Take an iconic orchestra, a famous venue, and a world-class conductor, then put them all together and what do you get? Probably not tickets (actually, you *can* get tickets with a bit of luck). No, it’s Waltz time with a capital W at the legendary New Year’s Concert in Vienna.
- Annual concert by the Wiener Philharmoniker
- Held at the Musikverein on Jan 1st
- Also performances on Dec 30 & 31
- Tickets allocated through an online lottery
- Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts in 2026
- Book a concert experience* for your Vienna trip
- See also:
A concert with history
(Riccardo Muti conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker at the most recent New Year’s Concert. The flower displays contribute another highlight to the event; press photo © Wiener Philharmoniker / Dieter Nagl)
The turn of the year sees the Musikverein concert hall decked out in huge floral arrangements and hosting a three-day residency by the “house band”, which just happens to be the Wiener Philharmoniker (Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra).
The world-famous “main event” is the New Year’s Concert (German: Neujahrskonzert) on the morning of January 1st, but the orchestra performs the same programme on the two days before. This gives more people the chance to enjoy a rather wonderful celebration of Viennese classics.
This feast of music, with its concurrent message of peace and harmony, has rather ignominious roots; the first New Year’s Concert in Vienna took place in 1939, with the proceeds going to the Nazi’s annual charity drive. How times change!
(The Musikverein on the left of the picture hosts the event)
Stars and highlights
The Philharmoniker’s own concert master waved the baton at the earlier events but, since 1980, the honour of conducting the orchestra changes each year.
As a result, some of the most famous names in classical music have welcomed in the New Year in Vienna, including the likes of Herbert von Karajan, Claudio Abbado, and Zubin Mehta.
The honour of conducting the 2026 New Year’s Concert goes to another renowned name in classical music: Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts the event for the first time.
Nézet-Séguin knows the orchestra well; his close association with the Philharmoniker began back in 2010 in the Large Festival Hall in Salzburg during the city’s Mozart Week.
The Canadian conductor also led the orchestra at the 2023 Summer Night Concert outside Schönbrunn Palace.
(Franz Welser-Möst in action; press photo © Wiener Philharmoniker / Dieter Nagl)
Other recent conductors of the New Year’s Concert include:
- 2020: Andris Nelsons (for the first time)
- 2021: Riccardo Muti (his sixth time at the event)
- 2022: Daniel Barenboim (his third time)
- 2023: Franz Welser-Möst (also his third time)
- 2024: Christian Thielemann (his second time)
- 2021: Riccardo Muti (his seventh time at the event)
The concert typically features polkas, waltzes, marches and similar from the Strauss family and their contemporaries. Traditional encores are The Blue Danube waltz from Johann Strauss II and the Radetzky March from Johann Strauss I.
At the 2025 concert, for example, eight pieces by Johann Strauss II made an appearance in the main programme, honouring the King of the Waltz’s 200th birthday.
And, for the first time ever at the event, the orchestra played a piece by a female composer: Constanze Geiger’s Ferdinandus Waltz.
New Year’s concert tickets & dates
The 2025/2026 dates are:
- December 30, 2025 – the Preview Performance (11am)
- December 31, 2025 – the New Year’s Eve Concert (7.30pm)
- January 1, 2026 – the New Year’s Concert (11.15am)
Vienna has a tradition of egalitarian access to culture. So, for example, you can see opera at the State Opera House for as little as the price of a cup of coffee.
Tickets for the New Year concert performances typically start at around €20 to €35 (depending which one you attend), though you can pay much more, of course. The best seats at the main event on January 1st cost in excess of €1000.
The good news is you have as great a chance of getting a ticket as just about anyone. The bad news is that this chance is low.
A simple lottery decides who can buy tickets, which you enter online at the Wiener Philharmoniker website. To do so, you must register your application at the site much earlier in the year. Full details here.
If you miss out on tickets (I once heard that over 400,000 people apply), Vienna has plenty of alternative concerts for some turn-of-the-year classical entertainment.
Or…just switch on the television.
Austria’s state broadcaster (ORF) shows the New Year’s Day event live (normally on the ORF 2 channel) or you can listen in on the radio (normally the Ö1 station).
(Christian Thielemann conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker at the 2024 New Year’s Concert in the Musikverein. Press photo © Dieter Nagl / Wiener Philharmoniker)
ORF mixes in a couple of recorded dance scenes with the TV broadcast.
In 2025, for example, members of the Vienna state ballet performed:
- The Entweder-oder polka by Johann Strauss II around the Lok 12.10 steam locomotive in Vienna’s Technisches Museum
- The Accelerations waltz by Johann Strauss II at the famous Südbahnhotel in Semmering
You don’t even have to be in Austria to enjoy the orchestra’s work on TV and radio. The New Year’s Concert is typically broadcast live to around 100 countries.
And if you don’t catch it on TV, the Philharmoniker bring out a CD, DVD, etc. of the event remarkably quickly.
Incidentally, the open-air Rathausplatz Film Festival in summer often includes a recording of the most-recent concert as a programme point. It’s a lovely event right in the centre. You might also find a recording playing at the Haus der Musik.
How to get to the Musikverein
For directions, should you be lucky enough to get tickets, see the main Musikverein article.
Address: Musikvereinsplatz 1, 1010 Vienna