Which orchestra performs the annual New Year's Concert broadcast from Vienna's Musikverein?

The Vienna Philharmonic performs the annual New Year's Concert broadcast from Vienna's Musikverein.

The Vienna New Year's Concert is a globally televised classical-music event held in the Musikverein's Golden Hall. Its program centers on music by the Strauss family, especially Johann Strauss II, whose waltzes and polkas helped define the concert's festive sound. The orchestra's polished performance and the hall's decorations have become part of the holiday tradition.

The concert began in 1939, when Clemens Krauss conducted the first event. It was initially held on New Year's Eve; the regular January 1 date was adopted after the Second World War. The conductor changes from year to year, selected by the Vienna Philharmonic, while the orchestra itself remains the resident ensemble.

The concert is sometimes confused with other European New Year's broadcasts, but the Musikverein venue and the Vienna Philharmonic are its defining identifiers. The program traditionally ends with “The Blue Danube” and the “Radetzky March,” though the audience's clapping during the latter is not part of every performance's musical score.