Vienna Boys' Choir Sunday Mass: free standing places from 8:30, seats from €14 to €52, and the Sundays when the Girls Choir sings instead

💡 The Short Version: The Mass in the Hofburgkapelle is every Sunday at 9:15, but the Vienna Boys’ Choir does not sing at all of them: the Vienna Girls Choir sings on 11 October, 25 October, 15 November, 29 November, 10 January, 14 February and 21 March, and on 6 December 2026 and 25 April 2027 neither choir sings. Standing places are free and available from 8:30 on the day, with no reservation. Seats are €14, €22, €38 or €52. The Mass is a service: no phones, cameras or bags. For a concert, the choir sings Friday Afternoon at the MuTh from €49. Buy from the chapel’s own partners, below.

Which choir sings

The programme names the choir and the Mass setting for every Sunday. Members of the Vienna State Opera orchestra and men’s choir sing and play with them.

The Girls Choir also sings on 14 February and 21 March 2027. The Boys’ Choir sings on 21 and 28 February, 7, 14 and 28 March, and 4, 11 and 18 April, and 25 April has neither. The programme for 2026/27 runs to 27 June 2027.

The tickets

Prices are from the Hofmusikkapelle’s ticket sales page. The chapel is in the Hofburg Schweizerhof, 1010 Vienna.

• Online through Culturall.
• At the chapel: the Hofburgkapelle ticket office in the Schweizerhof is open from 8:00 to 8:30 on the day of the Mass.
• In town: Tourist Info Vienna, at the corner of Albertinaplatz and Maysedergasse, is open daily from 9:00 to 18:00. The Bank Austria Kunstforum at Freyung 8 is open daily 10:00 to 19:00, and Fridays to 21:00.
• By email: reserve at office@hofmusikkapelle.gv.at with the date, the number of tickets and the category, and pay within three weeks. Posting tickets costs €5.
• Access: the nave has a lift at the entrance to the Treasury in the Schweizerhof. The galleries are reached by stairs only.

The Friday concerts

The Boys’ Choir sings Friday Afternoon concerts at the MuTh, Am Augartenspitz 1, 1020 Vienna, at 17:00. They last about 120 minutes with an interval.

The MuTh at Am Augartenspitz, where the Friday concerts are held. Photo: Erich J. Schimek, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.

For an evening of the other kind, Vienna classical concerts sorts the real halls from the tourist concerts.

What to expect

The Mass is a Catholic service in the Hofburg’s chapel, with music by composers such as Mozart, Haydn and Schubert. It is a service, not a concert.

The Schweizerhof, the Hofburg courtyard where the chapel stands. Photo: Leonhard Lenz, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.

1. Standing places. The cheapest way in, and free. Arrive by 8:30 to collect a place, in the back of the nave facing the high altar.
2. Seats in the nave. Categories 1 and 2 face the high altar, with more legroom in row 11.
3. The galleries and oratories. Cheaper, with limited or no view. Category 4 is for listening.

What to skip: the €14 listening seats if you want to see the service. In the oratories they show it only on a screen.

Rules and getting there

• Phones and cameras are forbidden, and bags, rucksacks, umbrellas and prams stay out.
• Late entry is only by arrangement with the staff.
• Attendance is only possible with a valid ticket, including a standing ticket.
• Getting there: the chapel is in the Hofburg Schweizerhof, 1010 Vienna, at the entrance to the Imperial Treasury. See the Sisi Museum and Hofburg guide for the Treasury.

The Spanish Riding School is in the same complex, and the Vienna State Opera is the other music booking with a rolling sale window. What to book before you go to Vienna lists the Mass with the others, and 3 days in Vienna fits it to a Sunday morning. St Stephen’s Cathedral is open for sightseeing from 13:00 on Sundays. To sleep near the Hofburg, see hotels near St Stephen’s Cathedral and where to stay in Vienna.