Prof. Gerhard Kanzian

Kanzian Gerhard 2007 04 16 - Credit Bubu Dujmic - LZ5G4939

Biography - Gerhard Kanzian


Gerhard Kanzian was born in Vienna to Erich Kanzian, a businessman, and Herzlinde Kanzian, a social worker.
In his early years Herzlinde recognised her son’s musical talent and she was behind his admission into the Vienna Boys’ Choir in 1967. It was here, under the guidance of Professors Ferdinand Grossman and Hannes Gillesberge that he received his first formal musical training.
Kanzian was a member of the Vienna Boys’ Choir until 1972 and performed in almost every continent (Africa, America, Europe and Asia).
After his voice broke in 1972 Kanzian met Professor Eduard Larysz (a member of the Viennese Philharmonic) who recognised his talents as a violin player and started to teach him, even though Kanzian, then 14, was rather old to be taken on as a pupil.
Through talent and application he passed the University of Music and Performing Arts entrance exams just two years later, majoring in the violin under Professor Günter Pichler. Whilst there Kanzian also took viola lessons and he was so extraordinarily taken by this instrument that in 1976 he changed his major, choosing to study viola under Professor Karl Stierhof, also at the university in Vienna.
By 1979 he had earned a place in the “Tonkünstlerorchester Wien”. However he instead chose to perfect his viola playing under Professor Thomas Riebel at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, alongside studies in percussion under Professor Richard Hochrainer at the university in Vienna.
Since 1979, the year of his first appearance in a professional orchestra, Kanzian has also been active as a soloist and chamber musician, with broadcast and television recordings throughout Europe, Japan and America. Kanzian founded the Hugo Wolf Quartet in 1981 and between 1984 and 1988 was a member of the Viennese Glinka Quartet with whom he enjoyed considerable international acclaim. Alongside his career as a musician he also discovered his passion for audio technology and production. He produced the CD collection “Musica Classica” with Sonoton, a German publishing firm and Europe’s largest background music record company.
Between 1989 and 1994 Kanzian was the Viennese Symphony’s viola soloist. He was quick to realise that a career in music production and recording interested him more and transferred to the “tutti” group with whom he is an active musician to this day. Shortly afterwards he established his own mobile recording studio and produced successful recordings for the Viennese Symphony, many ensembles drawn from the Viennese Symphony and Philharmonic, and for the Konzerthaus Wien. Many of these recordings have been broadcast by the ORF and also published by major record labels such as Sony Classic.
In 1994 he founded the Johann Strauss Quartet (Vienna) with three colleagues from the Viennese Symphony. This group garnered public acclaim and toured extensively.
By virtue of his recording and business experiences Kanzian was appointed the manager of SYMPHONIA, Vienna Symphony Orchestra recording company at the end of 2007, a position that he filled with great success until the beginning of 2010.
In August 2008 he was awarded the title of “Professor” by the Ministry for Art and Culture in Vienna in recognition of his work in public service.