Thomas Aigner

Thomas Aigner was born in Vienna in 1958. He completed a doctorate in musicology at the university in his hometown and the inter-university course “Library and Information Studies” (MSc).

From 1985 to 2000, he held various positions at the Conservatory of the City of Vienna (now the Vienna Conservatory – Private University).

From 2000 to 2021, he was Head of the Music Collection of the Vienna Library in City Hall and from 2021 to 2023 of the newly created organizational unit Manuscripts, Music and Bequests and from 2019 to 2023 Deputy Director of the Library. He also taught at the Institute of Musicology at the University of Vienna from 2001 to 2015.

Thomas Aigner has appeared in public with numerous academic lectures and publications as well as curating exhibitions on 19th and 20th century music, in particular on the Strauss family of musicians; most recently, together with Karin Neuwirth, he curated the Johann Strauss anniversary exhibition 2024/25 at the Theatermuseum. His most important discoveries include a copy of 100 love letters from Johann Strauss to Olga Smirnitskaja, three orchestral fantasies by Josef Strauss, the libretto to Franz Schubert’s unfinished opera Sacontala and a historical military march that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart used as a model for the end of Figaro’s aria Non più andrai in his opera Le nozze di Figaro.