Conductor, pianist and former AAF Young Conductors Fellow Levi Hammer captivated the audience during his latest performance at the Austrian Embassy in Washington, D.C. on February 9, 2026 with his solo piano program Gershwin in Vienna.
The American Austrian Foundation (AAF) and the Austrian Cultural Forum (ACF) in Washington, D.C. have jointly organized the event, which started with opening remarks from David Živković, Director of ACF DC and Katharine Eltz-Aulitzky, Executive Director of the AAF highlighting the cultural exchange between Austria and the United States.
The program traced the fascinating musical and historical links between George Gershwin and the composers of the Second Viennese School: Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, and Anton Webern, the Austrian pioneers of musical modernism. More than a historical exploration, the evening also served as a musical autobiography of Levi Hammer, uniting his American roots with his ongoing European artistic journey. At the piano, Hammer created a bridge between worlds, between jazz-inflected American soundscapes and the rigorous, expressive language shaped in Vienna.
Please join us on on February 18, 2026, when Levi will perform Gershwin in Vienna at the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York. Tickets are available now.
