Flower Power! The Florals of Salute to Vienna New Year's Concert

Behind every great conductor is a great flower arrangement. At Salute to Vienna New Year’s Concert, while your focus may be on the singers, dancers, and musicians who help joy blossom on stage, we like to gild the lily with fresh florals, lavishly located right behind the conductor’s podium. Read on to learn a little about these sweet-scented backdrops to every number from Voices of Spring to Roses of the South.

Fresh is best

Our concert is, at its heart, a lively homage to Vienna’s original Neujahrskonzert held each year at the Musikverein. This is where the tradition of decorating the stage with fresh flowers stems from, and we strive to reflect that floral decadence in each of our North American performances.

Arranging the arrangements

With our concerts taking place during holiday season, it’s important we start planting our décor seeds early. It may be surprising how much coordination is required to get these bouquets in place on stage by the time audiences arrive at each concert hall.

Two to three months prior to showtime, our Operations Manager places all floral orders from our home offices in Toronto. We have long-stemming relationships with local florists in most of our host cities, some of whom have been providing our arrangements for decades. In new cities, or in cases where our go-to is unavailable, we work with event-planning staff at our venues to seek out recommendations.

Getting the arrangements in place on performance day relies on a long daisy chain. First, our Operations team arranges delivery with the florists based on a timeframe provided by the venue. We then ensure our local Glatz Concerts reps, venue production staff, orchestra contractors, building security, and parking officials are all aware of their role in this chain of events to help relay the flowers safely to their spot at back centre stage prior to the pre-show rehearsal.

Picking flowers

When arranging for florals, we have but one request: colours should be bold and vibrant (think pink, purple, yellow, and red). The rest is up to each individual florist. Where our office team can’t be on site personally, we receive photos of each arrangement once they have been delivered. We love being surprised by how each artist creates something uniquely beautiful within our requested colour pallet!

 

Where have all the flowers gone?

One question we are often asked is, “What happens to all those beautiful flowers after the concert?” After all, a touring cast doesn’t have the ability to bring them home to admire. In most of our cities, the flowers are donated to local senior’s homes, so they can continue to help spread joy and beauty into the new year.

While the florals on stage may not be the star of the show, many people have worked behind the scenes to bring that extra touch of authenticity to the performance. Salute to Vienna New Year’s Concert is all about stopping to smell the roses, and what better way to accent an experience that celebrates fresh beginnings and beauty than with the power of flowers.