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The Tonkünstler Orchestra has roots stretching back to the vibrant Viennese culture of the early 20th century and even beyond. The group has recorded extensively and has attracted world-class conductors from beyond Austria and central Europe.

The Tonkünstler Orchestra was founded in Vienna in 1907 with 83 musicians. The group is known in German as the Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich or Musical Artists' Orchestra of Lower Austria, and its name pays homage to the Tonkünstler-Sozietät that presented works by Haydn and Mozart in the late 18th century. The group's first concert featured works by Beethoven, Grieg, Liszt, and Karl Goldmark. In 1913, the orchestra gave the premiere performance of Schoenberg's Gürre-Lieder. Its activities contracted during World War I, and it was replaced by a new Wiener Tonkünstler Orchestra in 1933, with Leopold Reichwein as conductor. The group continued to operate through the Nazi era, mostly under the name Gausymphonieorchester Niederdonau and mostly in direct support of the German war effort. The year 1946 brought the name Niederösterreichisches Tonkünstlerorchester and a new conductor, Kurt Wöss. After a 2002 restructuring, the present name was applied. Major conductors in the 20th century included Gustav Koslik (1951-1964), Heinz Wallberg (1964-1975), Miltiades Caridis (1978-1988, the group's first conductor not from Austria or Germany), and Brazil's Isaac Karabtchevsky (1998-1994, the orchestra's first non-European leader). The orchestra's recording catalog dates back to the LP era; an early digital release was a 2008 recording of Haydn's Die Schöpfung on the TON 4/Zebralution label.

The Tonkünstler Orchestra performs in Vienna at the Golden Hall of the Musikverein. It also has a second headquarters in Sankt Pölten in Lower Austria province, where it is state-supported, performing at the Festspielhaus Sankt Pölten. The ensemble serves as orchestra-in-residence at the Grafenegg Festival outside Vienna. Conductors during the 21st century have been an internationally prominent group, including Carlos Kalmar (2000-2003), Kristjan Järvi (2004-2009), Andrés Orozco-Estrada (2009-2014), and Yutaka Sado (2015-2025). In 2025, Fabien Gabel was scheduled to take up the baton. A major recording under Järvi was one of Leonard Bernstein's Mass for the Chandos label in 2009. The Tonkünstler Orchestra has also recorded for the Preiser Records, Oehms Classics, and Wergo labels, among others. In 2024, the group moved to Naxos and released a recording of orchestral works by Franz von Suppé. By that time, the group's recording history included more than 20 albums. ~ James Manheim

A violinist at first, conductor Ola Rudner has been active in Australia as well as in Europe. He is known for conducting both orchestral music and opera from various time periods.

Rudner was born in Gislaved in southern Sweden on December 11, 1953. He started his career as a violinist and took sixth prize at the Paganini Competition in Genoa, Italy, in 1977. Rudner held concertmaster positions with several prestigious organizations, including the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Volksoper Orchestra in Vienna, and the Camerata Salzburg. In 1990, he made his recording debut as a violinist, joining the Helsingborg Symphony on an album of works by Karl-Birger Blomdahl on the MAP label. With Farshid Girakhou and Walter Schober, he founded the Philharmonia Wien (not to be confused with the Wiener Philharmoniker) in 1995. Rudner's move to conducting came about after he landed a post as an assistant to Sándor Vegh, a musician who was also active as both a violinist and a conductor. In the late '90s, Rudner gravitated toward conducting, and he made his recording debut in that field in 1999 on the BIS label, leading the Swedish Chamber Orchestra on the album Sally Beamish: River.

Rudner's conducting career developed rapidly. He served as chief conductor of the Tasmanian Symphony in Australia from 2001 to 2003, returning to Europe to take the same post with the Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and Trento from 2003 to 2006. Rudner was the chief conductor of Württembergische Philharmonie in Reutlingen, Germany, from 2008 to 2016, building that group into a major German regional ensemble and taking it on tours of Austria, Italy, and Eastern Europe. He has remained active in Australia, leading all of the country's major orchestras as a guest. He has also guest conducted a wide variety of European orchestras, including most of the top Scandinavian groups as well as the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, the Wiener Symphoniker, and the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, among many others. He is also recognized as an opera conductor, leading productions at houses in Australia, Italy, Sweden, and Austria.

Rudner's repertory is large, ranging from the Baroque era to contemporary music by Rolf Martinsson, who dedicated a work to the conductor. His central focus has been on the Germanic tradition from Haydn to Bruckner. In addition to BIS, Rudner has recorded for ABC Classics in Australia, Ars Produktion, CPO, and other labels, moving to Naxos in 2024 for a recording of orchestral music by Franz von Suppé with the Tonkünstler Orchestra of Vienna. By that time, his recording catalog comprised more than 20 releases. ~ James Manheim