On 22 May 2018, pianist Paul Badura-Skoda was awarded honorary membership in the mdw. With a large crowd in attendance, Rector Ulrike Sych greeted the guest of honour and acknowledged his tireless commitment (in particular to Viennese Classicism), his worldwide concert activities, and his teaching at the mdw.
“Music is a language that connects people all over the world. In times where nationalist polemics and populism are observable and palpable on a global scale, the role of artists as ambassadors has become all the more important. Paul Badura-Skoda numbers among Austria’s most important such ambassadors. So today we celebrate a versatile artist who, through his art and his research, brings together and unites people worldwide,” stated Sych in her address.
Paul Badura-Skoda, who not only studied at the mdw but also taught here for many years as a professor, expressed how honoured he felt and then surprised those in attendance with a spontaneous performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Adagio for a Glass Harmonica. The ceremony’s planned musical accompaniment was provided by mdw students Maximilian Kromer and Elisabeth Waglechner as well as Claudia Yang, a former Badura-Skoda student who had travelled from China for the occasion.
Want to see the entire conferral ceremony? Pay the mdwMediathek a visit at:
