For her outstanding achievements in minority research within the context of ethnomusicology, Ursula Hemetek—an mdw professor and head of the mdw’s Department of Folk Music Research and Ethnomusicology—was recently honoured with the 2018 Wittgenstein Award.
Hemetek is the first woman researcher from an arts university to receive what is Austria’s most important science award. She began teaching at the mdw in 1992 and became head of her department in 2011. Since 2017, she has also been Secretary General of the International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM). Hemetek’s research focuses on the music of minorities living in Austria—in particular the Romani people, Burgenland Croats, migrants, and refugees. In her work, applied ethnomusicology is an important methodological approach.
Sharing this year’s award with her is the computer scientist and mathematician Herbert Edelsbrunner (Institute of Science and Technology Austria). Hemetek plans to use her award money to set up a research centre at the mdw.
Read more about Ethnomusicology and Minority Research in Ursula Hemetek’s article of this issue.
