The Vienna Art Orchestra was a European jazz group based in Vienna, Austria. Organized at different times as either a big band or as a smaller combo, it was regarded as one of the leading European jazz ensembles and was an official cultural ambassador of the Republic of Austria.

Founded in 1977 by director and composer Mathias Rüegg, the band started out by performing Rüegg's distinctive postmodern compositions on stages throughout Europe. Among the founding musicians were saxophonists Wolfgang Puschnig and Harry Sokal, singer Lauren Newton, and tuba player Jon Sass. In 1980 the ensemble signed a recording contract with the Swiss hatART label, and in 1984 it toured the United States for the first time.

The group essentially disbanded for a brief period at the end of the 1980s. In 1992 the VAO opened a new phase with a smaller complement of musicians. The band played fewer of Rüegg's compositions and concentrated on arrangements of works by Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, and other noted American jazz composers, as well as music inspired by the classical music of Verdi, Wagner, Schubert, and Erik Satie.

Vienna ( /viːˈɛnə/; German:  Wien (help·info) [viːn]) is the capital and largest city of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million (2.4 million within the metropolitan area, more than 25% of Austria's population), and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 9th-largest city by population in the European Union. Until the beginning of the 20th century it was the largest German speaking city in the world, and before the first world war and the splitting of the Austro-Hungarian empire the city had 2 million inhabitants. Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations and OPEC. The city lies in the east of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. These regions work together in a European Centrope border region. Along with nearby Bratislava, Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitants. In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Wolfgang Muthspiel (born 2 March 1965 in Judenburg, Styria) is an Austrian guitarist and composer most associated with jazz and brother of the trombonist and pianist Christian Muthspiel.

He started playing the violin at six and began study of the guitar as a teenager. After studying classical and jazz guitar in Graz, he completed his studies at the New England Conservatory and the Berklee College of Music. His high reputation, even in young years, made him the replacement of Pat Metheny in Gary Burton's band.

In subsequent years Muthspiel played with many notable jazz musicians, including Maria Joao, Dave Liebman, Peter Erskine, Paul Motian, Bob Berg, Gary Peacock, Don Alias, Gary Burton, Larry Grenadier and John Patitucci. Later a collaboration with famous Norwegian jazz singer Rebekka Bakken followed.

In 2002 Muthspiel returned to Vienna, founding his record label Material Records, which focuses on publishing own records as well as those of young aspiring musicians.

Besides his own band, the Wolfgang Muthspiel 4tet, he is collaborating with Brian Blade in the project "Friendly Travelers" and with Ralph Towner and Slava Grigoryan in a new Guitar Trio named MGT.

Michel McQueen Martin is an Emmy Award–winning American journalist and correspondent for ABC News and National Public Radio. After ten years in print journalism, Martin has for the last 15 years become best known for her news broadcasting on national topics.

A Brooklyn, New York native, Michel Martin attended St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire as part of the third class of females to graduate from the formerly all-male school. In 1980, Martin graduated cum laude from Radcliffe College of Harvard University, then pursued post graduate work at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington D.C.

After working the local news beat for The Washington Post and becoming White House correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, Martin joined ABC News in 1992. At ABC, Martin has reported for Nightline, and was awarded an Emmy for a report that aired on Day One. In 2001, she hosted the PBS show Life 360. Since April 2007, she has hosted Tell Me More for National Public Radio. As the host of Tell Me More, Martin focuses heavily on topics of race, religion, and spirituality.