Most people know the saying that dreams are often like soap bubbles and can easily burst. The music video A bubble is a nice friend to have, released in 2022, is about precisely such soap bubbles and how it’s extremely important to have dreams and also live them—even while being conscious of their fragility.

It was within the space of just a few short days that I received word of two deaths: Willi Resetarits passed away on 24 April, followed by Ruža Nikolić-Lakatos on 4 May. I had ties to both of these personalities on multiple levels, both of them have been important in my life, and I miss them both greatly. In the following, however, I’d like to explain why they were important for the mdw.

The mdw great talent award powered by Christian Zeller returned this year to once again put outstanding mdw talents onstage. At the final round on 12 May 2022, bassoonist Johanna Bilgeri won the 1st prize while violinist Paul Kropfitsch and mezzo-soprano Helene Feldbauer claimed 2nd prizes ex aequo.

On 8 June 2022, the Herta and Kurt Blaukopf Award for outstanding mdw dissertations was conferred for the second time. This award, worth € 2,000 per awardee, went to four excellent early-stage researchers. The dissertations thus recognised demonstrate the broad spectrum of research currently being pursued at the mdw and once again bear witness to the quality of the findings being produced by our University’s doctoral candidates.

It was a milestone in the development of the Department of Folk Music Research and Ethnomusicology—but also of the mdw—when the stage of the Joseph Haydn-Saal came alive with a celebration of musical diversity on 24 May.

The outcomes of the artistic research project Creative (Mis-)Understandings: Methodologies of Inspiration, led by Johannes Kretz and Wei-Ya Lin and sponsored by the Austrian Science Fund (PEEK-FWF), were presented to a broader public at the Weltmuseum Wien on 20 May and at the Magyar Zene Háza (House of Hungarian Music) on 23 May.

Five inclusive music groups, including the Young All Stars, Ohrenklang, Polgar Inclusive Band, Classic All, and the All Stars Inclusive Band were on the programme at the second-ever Fest der Inklusion [Celebration of Inclusion] on 25 June in the Joseph Haydn-Saal, which also featured an art exhibition by the social workshop Werd:Art of the organisation Jugend am Werk and a presentation of the book Inklusiv Musizieren. Praxis, Pädagogik, Ästhetik – am Beispiel der All Stars Inclusive Band Wien.

It all came together in September: “Mythos Mozart”, a brand-new multimedia experience covering 1,500 square metres beneath the Steffl department store that invites visitors to immerse themselves in Mozart’s world, officially opened its doors to the public.