Tell us about yourself: who are you and where do you come from?

I'm Gottfried, born in Vienna and raised Melk, where I received my first musical education as a choir boy. This brought me to church music, a passion which accompanies me through my entire life, as a singer and choir conductor. While the voice is my first instrument, the oboe - in many ways so similar to the voice - is my passion. Rennaissance and baroque music is the core repertoire of the vocal ensemble 15.21, of which I'm very fond to be a co-founder and co-leader. Intense study of Early music also brought me to historic hautobois instruments, which not only opened new musical doors but which also got me in contact with Agnes and Stefan. Playing oboe trios with them is just awesome. Ah, my the way, I'm a geoscientist by profession apart from being a wholehearted musician.

Tell us about a passion you have besides music and why it makes you feel good.

I love sports and any kind of movement, be it running, skiing, hiking, climbing, swimming, canoeing. I love to get lost in a good book, or an old church, or a museum, or - of course - in a concert. When listening to music, I don't mind if it is classical or popular or jazz music, as long as it is good music. And above all, there's my family - my wife and my two grown up sons; one is on his way to become a scientist and the other a musician!