The musician Richard Oesterreicher has died at the age of 90. For more than 30 years he belonged to the musical core staff of the ORF and directed numerous television shows. Oesterreicher died on Tuesday in Vienna surrounded by his family, according to the broadcast in the evening.
At the beginning of his career, the Vienna-born son of a music teacher played guitar and trombone in the Richard Oesterreicher Quartet, which he founded in the 1950s. For several years, the band performed in well-known establishments such as the Eden Bar in Vienna or the Schlosshotel Felden. Oesterreicher gained notoriety as a jazz soloist on guitar or harmonica.
In 1972 he became a member of the ORF Big Band, whose musical direction he took over in 1974. In 1981 he founded the Richard Oesterreicher Big Band, which appeared on television shows and produced records with artists such as Udo Jürgens, Peter Alexander and Marianne Mendt.
Oesterreicher and the ORF Big Band might be heard a few times at the Eurovision Song Contest. He devoted himself to music well into old age and most recently worked with the jazz bassist Gina Schwarz.