em.o.Univ.Prof. Walter Groppenberger,
was born in Vienna, Austria.
His first music education started in the Vienna Boys Choir. As the chorus member as well as its soloist, he performed in many concerts, theatres shows and films and here he received the basics on piano playing. At the age of ten, he began to study the piano at the Vienna Conservatory of Music.
As a twelve-year old, he performed the Haydn Piano Concerto in D major with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra in the Grand Concert Hall in Vienna. Countless concerts and radio performances in solo and chamber music playing followed at home as well as abroad.
For example, he played Mozart‘s Concerto for two Pianos with Ingrid Haebler and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Rudolf Moralt in the Main Concert Hall of the Music Society or the Beethoven fourth Piano Concerto with the Jeunesses Musicales Orchestra in the Brussels Palace of Arts in the presence of her Majesty Queen Elisabeth from Belgium.
At the age of nineteen, he graduated with honours from the Vienna Conservatory of Music. Besides his studying piano repertoire, he also started to study conducting. In 1961 he changed from the Conservatory to the Vienna Academy of Music in the class of Bruno Seidlhofer.
He was extending his studies and it developed an intensive musical discussion and also a personal friendship, which lasted until Bruno Seidlhofers death.
Since 1966, he has led a class oriented towards art performance at the Graz Music University where he was named full Professor in 1992. As the head of the instrumental pedagogy studying commission, Prof. Groppenberger collaborated in developing new school curriculum and was in charge of this project. Invited from Prof. Sebastian Benda, head of the University, he became co-founder of the Austrian part of the EPTA and 1994, 1997, 2000 and 2003 he was voted from the general-meeting for president and 2005 as honorary President.
2002 he became the Council-President of the international EPTA-meeting.In addition, he teaches the history of the piano and literature, over which some publications has been published in different languages.
He also leads masterclasses and holds lecture-recitals in different countries like Tromsö, Kristiansund, Trondheim, Oslo, Kuopio, Helsinki, Tallin, Kopenhagen, Prag, Budweis, Krumau, Salzburg, Dubrovnik and Yekaterinburg. Out of Europe on the Bilkent University-Ankara, Bradley University – Peoria/Illinois, Wesleyan University – Bloomington/Illinois, St. Mary of the Woods College – Terre Haute/Ind., Lipscomb University – Nashville, Roosevelt University – Chicago. He is member of the jury from international and national competitions.