Vienna Boys’ Choir facing serious money problems

VIENNA (AFP) ― The sailor-suited Vienna Boys’ Choir, one of Austria’s best-selling musical exports, is facing serious financial problems, its director warned in a newspaper interview Monday.

“The Vienna Boys’ Choir is a well-run institution but financial resources are very scarce,” Walter Nettig told the Die Presse daily.

The “Wiener Saengerknaben” and an attached school, with roots going back to the 13th century, is classified as a non-profit association.

It relies on income from its many concerts, tours and CDs and on private donations. Only the teachers’ wages are paid by the state. But it has also been housed since 1948 ― rent-free ― in an 18th-century palace.

Earlier this month, the Austrian national audit office recommended that the government start charging the choir 17,200 euros ($22,900) per month for use of the building.

Nettig said the choir could not afford that.

“If in future we have to pay 200,000 euros in rent every year, we can’t manage,” he told Die Presse.