CULTURE AWARD

The journey and legacy of the Hubert von Goisern Culture Award 2018-2024

Founded for the advancement of talent and perseverance; granted for outstanding commitment and achievement in music.

Since its inception in 2018 the Hubert von Goisern Culture Award has been a source of financial and creative support for more than 30 solo artists and groups. In a world of increasing commercialism, it can be challenging for boundary-pushing work to thrive and the total prize fund of €100,000 granted over the course of seven years has enabled gifted artists to pursue their dreams and make a lasting impression in the world of music. "I was supported by many people through the penniless early years of my career," Hubert von Goisern remarked when he founded the award, "and these people did so because they believed in what I was doing." In turn he aimed to help those who approached the world in exciting and important ways.

Jewels in the cultural landscape

From the outset, the goal of the Hubert von Goisern Culture Award was to support inspired and inspiring people. Initially open to all cultural fields, the award later narrowed its focus to projects based in music due to the overwhelming interest.

Through the years, a diverse jury assisted Hubert von Goisern in selecting the award winners from more than 800 applications submitted: culture journalist Bernhard Flieher; Artistic Director of Das Zentrum in Radstadt, Elisabeth Schneider; Chairman of VOI cultural centre in Linz, Günter Huemer; music manager Hage Hein; and Principal Conductor of the Salzburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Elisabeth Fuchs.

The plethora of applications that Elisabeth Schneider recalls ranging from "exciting, interesting, original, innovative" to "boring, complacent" detailed applicants' projects and their dreams of what winning could mean for their work, accompanied by hours of music and videos. Each jury member would draw up a shortlist before gathering at Hubert's Salzburg studio in the spring to pick the winners – often overseen by Schildi the tortoise, strolling around the terrace. Günter Huemer notes that "the frequent, multiple matches after the personal selections were presented were remarkable."

With the difficult task of picking the winners complete, it fell to Hubert von Goisern as founder of the award to deliver the good news. Stories abound of missed or ignored calls, and confusion at who the unexpected "Hubert" on the other end of the line might be, followed by astonishment and delight upon hearing that their work had been chosen for commendation. For violinist and culture organiser Margarethe Hlawa-Grundner it was an impactful moment: "It showed me that fate exists, there are miracles, there is always hope."

Each year, the Hubert von Goisern Culture Award was presented at an intimate ceremony, attended by local dignitaries, cultural figures, and the family, friends, and supporters of each artist and group. Performances by the award winners were an opportunity to share their craft with new and appreciative audiences, their acceptance speeches a chance to thank those who had supported them. "We were valued for our art, what could be better?" asks Felix Gutschi of genre-crossing band Chez Fria. During the joint lunch and soundcheck that day, ideas had already been exchanged, experiences shared, and connections made between the diverse artists.

A helping hand

In 2020, the worldwide pandemic hit the cultural world hard. Tours and performances were cancelled at short notice and the mere idea of gathering in a studio or an auditorium had to be put on hold. Hubert von Goisern quickly responded to support more people in those unprecedented times, doubling the prize money and granting five Culture Awards and five Development Awards.

Chez Fria was among the winners that year and the band invested the prize money in filming two professional music videos with Doppelkopfstudios. "These increased our reach and visibility and helped us win many other concerts," says recorder player Felix. "We became better known in the Austrian cultural scene [and] recently finished recording our first album, out in February."

Fellow 2020 award winner Jesse Grande, channelled his award money into the production of his dialect pop album UNO, a work later featured on Hubert von Goisern's radio show Steilklänge on Freies Radio Salzkammergut. Since then, the Tyrolean musician has remained busy with concerts, musical collaborations and filmmaking. "A lot has gone well since Hubert called," he says proudly.

Sound artist Ulrich Schleicher notes that the award was exceptional as "there are hardly any cultural awards that also recognise social commitment." For him, the impact of his win reaches far beyond the subsequent concerts and studio upgrades it made possible. Recognition from the jury also increased the support for and reach of his social project Let's Play Vienna, which fosters a welcoming environment of free play for refugee children from around the world.

For Andreas Huber, leader of the Grooving-Moving percussion and dance company, the award was "primarily a motivation to continue working more intensively in the inclusive direction". This led to founding a "music and inclusion" course at the Anton Bruckner Private University Linz, as well as the band UNIverse, now an integral part of the inclusive scene. This year, the ensemble performed UNIverse goes Bruckner based on Bruckner's 4th Symphony alongside Severin Trogbacher – Hubert von Goisern's guitarist of many years – and the Spring String Quartet to great acclaim in St. Florian.

Together with its motivational thrust, the award has been invaluable in view of the freedom it has afforded its recipients to fulfil long-held dreams and make significant advances in their careers. Ingrid Hofer, whom the jury commended for her sign language DVD of children's songs, was finally able to develop new material that had long been at a standstill. "[The award] made me visible to a completely new audience and got a lot of things rolling, both directly and indirectly," she says, including production of a dance video with an integration class and her first musical, My Friend Teddy Eddy, which had two successful runs in 2023 and 2024.

