(Credit: SF/Marco Borrelli)

A new subsidiary association of the Friends of the Salzburg Festival is about to be founded in France to celebrate the Centennial Edition of the festival.

“Les Amis Français du Festival de Salzbourg” is the fifth subsidiary association of this kind. Previously, similar associations have been founded in Germany, the United States of America, Switzerland, and Russia. The Association of Friends of the Salzburg Festival was founded in 1961 by Prof. Bernhard Paumgartner, who was at that time the President of the Festival.

President of the Salzburg Festival Helga Rabl-Stadler expressed her gratitude that the group of subsidiary associations is further expanding on an international level.

“Except during the times of COVID-19, we welcome guests from 80 countries, including 35 non-European ones. The fact that the Association of Friends takes care of these guests throughout the year earns the Salzburg Festival plenty of affection and approval,” stated Rabl-Stadler in an official press release.

Bertrand Dermoncourt, director of the French radio station Radio Classique in Paris and co-founder of “Les Amis Français du Festival de Salzbourg” said in a statement that Europe needs the Salzburg Festival more than ever, as it is a symbol of artistic, poetic, spiritual, moral and political values.

“This association will add a French note to its donor base, uniting the numerous French regular customers and attracting new ones; it will also support performances by French artists and creators of art and promote the presence of French repertoire in Salzburg,” added Dermoncourt.

The Association of Friends is the largest private donor to the Salzburg Festival. The members of the Comité d‘honneur of the French Association of the Friends of the Salzburg Festival will be announced at a later date.