On 19 April 2017, mdw Rector Ulrike Sych welcomed numerous guests from the arts, academia, and the cultural field to a ceremony in which honorary membership in the mdw was conferred on Kammersängerin Hilde Zadek. With this act, the university expressed its appreciation for Zadek’s achievements both as a singer and as a singing teacher and supporter of young talents. The Hilde Zadek Singing Competition, founded by Zadek herself in 1999, serves to promote young singers’ careers and has been held in cooperation with the mdw since 2003.
At the formal ceremony in the Joseph Haydn-Saal, Rector Sych present Zadek the official document with the following words: “Her entire life long, Hilde Zadek has embodied that which characterises studies at the mdw: immense talent and artistic ability, comprehensive training and education, and love for one’s profession.“
“I never taught out of a feeling of obligation; I did so out of love and the fact that we need to be happy and can only be so through love. I’ve always desired to stress not only technique, but also—and above all—human beings’ relationships with music,” said Hilde Zadek at the ceremony. The ceremony was framed musically by singer Thomas Quasthoff as well as mezzo-soprano and mdw alumna Miriam Albano with songs by Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann, Pietro Cimara, and Franz Schubert accompanied by Sascha El Mouissi.
- Would you like to watch the entire ceremony? Simply pay a visit to the mdwMediathek: www.mdw.ac.at/mdwMediathek/zadek
