo (Teatro Golden ) , Zurich ( Tonhalle ), Hamburg ( Music Hall ), Berlin ( Philharmonie ), etc.

Concerts at many festivals such as the Vienna Festival , International Music Festival in Lucerne , Bregenz Festival , Carinthian Summer , Vienna modern, Ljubljana Festival, Bath Festival, Schnittke days in Bruckner House ( Mastering the cello sonata and the piano trio with Schnittke himself and subsequent performance at the Bruckner House ), International Haydn Festival Eisenstadt , Copenhagen Summer Festival, art spaces Miirzzuschlag etc.

Great deal of attention the recording of the Dvorak Cello Concerto and Tchaikovsky ‘s Rococo Variations in the James Bond film ” The Living Daylights ” ( kiss of death ).

Numerous solo appearances with the following orchestras:

Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra , Lucerne Festival Strings , Orchestra of the Southwest German Radio Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra , Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Ljubljana Symphony Orchestra , NE – Musicians , Vienna Soloists , Collegium Musicum Basel, Josef Suk Chamber Orchestra, Symphonia Amadei Basel, Oakridge Symphony Orchestra , Rome Symphony Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, RSO Prague, Bratislava Radio Symphony Orchestra and others.
As a permanent guest of the Vienna Konzerthaus Since 1993 design your own cycle in the Mozart Hall as cellist of the Jess- Trio -Wien .
Numerous CDs at the company EMI and Rondo and Gramola with the trio and as a soloist.

By dedications of many works of modern composers active employment with contemporary music.

Cooperation with well-known composers such as Herbert Willi , Alfred Schnittke, Rainer Bischof , Heinrich Gattermayer , Thomas Daniel Schlee , Meinhard Rüdenauer , Gerold Heitz, Carlo de Incontrera inter alia m. and first performances of those works.

Activity as a juror in numerous national and international competitions.
The cellist Stefan Kropfitsch was 2006 Univ. Professor appointed at the Vienna University of Music for Concert violoncello . The care outstanding cello talent in his own class at the University is adjacent to the international career currently the most pressing concern . The students gain both numerous competitions and auditions with prominent orchestras.
Since 2006 Head of the Institute for Strings and other stringed instruments of the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts.

Univ. Prof. Christoph Hinterhuber:

“One of the best, most fascinating piano albums of the year” wrote Fono Forum about his recording of sonatas and rondos by CPE Bach. The English Gramophone magazine chose his recording of works for piano and orchestra by Hummel as “Editor’s Choice”, and his 5-CD recording series of all piano concertos by Beethoven’s contemporary Ferdinand Ries, with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, among others, received equally great international attention.

Both through his recordings, which have been released by Naxos, Wergo, Camerata Tokyo and Paladino, among others, and with his worldwide concert activities, Christopher Hinterhuber has established himself internationally as a pianist of enormous range.

His teachers were Axel Papenberg at the Klagenfurt Conservatory and Rudolf Kehrer, Avo Kouyoumdjian and Heinz Medjimorec at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. Further studies followed at the Accademia pianistica “Incontri col Maestro” in Imola, Italy with Lazar Berman and Leonid Margarius. He owes important artistic inspiration to Oleg Maisenberg and Vladimir Ashkenazy, among others.

As a prizewinner of international competitions in Leipzig (Bach), Saarbrücken (Bach), Pretoria (Unisa), Zurich (Geza Anda) and Vienna (Beethoven), Christopher Hinterhuber has performed regularly at major festivals such as the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, the Ruhr Piano Festival, the Chamber Music Festival Lockenhaus, the Styriarte in Graz, the Carinthian Summer in Ossiach with conductors such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Yakov Kreizberg, Sylvain Cambreling, Kirill Karabits, Jakub Hrusa, Christian Arming Bruno Weil, Andrés Orozco Estrada, Dennis Russell Davies, Bertrand de Billy, Ari Rasilainen, Adrian Leaper, Howard Griffiths, Hubert Soudant, Alfred Eschwé or Beat Fur- rer and orchestras such as the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Klangforum Wien, the Vienna and Zurich Chamber Orchestras, the MDR Orchestra Leipzig, the Staatskapelle Weimar, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the Orchestre Philharmonique Luxemburg and others. a.

In 2002/03 he represented Austria together with violinist Patricia Kopatschinskaja in the series “Rising Stars” at Carnegie Hall and the most prominent European concert halls.

A special project was the recording in sound (Schubert, Rachmaninov, Schön- berg) and image (Christopher Hinterhuber’s hands) for the French-Austrian film “The Piano Player” after Elfriede Jelinek directed by Michael Haneke (awarded the Grand Jury Prize in Cannes 2001).

An important part of his activity is chamber music, so he is a member of the Altenberg Trio Vienna, which plays its own cycle at the Vienna Musikverein. Radio and television recordings for ORF, DRS2, NHK, SWR and others round off his artistic activities and underline his outstanding standing within the younger generation of Austrian pianists.

He is professor of piano at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.

