Meet the Conductors
Miriam Laznia
Miriam Laznia’s musical journey began in the city of Salzburg, where she discovered her passion for music at an early age, particularly through piano playing and choral singing. A formative influence in her artistic development was her training in the preparatory program for piano at the Mozarteum University (2011–2019), where she also gained her first experience in conducting, improvisation, and composition.
Since 2020, Miriam Laznia has been studying Music Education and Instrumental Music Education with a major in Choral Conducting, as well as pursuing a Master’s degree in Piano Pedagogy at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Her teachers include Elisabeth Aigner-Monarth (piano), Agnes Schnabl, and Johannes Hiemetsberger (choral conducting). She has received significant artistic impulses through choral conducting courses and masterclasses with Johannes Prinz, Jan Schumacher, and Martin Steidler.
Alongside her work as a piano teacher at BRG Wien III, she serves as a lecturer at singing and music workshops and works as a teaching assistant in the Department of Conducting at the Anton Bruckner Institute of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.
Her particular focus lies in working with youth choirs: in addition to conducting the Lower Austrian Youth Choir (Landesjugendchor Niederösterreich), she is the artistic director of the EnChoir Vienna and its vocal ensemble and serves as artistic assistant to Christoph Wigelbeyer with the Choir Neue Wiener Stimmen.
Antonia Länger
Antonia Länger was born in Vienna, Penzing, where she attended elementary school and secondary school (AHS) with a focus on English. Music has been a constant presence throughout her life. She began playing the accordion at the age of five and later expanded her musical skills to include the flute and piano. From an early age, she has been active in choral singing — first with the Penzing Children’s Choir and the school choir Via Lentia, later with the Landesjugendchor Niederösterreich, Chorus sine nomine, the Wiener Singverein and various smaller vocal ensembles both as part of her studies and in private settings.
Since her university years, she has been a member of Neue Wiener Stimmen, where she also serves as deputy chairwoman. Participation in various summer programs - including Musikfabrik Edelhof, StimmenFestivalFreistadt, Jugendsingwoche, and the Ensemble Labor of the Vokalakademie Niederösterreich — has further enriched her experience in ensemble singing and deepened her understanding of collaborative musical work.
In 2024, she completed her bachelor’s degree in secondary education, majoring in English (University of Vienna) and Music with a specialization in Choral Conducting (University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, mdw). She is currently pursuing her master’s degree. Her passion for choral conducting developed during her studies at the mdw and was further refined through conducting seminars with, among others, Johannes Prinz and Agnes Schnabl.
Since February 2023, she has been the conductor of the Youth Vocal Ensemble at the Zentrum für Musikvermittlung Wien 14 and in the winter semester of 2025/26, she joined the EnChoir Vienna as Associate Conductor under the direction of Miriam Laznia.
Cordelia Vana (maternity leave)
ordelia Vana (née Karner) has been a passionate choral singer since her earliest childhood. She gained her first musical experience in the family choir of her parents. At the age of 16, she took over the artistic and organisational direction of the school band at her grammar school in Unterwaltersdorf, with which she repeatedly developed new polyphonic repertoire for the monthly performances.
These formative experiences set Cordelia's course for the rest of her life. This was followed by two bachelor's degrees in musicology and economics, as well as an acting diploma from the Vienna Media School.
No less formative was her study of music education at the mdw - University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, where she received her choral conducting training from the renowned Austrian choral conductors Alois Glaßner, Johannes Hiemetsberger and Michael Grohotolsky. During her studies, in 2017 she took over the direction of EnChoir Vienna, a task that she continues to fulfill with great joy and commitment until today.
Cordelia has sung in many different formations, such as the Neue Wiener Stimmen, the Chorus sine nomine, the WebernKammerchor, Momentum Vocal Music, and several soloist ensembles. She has toured the world with them and sung on the biggest concert stages in Vienna (Musikverein, Konzerthaus, Volksoper).
Since March 2020, she has been responsible for the Artistic Operations Office at the mdw's Institute for Music Direction and thus also for the management of the mdw's Webern Chamber Choir, and in the course of has realised numerous choral and orchestral projects, tours, collaborations at home and abroad, as well as television productions.