Konrad Ragossnig was already 23 years old, when he joined the Akademie für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien as a student of Karl Scheit. He finished his studies in 1957, in 1960 he attended the Segovia masterclass in Santiago de Compostela. He won the first prize at the Concours International de Guitare of Radio France in Paris 1961 and this opened many doors – important encounters, extended concert tours, numerous recordings. In the following decades he compiled an enormous repertoire containing music of five centuries, from the lute works of the renaissance to the contemporary music, solo works as well as chamber music in different formations, which was a very special merit of Konrad Ragossnig. Ragossnig played in duo with Hans Martin Linde (recorder, flute traversiere), Peter Lukas Graf , Aurèle Nicolet and Werner Tripp (flute), Marek Jerie and Angelika May (Cello), his son Thomas Ragossnig (harpsichord) and also in larger formations, with string quartets and of course with orchestras. Working with singers – Kurt Equiluz, Nigel Rogers, Ian Partridge, Peter Schreier, Helmut Wildhaber - belonged to his favourite musical activities.
Apart from the mainstream repertoire of the guitar he was very interested in contemporary music - he premiered works by Mario Castelnuovo Tedesco, Anton von Webern, Hans Haug, Armin Schibler, Friedrich Cerha, Gottfried von Einem, Thomas Christian David, Reginald Smith Brindle, Anestis Logothetis, Pierre Wissmer – and in Early Music. Inspired already during his studies with Karl Scheit he played the lute as a soloist and in different ensembles (Linde Consort, Ulsamer Collegium).
Apart from many radio and TV-recordings, more than 60 LPs and CDs are witnesses of Konrad Ragossnigs wide spread musical activities.
Besides his performing activities Konrad Ragossnig distinguished himself als an author and editor: he worte an important manual - Handbuch der Gitarre und Laute – which was printed in several editions by Schott (Mainz), two books on guitar technique and about 70 editions of guitar music with different publishers such as Schott, Zimmermann, Ricordi, Eschig, Universal Edition and Doblinger.
After short teaching activities at the Klagenfurt Conservatory (1956/67) and at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, in 1964 he became a professor at the Musikakademie Basel, in 1983 he followed Karl Scheit to Vienna and retired in 2000. From 1989-1997 he was also a guest professor at the Musikhochschule Zurich and of course a sought-after teacher in masterclasses all over the world.
In November 2016, he gave the mdw a large part of his collection: eight large boxes with concert programs, reviews and other material, all in perfect chronological order, are now hosted in the Karl Scheit archive - documents of an impressive career and a life dedicated to the guitar.