I am Flora, 26 years old, originally from Carinthia, and resident in Vienna for nearly seven years now.

Artificial intelligence, or AI for short, has become an oft-heard buzzword in the media and in the arts—in equal measures a beacon of medical hope and an artistic nightmare.

I am Wanja Rosenthal. At the mdw, I’ve been studying Music Education for Voice and Instruments – Guitar (Popular Music) since the autumn of 2015 (in the MA programme since 2020).

The Rudolfinum in Prague can boast what is probably one of Europe’s most beautiful concert halls. So whenever I plan a visit to the “Golden City”, I head to the legendary Dvořák Hall—where the Czech Philharmonic regularly performs—to catch an evening concert.

It’s owed to a strange logic peculiar to the media that we always end up paying special homage to great artists on milestone birthdays or anniversaries of their deaths. In the literary realm, 2024 belongs to Franz Kafka, who died exactly 100 years ago. In the world of music, this year is shared by Arnold Schönberg (who would be turning 150) and Anton Bruckner (whose 200th birthday is in September).

We are… Eva Neubauer, Magdalena Seifert, and David Neumann, the hmdw’s joint chairs. At the mdw, we study… Eva’s currently studying Voice (Pop) in the IGP MA programme, and Magdi’s studying the same thing in the Music Education BEd. programme. David studies Voice (Classical) in the IGP BA programme. Our favourite place at the mdw is… Collectively, it’s the hmdw …

Enrolled at the mdw since: October 2022, Area(s) of study: Composition and Music Theory

Exile is not a place, but a state of being. It simultaneously represents a refuge and banishment. One flees because one must—not because one wants to.

Enrolled at the mdw since: 2016, Programme of study:Music Education (MEd.)

At some schools, the subjects of music and art share an unfortunate common fate even today: neither is taken seriously, least of all by teachers of other subjects.