Selection by the jury in 2022, enabled singer-songwriter Alicia Edelweiss to invest in new recording equipment and perform her "freak folk" around Great Britain and even as far afield as Hong Kong. Vitally, she also found that "financially, it has definitely taken a little pressure off having to play live all the time," allowing her to focus on scoring a silent film, composing music for a children's play, and recording her new album with a string quartet at the Radiokulturhaus.

Perseverance and risk-taking

Juror Bernhard Flieher's hopes that the award would lead to meaningful work have certainly been realised. "With some [recipients] you can see that we were absolutely right with our decision and that their careers have developed beautifully and successfully", among them AVEC, Julia Lacherstorfer and Sigrid Horn. For Sigrid, the award "was an incredibly important confirmation for me that I was on the right path and an incentive to stick with it and continue writing songs for my album NEST". The prize enabled her to complete recordings for this album, which was later nominated for an Amadeus Award.

Hubert von Goisern's conviction that it is essential to foster sustainability in the arts by supporting both newcomers and established artists is shared by Birgit Koblinger, manager of Schlot in Linz. She knows all too well that success doesn't necessarily mean financial security. With her win in 2019, came the financial cushion that allowed her work at the cultural centre to continue. "The Hubert von Goisern Culture Award was certainly the stone that got the ball rolling for what came next," Birgit says of the numerous workshops, collaborations and concerts that followed. In 2024 the collective celebrated their 10-year anniversary and is now firmly anchored in Linz's art and culture scene.

A key element of the Hubert von Goisern Culture Award has also often been recognising those who are willing to take artistic risks. In 2019 Alex Cumfe was recognised for her project Her tree, in which she combined the sounds of the European natural world with her voice and music. "My project and album really took off after that," she says, with her debut album in 2021 lauded by the Süddeutsche Zeitung. A new album is in the works and shifts focus to a new region: "I've just returned from South America, where I was in the jungle with a primatologist, recording animals."

Former Starmania winner Anna Buchegger and drummer David Raddish received their awards in 2024 and 2021 respectively and have now joined forces to produce Anna's second album. Anna particularly valued the "appreciation and encouragement" that came with the award. As she develops a new project that she feels may not necessarily fit traditional commercial formats, recognition from Hubert von Goisern, who himself has successfully navigated a non-commercial path, is invaluable. For her producing partner, David, the money was instrumental in purchasing a long-desired Schimmel piano. "The piano has inspired me to write many songs and will accompany me for a very, very long time," he says.

Filmmaker Mike Ramsauer has been similarly inspired by the enduring impact of the award: "[Hubert] has definitely shown that he really cares about making progress and that is exactly what it was for me too, in many ways." Receipt of the Culture Award in 2018 gave him the freedom to keep living his passion and to finish his film SIEGFRIED. STEGER. ATTENTÄTER, about the former BAS activist. The film premiered in Radstadt, where juror Elisabeth Schneider continues to cultivate connections between the town and culture award winners and when audiovisual artist and 2019 award winner Florian Nitsch presented his show SCHHHHHHH there in 2022, Hubert von Goisern was there to see it.

Nurturing talent

Over the years Hubert von Goisern has continued to foster the talents of many of his award winners. Audiences at his concerts have been treated to support performances from musicians such as Alex Cumfe in Altötting, Alicia Edelweiss at Schloss Salem, and Von Seiten der Gemeinde in Altusried. In 2022, Sigrid Horn opened the show at Burg Clam, performing alone with just her ukulele in front of 7000 people. In the dressing room backstage: her baby daughter's rubber duck as a good luck charm, briefly pinched by Hubert to combat his own stage fright.

Percussionist Christoph Sietzen, one of the first award winners, has been integrated into Hubert von Goisern's productions on multiple occasions, from stepping in at short notice at the start of the Zeiten & Zeichen Tour to performing at the Capital of Culture Salzkammergut 2024 opening ceremony, when he joined Hubert and the Choir of 1000 on the cold open-air stage in Bad Ischl.

He also played a part in Hubert's street music tour through the Capital of Culture region, which was a wonderful opportunity for award winners to reach a broader audience. Anna Buchegger, Marcus Hinterberger, Claudia Schwab, Zelda Weber, and Kimyan Law were among those who captivated crowds with spontaneous shows at lakesides and town squares. For Claudia, it was a special experience: "Standing on stage next to Hubert, who brings his sound into the world from the ground up to the sky, is something you really don't get to do every day!" Her band, Trio Hupsala, evolved from a project initiated after her 2020 award, a testament to the lasting impact of the recognition.

Looking forward

For the past seven years the Hubert von Goisern Culture Award has turned the spotlight on a multitude of artists who enrich the world around them. While the cultural landscape continues to thrive with these committed and determined talents, the award will take a hiatus during Hubert von Goisern's own break from the stage and return in a revised form in a couple of years.

Further information on all the Hubert von Goisern Culture Award winners from 2018 to 2024 can be found in the archive below. You'll find inspiring work for all tastes from these dynamic creatives, brought to life with talent and passion. It is clear that engaging with and supporting the cultural world bears enriching fruit for us all.

Previous winners

The Jury