PRESENTATION OF THE GOLDEN JOHANN STRAUSS AWARD 2021
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Bernhard Heher
On 28th October 2021 the Golden Johann Strauss Award was given to Oberst Mag.Bernhard Heher, head of the Austrian military band and bandmaster of the guards. As usual, the ceremony was held in the Marchfelderhof Restaurant in Deutsch-Wagram. A great number of well-known figures from the fields of politics and business came to congratulate Bernhard Heher on his award, first and foremost Mag. Klaudia Tanner, Federal Minister of Defence, Christoph Neumayer, Secretary General of the Federation of Austrian Industries, and Anton Faber, cathedral priest of St. Stephen’s Cathedral, to mention only the most prominent guests. As usual, the ceremony attracted enormous media interest.
In his keynote speech President Widholz explained why Bernhard Heher had been selected as the Golden Johann Strauss award winner that year. Apart from his great expertise as a conductor and his endeavour to render the works of Johann Strauss in an authentic way, he has been passing on his knowledge to the younger generation for almost two decades. By continuously developing a Strauss repertoire together with the young musicians of the „Gardemusik Wien“ he has contributed to the maintainance of the Viennese musical tradition.

Bernhard Heher expressed his thanks not only by words, but also by music. In front of the Marchfelderhof Restaurant he conducted „his“ „Gardemusik Wien“, playing the entry march from The Gipsy Baron ( Zigeunerbaron) and the Festmarsch op.452 by Johann Strauss as well as the march „ O du, mein Österreich“ by Ferdinand Preis / Franz von Suppe´.
An article published by the „Kurier“newspaper the following day, reported not only on the events of the ceremony, but included another interesting and amusing detail: Bernhard Heher put the baton into the hands of the cathedral priest Toni Faber, who then conducted the „Radetzkymarsch“. You can read the article in the original language below.