Otto Lechner, born on February 25, 1964, in Melk, Austria, is an Austrian accordionist and composer. He was severely visually impaired from birth, but went fully blind at fifteen. He began playing the accordion at age four and decided to pursue music as a career. In 1987, Otto Lechner co-founded the 1. strenge Kammerorchester with Hans Tschiritsch, marking his breakthrough in the music industry. His first album, Accordeonata, was released in 1994. Throughout his career, Otto Lechner has collaborated with numerous artists, including Josef Hader, Iva Bittová, and Joe Zawinul. Notable albums include Da Himmevoda (1996), Still: Weihnachtslieder (1996), and Fürchtet euch nicht (2001). Otto Lechner has also been instrumental in popularizing the accordion in Austria, contributing to the establishment of the Internationales Akkordeon Festival in Vienna. His work often combines music with literature and theater, as seen in collaborations with his partner Anne Bennent on projects like gwundrig (2001) and Die Stimmen von Marrakesch (2010).
