From 25 to 27 April 2024, the mdw will be hosting an international event centred on “Critiques of Power in the Arts”. The individual topics to be covered include epistemic violence, hierarchies in the arts, power in cultural policy and management, global asymmetries, identity in crisis and many more.

The mdw was recently honoured with an Erasmus+ Award, conferred by the Austrian Agency for Education and Internationalisation (OeAD) as part of a festive ceremony on 12 December 2023.

This summer semester, the first students are commencing their studies under the new Master of Arts in Music Therapy curriculum. This master’s degree programme joins the Bachelor of Arts in Music Therapy (launched in 2020) to complete the step-by-step replacement of the old music therapy diploma programme with a new BA/MA structure.

Be it remote learning, hybrid instruction, live streaming, the recording of in connection with artistic diploma exams, or live sound at concerts: over the past ten years, the mdw’s Audio-Video Center (or AV Center for short) has become an essential part of our institution’s everyday life.

In our series “What does art have to do with the Earth’s climate?” the “green mdw” initiative invites concerned individuals to speak out on their personal approaches to this issue. As the environment and sustainability spokesperson of the hmdw (the mdw’s student union), music educator and choir director Kinga Bernhauser faces these questions head on.

In December 2023, a resolution by the University Board approved a new name for the Joseph Hellmesberger Department of String Instruments, Guitar and Harp in Music Education, which will henceforth be known as the Alma Rosé Department of String Instruments, Guitar, and Harp in Music Education—making it the first mdw department to be named after a woman.

In celebration of Human Rights Day, 11 December 2023 witnessed an event that revolved around the arts, artificial intelligence, and democracy. Its keynote, “The machine’s obviously not in the mood* – Wie künstlich (intelligent) ist Kunst und was bedeutet das für die Demokratie?” [… – How artificial(ly intelligent) is art and what does this mean for democracy?], was delivered by Eugenia Stamboliev.

The concept of the physically existing hall at the mdw in combination with the digital web resource spiel|mach|t|raum entails the annual selection of a different woman from the history of the mdw as the academic year’s inspiration and champion, with the chosen individual prominently featured so as to ensure her a permanent place in the mdw’s institutional memory. Maria Becker was selected for the present academic year of 2023/24.

In March 2024, the new platform “Connect mdw” will go online and offer free networking for mdw alumni and other members of the mdw community. Those who register will be able to access contacts from the mdw’s network in a way that’s custom-tailored to their own desires and interests.

This past October, on the occasion of her 95th birthday, members of the public had the privilege of experiencing this exceptional personality in conversation at the mdw as part of an “Evening for and with Gertraud Cerha” at which a presentation of archival material also offered exclusive glimpses into her life and work.