Since the year of its foundation in 1978 the Strauss Festival Orchestra Vienna, with its highly acclaimed performances in the great concert halls of the world has established itself as a top-class ensemble for the authentic interpretation of viennese music. Next to its loyalty to traditional style and the true viennese sound, the special trademark of the SFO is its charm and joy in making music at the highest artistic level. There is space for humour and entertainment, as well as artistic profoundness during the concerts. The SFO, which consists of members of the large viennese orchestras and excellent specialists, has developed into a worldwide leading ensemble. Peter Guth, the internationally renowned Strauss specialist shares the post of musical director with Willy Büchler, concert master of the Vienna   Symphony Orchestra. With the violin in hand they both carry on the tradition of the Strauss dynasty in the 21st century. Countless guest performances have led the SFO around the globe; for audiences in Japan, China, Taiwan or South Korea the orchestra ranks among the absolute favourites.  Equally, the large cities of Eastern Europe like Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiew are constant travel destinations for the orchestra.   Performances on the most prominent stages of international concert life like the Cologne Philharmonic Hall, the Herkules Hall in Munich, the Suntory Hall Tokyo, the Arts Centre Seoul, the Dom Muziki Moskau or the Vienna Musikverein are a sign of international esteem. In its home city, Vienna, the SFO is represented in a special way: since the turn of the millenium in the year 2000 the annual New Year‘s Concerts of the Strauss Festival Orchestra at the Great Hall of the Vienna Konzerthaus are seen as one of the musical highlights at the turn of the year. It is with great optimism and pleasure that the Strauss Festival Orchestra Vienna earns enthusiasm and cheers, proclaiming the eternally youthful fascination of viennese music.

(Gramophone, London)

Peter Guth     

The incomparable way of sweeping musicians and audiences along, conducting in the tradition of Johann Strauss while playing the violin, has made him internationally known.  He conveys the joy of music wherever he appears. Repeatedly invited as a guest conductor and sought after specialist for Viennese music by more than hundred renowned symphony orchestras and important festivals, he has made an exceptional career in the musical centres of the world. Concert series and TV-Galas associate him in frequent cooperation with many famous top-orchestras, like the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London , the NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo , the San Francisco Symphony , the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich , the English Chamber Orchestra , or the Moscow Virtuosi .
In his considerable number of recordings, the first CD-presentation with music by the Danish “Strauss of the North” Hans Christian Lumbye won the British Music Retailers Award and his recordings with the RSO Vienna were rated as the best of the Marco Polo – Strauss Edition .
1978 he founded his Strauss Festival Orchestra Vienna and was able to establish it with worldwide tours, CD- and DVD-recordings as international top ensemble for Viennese music.  He gets enthusiastic acclaim with his colleagues for their annual Strauss-Galas at New Year in the Wiener Konzerthaus ,
since many years in Asia (Japan, South Korea, PR China, Taiwan) and recently with concert-tours in Russia and Eastern Europe.
He has accompanied many prominent vocal-soloists, was music director of the first Vienna Operetta Festival in Japan and conducted new operetta-productions at international opera houses. Several times he directed New Year’s Concerts in the Tokyo Suntory Hall .  In the New York Lincoln Center and the Los Angeles
Walt Disney Concert Hall he performed for the US-Canadian concert series “ Salute to Vienna” who presented him as artistic director also for their TV-Galas in Vienna, in 1999 with Gregory Peck as host and in 2013 for the US TV C ompany PBS with Maximilian Schell and Frederica von Stade .
Peter Guth’s authentic interpretation of music by Johann Strauss is appreciated also in Russia. In Moscow in the Grand Hall of the Co nservatorium, in Tchaikovsky – Hall , in the International Performing Arts Center – Dom Musiki , or at the opening of the V ienna Days . In concerts with the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonia , or at the summer festival “The Grand Waltz” of the Hermitage Museum .  In
2007 he was appointed as first guest conductor at the Saint Petersburg State Theatre of Musical Comedy , where he directs several new operetta-productions, as well as annual galas with international stars.  With the world-famous ensemble “ Moscow Virtuosi” of Vladimir Spivakov he is invited in regular cooperation since 2012 for concerts in Moscow and other Russian cities.
After his education in Vienna at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts , Peter Guth studied three years with David Oistrakh at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and was internationally successful as a soloist and with the Vienna Trio (1st prize at the ARD – Competition Munich 1961). Educational work, publications on modern violin methodology, an active concern for new music, as well as his earlier position as first concertmaster of the RSO Vienna give a comprehensive picture of this versatile, well-known Austrian artist. In 2006 he was awarded the Golden Sign of Merit of the Vienna County.