Jazz in the Cathedral

Experience the jazz mass PRAYER WHEEL by Karén Asatrián at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, performed in an extraordinary double choir arrangement. On the commemoration day of the Armenian Genocide, the Philharmonia Choir Vienna and the upper school choir of the Mozart Music Gymnasium/Musical Gymnasium Salzburg, together with a jazz ensemble, create a musical statement for peace, humanity, and interreligious dialogue. PRAYER WHEEL for choir and jazz quartet is indeed an exceptional work! The sound mix of East and West generates far more than just moods: suggestive, meditative, yearning, radiant, festive, or even rhythmically captivating. Since its world premiere in 2015 at the Klagenfurt Concert Hall and a performance during the Salzburg Festival in 2016, PRAYER WHEEL has been regarded as a significant work of contemporary sacred music. The performance in 2026 lends the piece a special cultural and social relevance due to its date, location, and large ensemble. The concert at St. Stephen's Cathedral serves as the grand finale of the Armenia Festival SOUNDS OF ARMENIA, which, over the three preceding evenings at the jazz club Porgy & Bess, combines literature and music into an impressive dialogue, making the vibrant cultural voice of Armenia as well as the unbroken will to survive of its people audible.