Looking beyond the Catholic realm, such as with interreligious projects like the musical setting of the Diary of Anne Frank by James Whitbourn, is a major concern of this enthusiastic church musician and organist. She’s looking to address diversity and provide motivation for new and exciting projects.

Community Outreach was one of the main ideas behind this dedicated conductor’s return to Asia after graduating from the mdw. He now works with formations including the Macao Youth Symphony Orchestra, offers various kinds of training, and designs educational programmes for the musical youth of his home country.

The ongoing cooperative activities involving the Fritz Kreisler Department of String Instruments, Harp and Guitar (FKI) and the Leonard Bernstein Department of Wind and Percussion Instruments (LBI) are now advancing to an entirely new level.

“Jump out of your concert seats, take off your jackets, and pick up your tickets at the box office!” I glance at the rickety kitchen chair beneath me, three pages of Zoom tiles before me, and strain to remember just where in the apartment I put the furniture with the red velvet cushions. In what kind of concert mentality have I landed, here? In one that’s been rethought.

Last year’s Beethoven Competition saw the 27-year-old German pianist Aris Alexander Blettenberg awarded the first prize. Blettenberg swayed the jury with his performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 in C Major op. 15, prevailing over Dasol Kim and Philipp Scheucher at the final round on 21 October 2021 in the Vienna Musikverein’s Golden Hall.

The course offerings in Rhythmics at the Department of Music and Movement Education/Rhythmics and Music Physiology (MRM) are open to interested parties of all ages. In these courses, a joyful way of relating to music and movement, creative impulses for everyday life, and having fun being creative as a group all enjoy equal importance.

To mark 50 years of diplomatic relations between the People’s Republic of China and Austria, the mdw joined forces with the Wiener Konzerthaus and the Lang Lang Foundation to offer a public master class with piano superstar Lang Lang.

A health-related setback towards the conclusion of his studies transformed the life of this full-blooded musician from the ground up.

It was with the Rotting Sounds Symposium on 23 and 24 September and the concert Einschreibung, Übertragung, Abtragung [Inscription, Transcription, Erosion] on the evening of 12 November in cooperation with Vienna’s contemporary music festival Wien Modern that we presented the Future Art Lab’s (FAL) Sound Theatre to the public with an audience present for the very first time.

On 25 February, mdw conducting students participated in a master class on Beethoven’s 5th Symphony at the Vienna Konzerthaus given by Andrés Orozco-Estrada together with the Vienna Symphony.