Daniel Serafin, MA:

Daniel Serafin is the son of the Austrian chamber singer Harald Serafin and Inge Serafin, his half-sister is the soprano Martina Serafin. After graduating from the Vienna International School, he studied singing and acting at the Mozarteum Salzburg, the Vienna Conservatory and the Juilliard School in New York, where he received his Bachelor of Music and Master of Arts degrees.

Serafin’s broad repertoire, which includes opera, operetta, musical and lied, ranges from classical to modern works to crossover. He has sung roles such as Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Silvio in I Pagliacci, Sid in Albert Herring, as well as Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus, Josef in Wiener Blut, Count Homonay in Der Zigeunerbaron and Freddy Eynsford-Hill in My fair Lady, among others.

Serafin first appeared at the Wiener Kammerspiele and the Theater in der Josefsstadt, where he was a permanent ensemble member in the 2004/2005 season. He has performed at numerous opera houses and concert halls worldwide. In 2012 he made a world tour with his song program Verboten und Verbannt – Entartete Musik, a tango program with the Orchestra National de Argentine conducted by Leonard Cohen. In 2014 he went on a world tour with his solo programs Danny spielt auf and American Songbook. Furthermore, he made guest appearances at various festivals, e.g. the Seefestspiele Mörbisch as well as the Musikfestival Steyr.

From 2013 to 2017, Serafin was the organizer and producer of the Austrian Music Theater Award. In 2016, he took over the artistic direction of the annual Viennese Opera Ball New York.

Serafin headed the cultural marketing of the Esterhazy Betriebe from 2017 to 2019, and in 2019 he was appointed artistic director of the Opera in St. Margarethen Quarry. Since 2017, he has also been president and board member of the Friends Schlossquartier Eisenstadt Association and the Friends of the Opera in the Quarry.

Serafin lives in Vienna and New York.

Mag. Sarah Längle:

Soprano Sarah Längle was born and raised in the Principality of Liechtenstein.
Her studies led her to the Conservatory of the City of Vienna, from where she took her first engagements at the Vienna Chamber Opera and as a soloist with the Vienna Vocalists in Vienna and Japan.

After winning the audition competition at the Haldenstein Castle Opera in 2003, she sang the part of the Queen of the Night there for the first time under the direction of Marcus Bosch (Nuremberg State Theater). This was followed by a two-year permanent engagement at the Stadttheater Bremerhaven.
From 2007 Sarah Längle worked as a freelancer.

Guest engagements took her to the theaters of Ulm, Kiel, and Aachen, the Landestheaters of Flensburg and St.Pölten, the Staatstheater Oldenburg, the Bregenz Festival, and several times to the Nationaltheater Mannheim, as well as the Theater Hagen.

Among the roles she has sung on stage are “Donna Anna”, “Konstanze”, “Queen of the Night”, “Gilda”, “Eurydice” (Offenbach), “Najade” (R.Strauss), “Martha”, “Adele”, “Musetta” and “Violetta”.

In addition to opera and operetta, she devotes herself to concert activities with various ensembles in Austria and Switzerland. Here her repertoire leads through all epochs.

In 2015 Sarah Längle was also awarded a 3-year visiting professorship at Jiujiang University in China, and in 2018 another one, also in China, at Nanchang University.

In recent years, her singing focus has shifted to concert activities, as another important new branch of life and work has been added.

For the last 4 years Sarah Längle has been running an agency whose mission is to promote cultural and friendly exchange between China and Europe. With her partner in China she organizes big New Year concerts with classical orchestra as well as small street concerts, gigs and chamber concerts with musicians from all kinds of music in the famous porcelain city of China, Jingdezhen.

Prof. Evelyn Schörkhuber:

Evelyn is an active Professor at the Richard Wagner Konservatorium in solo singing, She was born and raised in Upperaustria, at the Austrian countryside, where she got in touch with classical music from early age on. Her whole childhood and youth was filled with music and singing.

Next to her Vocal Arts study in Vienna, she was part of many opera and theatre productions and her most favorite field is exactly that world, where music and poetry/literature meet.

Her love and passion for voices and singers lead her into working with singers from all over the world.

Evelyn’s current projects are: ASMF Austrian Summer Music Festival (Artistic Director), KlangRede (Co-Director and Curator of the Music and literature Festival of the Jeunesse Austria), MEA (Founding member and managing partner), Jeunesse Austria (Regional Office Weyer).

Simone Long, originally from China, moved to Vienna at the age of 18 with the ambition of becoming a professional singer. She pursued her studies in Solo Singing under the tutelage of Professor Evelyn Schörkhuber in Vienna from 2012 to 2018. During her academic journey, Simone participated in the prestigious „Montserrat Caballé Masterclass“ in 2015 and secured the first prize at the singing competition for young Chinese singers in Vienna. She also showcased her talent as a soloist during an orchestra tour across Asia and Portugal. In 2019, Simone co-founded and assumed the role of Managing Partner at „MEA Music Education Abroad OG.“ Since 2023, she has been serving as the President of the non-profit organization „Austrian Chinese Musicians Association,” dedicated to nurturing talents and fostering international cultural exchange.