Reach higher, reach beyond. 2024
Mentoring-programme for artists at the mdw who aspire to a university career (women, inter* and non-binary persons)
mentors 2022
mentors 2024
Fotocredit_MeesunHongColeman
Meesun Hong Coleman, the daughter of Korean immigrants, began her violin training with Dorothy Delay before completing a bachelor's degree in composition at Princeton University and a master's degree at the Juilliard School. In 2001, she went to Berlin on a Fulbright scholarship, where she planned to stay for a year. Two decades later, she is still in Europe. She is a passionate teacher, soloist, chamber musician, orchestra leader and conductor.
She is a professor of violin and chamber music at the Anton Bruckner University in Linz as well as a visiting professor of violin at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Senior Artist at the Marlboro Music Festival in the USA, concertmaster of the Kammerakademie Potsdam and the Haydn Philharmonic Orchestra and a member of the Camerata Bern, where she often appears as conductor and soloist.
As a sought-after concertmaster, she has regularly conducted the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Basel Chamber Orchestra and Het Gelders Orkest, among others.
As an orchestra leader and chamber musician, she has worked with numerous soloists from all musical genres, from baroque on historical instruments to jazz and experimental music on electric violin. The list of her co-conspirators includes Sergio Azzolini, Andras Schiff, Mitsuko Uchida, Isabelle Faust, Jörg Widmann, Heinz Holliger, Gyorgy Kurtag, Nigel Kennedy, Enrico Onofri, Ute Lemper etc.
As a soloist and chamber musician, she has performed worldwide at festivals such as the Salzburg Festival, the Lucerne Festival and the Ojai Festival and in renowned concert halls such as Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Suntory Hall and Vienna Musikverein.
She has recorded numerous CDs in various formations, most recently a highly acclaimed recording of Schönberg's Pierrot Lunaire with Patricia Kopatschinskaja (speaking voice).
Meesun Hong Coleman lives in Salzburg with her husband and two daughters.
Meesun Hong Coleman is the mentor of Mitra Kotte, Dorottya Standi and Elisabeth Sánchez Herrera.
Fotocredit_Helena Gaunt_by_KirstenMcTernan
Helena Gaunt is a musician, author and thought-leader on music education and professional practice, having been a professional oboist for many years, and founding member of the Britten Sinfonia. Principal of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama (RWCMD), she sits on the Council of the Royal Philharmonic Society, Chairs the Advisory Board of the National Music Service in Wales, and has undertaken a leading role for the European Association of Conservatoire’s project Strengthening Music in Society. She is also a qualified executive coach.
Helena joined RWCMD in 2018 after over 25 years teaching and in leadership roles at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London where she initiated and directed the international Reflective Conservatoire Conference; chaired the Innovative Conservatoire (ICON) partnership, bringing conservatoire artist-teachers from across Europe and further afield together to share and develop their practice; and set up the Guildhall Creative Entrepreneurs scheme, incubating over 40 new businesses in the performing arts.
Major publications include ‘Musicians as “Makers in Society”: A Conceptual Foundation for Contemporary Professional Higher Music Education’ (2021); and Musicians in the Making: Pathways to Creative Performance (2017) co-edited with John Rink and Aaron Williamon. She is a National Teaching Fellow (2009) and Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She lives in Cardiff and has five children, including two sets of twins.
Helena Gaunt is the mentor of Veronika Kopjova, Maria Gstättner and Veronika Morscher.
Fotocredit_Sarah_Sun_2019_by_Thomas Schloemann_01
Sarah Maria Sun is known as one of the foremost and most extraordinary performers in the contemporary music scene. Her current repertoire includes over 2000 compositions from the 16th to 21st centuries. In recent years, she has increasingly performed monodramas of complex female characters. For her interpretations of the double role of Elsa/Lohengrin (‘Lohengrin’ by Salvatore Sciarrino, Salzburg Easter Festival) and Gwen (‘Psychosis 4.48’ by Philip Venables, Semper Zwei Dresden), she was nominated as Singer of the Year. She appears as a soloist in concert halls and festivals worldwide, has performed with leading conductors, orchestras and ensembles and has made guest appearances at numerous European opera houses.
From 2007-2014, she was the first soprano of the chamber ensemble Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, one of the world's leading pioneers of contemporary music for decades. Her discography includes more than 40 CDs, many of which have won awards. She regularly gives masterclasses in 20th and 21st century vocal music, including at universities and colleges in Oslo, Harvard, Chicago, Stockholm, Zurich, Lucerne, Rostock, Moscow, Dresden, Hanover and Berlin. In 2018-22 she was a visiting professor, tutor and lecturer at the conservatories in Hanover, Graz and Lucerne. She has been a professor of contemporary music at the Basel University of Music since 2022.
Sarah Maria Sun is the mentor of Sibila Konstantinova, Johanna Zachhuber and Eszter Kruchió.
Fotocredit_Wimmer_7651 © Lucija Novak
Constanze Wimmer is Professor of Music Mediation at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz. She studied musicology, journalism and cultural management and holds a doctorate in music education from the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. She has worked in the concert industry and in cultural education in the fields of music mediation and audience engagement. She is a founding member of Plattform Musikvermittlung Österreich, IG Musikvermittlung Österreich and Forum Musikvermittlung an Hochschulen und Universitäten. Together with Johannes Voit, she edits the publication series Forum Musikvermittlung - Perspektiven aus Forschung und Praxis. In spring 2020, she took on the role of Vice-Rector for Teaching and International Affairs at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz.
Constanze Wimmer is the mentor of Adela Liculescu, Milly Groz and Sophie Hassfurther.