Karen Bentley

Karen Bentley began studying piano at the age of 4 and has been a professional musician since the age of 9. She also studied organ, violin, voice, guitar, and cello. Her career has encompassed all aspects of music: performing composing, arranging, conducting, and teaching. She has been pianist to Tulsa Ballet, the School for Dance Enrichment, the international Pointe to the Future Workshops, the Juilliard School Dance Division, Ballet Oklahoma, the School of Ballet Oklahoma, Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute, the University of Oklahoma Ballet and Modern Dance Companies, Edward Villella, Yvonne Chouteau, Miguel Terekhov, Ko Yukihiro, Marcello Angelini, the School of American Ballet National Auditions, The American College Festival of Dance, the Vienna International Singers, and other distinguished artists and organizations too numerous to mention. She once played for 22 dance companies in one year…

She founded the Bentley-Bales School of Music in Coweta, Oklahoma and created the piano, guitar, violin, cello, and ensemble programs of Riverfield Country Day School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her students have been winners of the Tulsa Philharmonic Competition, Sarkey’s Piano Competition, Naftzger Competition, New York Young Concert Artist Auditions, Artist International Competition, Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and numerous other national and international competitions.  These competition winners have performed in many exciting venues, including Carnegie Hall in New York and Albert Hall in London.

Karen has played in delightful surroundings in Vienna, including the Hofburg, Schoenbrunn, and the United Nations. The unrivalled concert season of Vienna is her joy, offering literally hundreds of concerts a day in high season. Her background gives her professional insights into performances and repertoire, as well as a passion for investigating the historical highlights of any musical tour of this most musical of cities. Those who play, dance, sing, and write in Vienna—and those who inspired them—arouse her enthusiastic interest. By highlighting events both before and after opening night, she hopes to display the best of Viennese performances. She will share historical Vienna with visitors who seek the inspiring city of great composers while her reviews of current performances will show the liveliness of the arts in Vienna today. She welcomes ideas, suggestions, photographs, and interviews that offer the best of times in Vienna!

The Best of Opera in Vienna by Oliver Macdonald

Oliver was posted to Vienna from Dublin in 1999.  He quickly found his way to the Vienna State Opera where he spent four years at the best University of Opera Studies in the world – the queue for Standing Room!!

Since then he has attended over 1200 opera performances. Oliver enjoys sharing his passion for this, the supreme form of the Performing Arts, with everyone.

His column (Nights at the opera) appears monthly in the Vienna Review.

Oliver will be writing shortly about the operas to be enjoyed in Vienna in April.

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