Concert to Celebrate a Milestone Anniversary
Marianne Mendt, accompanied by her band and orchestra, has been on a highly acclaimed anniversary tour for months
Marianne Mendt, Austria’s top all-around entertainer, likes to keep things down-to-earth when it comes to superlatives about herself. “I’m basically just a musician,” she usually says, adding, “A passionate musician and singer.” And she’s been doing so at the highest artistic level for decades. Mendt—as she is affectionately and respectfully known by her compatriots—literally kicked off the dialect craze in Austria in the early 1970s with a hit song, “Glock’n.” She played numerous roles in musicals, lived out her passion for jazz and swing, devoted herself just as passionately to nurturing the country’s up-and-coming jazz talent, and served as artistic director of her own jazz festival for many years. Aside from her numerous appearances in theater, film, and television productions—as well as her role as the tobacco shop owner Gitti Schimek in the legendary *Kaisermühlen-Blues*—she insists , as she always likes to emphasize, that “music comes first.” And she’s been doing so for 80 years now…
A Life Devoted to Music for 80 Years
It’s been celebrated on stage for several months now. The theme: The 80s Birthday Tour. A highly acclaimed concert experience in a class of its own. The program features a rotating lineup of top-notch musicians. “There’s something for everyone, from the small to the big,” she says, adding: “All the way up to the big band.” The set list will include standards as well as the big hits. This will feature nostalgic “moments” as well as guest appearances, though the artist prefers to keep those details under wraps: “I always like to surprise the audience, but of course the music will span my entire career as an artist. It ’ll be a colorful roundup of memories, with autobiographical elements serving as the common thread.” Mendt adds: “I’ve been a musician since I was twelve. So there will be plenty to talk about.”
Marianne Mendt—that’s nearly 80 years of local music and entertainment history—can be seen and heard live as part of her anniversary birthday tour, which has been a hit for months.
