After eighteen months of more alone-time than usual, including some long periods of purely digital contact with others, more than a few of us have ended up with a new take on how we feel about community and the presence of others.

On 26 January 2022, the mdw Children’s Choir will present the fruits of this past year’s labours in an atmospheric end-of-semester concert at the Future Art Lab. Astrid Krammer, who teaches at the mdw’s Anton Bruckner Department, reveals how a rehearsal of this ensemble looks and why the benefits of its offerings extend beyond the participating children.

Just how it is when all instruments suddenly fall silent, when rounds can no longer be sung, and when orchestras and choirs have to abruptly stop working was made clear to all of us by the past year. But playing as a group or singing in a choir is about far more.

The FWF-funded research project “Achieving Togetherness in Music Ensemble Performance”, based at the Department of Music Acoustics – Wiener Klangstil, aims to shed light on the experiences of togetherness that arise during music performance.

An international comparison of institutions will show that chamber music and ensemble work enjoy very high priority in the artistic training offered at the mdw. This wasn’t always the case, however, and it’s in fact the result of deliberate decisions and consistent developmental work.

Dietmar Flosdorf, Axel Petri-Preis, and Rineke Smilde teach at the Department of Music Education Research, Music Didactics and Elementary Music Education (IMP). mdw Magazine spoke with them about the community work they pursue.