These days, whoever stresses the importance of writing in the university context—as did Otto Kruse, one of the pioneers of the discipline of composition studies—is kicking at an open door. For the discipline of writing has long since become a fixture in everyday student life—even at arts universities.

From 7 to 9 April 2021, the mdw hosted the 12th annual conference of the Society of Artistic Research (SAR) as a live and online event in cooperation with the University of Applied Arts Vienna and the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.

To me, sustainability means… a way of life that we can maintain for a few thousand years more.

At last: 7 June 2021 saw this brand new multifunctional building on the mdw Campus officially given over to its intended purpose in a festive open-air event.

In September, Evelyn Toron Beck received an honorary doctorate from the mdw. An interview in advance in the mdw magazine.

He helped shape and guide the areas of choir and ensemble conducting at the mdw for years, and his insider’s knowledge of the Austrian choral landscape was virtually unparalleled. Whether as a conductor, vocal coach, choir director, recording producer, composer, book author, jury member, or passionate educator, everything he did was always of up-to-the-minute relevance.

Live again at last! The euphoria generated by once more being able to experience a “real” ECMA session was on full display in late May of this year when the members of six ensembles came together in Grafenegg. This session witnessed an entire week of intense rehearsals coached by an international group of teachers and was crowned by a best-of concert before a nearly 200-strong audience.

With 30 years now under its belt, isa – the International Summer Academy of the mdw is expanding its interdisciplinary canon of programmes (isaMasterclass, isaFestival, isaScience, isaOutreach, isaOperetta) by isaDigital, which premiered in August of last year.

Maria Gstättner-Heckel and Martin Mühlfellner, both of whom teach at the Leonard Bernstein Department of Wind and Percussion Instruments, relate their experiences with COVID-19.