Autumn 2023 will witness the launch of the new Contemporary Arts Practice (CAP) master’s degree programme.

Every three years, the Collection of Historical String Instruments of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB), the Republic of Austria’s central bank, lends out four high-quality historical string instruments to students enrolled at Austrian universities of music—and since November 2022, two of these instruments have been played on by mdw students Teresa Wakolbinger and David Kessler.

With the “mdw young research award”, our institution has become Austria’s only arts university to recognise outstanding pre-academic papers and diploma papers (authored by students of academic secondary schools and colleges for higher vocational education, respectively) on music-related topics. The first awards ceremony will take place in September 2023.

In the series “What do the arts have to do with the Earth’s climate?” the “Green mdw” initiative is inviting concerned individuals to speak out on their personal approaches to this issue. Katja Dor-Helmer completed a business degree at the Vienna University of Economics and Business with specialisations in business management and group pedagogy. She authored her diploma thesis on the subsidisation of the French film industry while studying abroad in Paris.

On 21 November, the Fritz Kreisler Department’s biggest event in 2022—the More Strings Festival—concluded after five days.

In November, the mdw invited the public to the Ehrbar Saal for a musical soirée: this variety-packed musical evening, led by conductor Vasily Valitov, featured the Webern Sinfonietta and Lukas Sternath.

On January 11, 2023, the mdw was awarded the HR Excellence in Research Award by the European Commission. After successfully completing the first phase of the HRS4R audit, the mdw is now listed as one of the overall 700 recognised European organisations and as the first arts university in Austria on the EURAXESS website.