Recognition – Herbert Claus receives the Amstetner Culture Prize 2024

The winner of the Amstetten Cultural Prize 2024 is Herbert Claus. “As a member of various musical formations and through his other theatrical works, Herbert Klaus has been an important ambassador for the Amstetten music scene for almost five decades – in the city, Austria and Europe,” congratulates City Councilor for Culture Stefan Jändl. On the prize.

Herbert Claus has been president of the Music Society for nearly two decades. This makes him the longest-serving president in the 150-year history of Amstetten brass music. “This voluntary commitment cannot be overstated. He has enormous influence as a role model,” says Mayor Christian Haberhauer, thanking the New Culture Prize winner for his commitment.

President of the Music Association since 2007

Klaus was born in Amstetten in 1963. In 1976 he joined the music club as a trombone player. Later the tuba became his main instrument. Herbert Klaus has served on the Board of Directors of the Music Society on a volunteer basis since 1982. In 2007 he was elected President. During his tenure, he played a leading role in the construction of the new “Haus der Musik”.

Klaus was also one of the founding members of the AMV Big Band, founded by Robert Bussecker in 1978, and Mostfertler Bernbeitler in 1990. As a member of Wolfgang Puschnig's Alpine Aspects, he has participated in more than 60 concerts in Europe since 1991 – From England, France and Germany to Italy, the Czech Republic and Switzerland. “The project is a symbiosis of jazz and folk music. “It was actually the initial spark for the diverse and modern brass music culture around the world,” Klaus says of the collaboration with Joe Zawinul, Willy Resetarets and the Korean drummers.

Numerous appearances on television and radio

He has also appeared at countless festivals such as Glatt & Verkehrt, Heimisch Quer, AufhOHRchen, hierige & dosige, Wellenklænge, ​​Zoa, Carinthischer Sommer, the concert series with Lucia Nistler and the European Elvis Festival Bad Nauheim. He has been on stage with members of Elvis Presley's original band and background choir, among others.

The range of his appearances on television and radio ranges from the ORF program “Klingendes Österreich” to various contributions on German and Italian television. He also appeared on the covers of Austrian and international magazines, such as the traditional jazz magazine Gaspodium. In the past three decades, more than ten different recordings have been made with his participation – including Erste Allgemeine Verunsicherung (EAV). In 2011 he received the Lower Austrian Culture Prize with the Mostviertler Birnbeitler.

He is also an integral part of his hometown's music scene. In Amstetten alone he performed at around 1,500 events.

The handover ceremony is taking place as part of the traditional Christmas Wishes ceremony on 8 December at Johannes Pauls Halle, in which Klaus himself has participated 47 times. Tickets for the Advent concert will be available from 4 November via AVB Kultur & Freizeit GmbH (online and at the Culture and Tourism Office in the Town Hall courtyard).