About us

Our Idea

The mdw talent lab works to individually nurture particularly talented young musicians in the mdw’s preparatory programmes (Programme for Gifted Children, 6–14 years of age, the Advancement of Gifted Children, 14-16 years of age and the major-specific preparatory programmes, 16–19 years of age). Our multifaceted offerings help enrich their musical development. Everything we do revolves around developing the potential of young musical personalities.

What are our objectives?

Individual enrichment
Personality development and broadened horizons
Community-building

How do we achieve them?

Design of individual enrichment programmes
Integration of findings from research on giftedness and careers
Cultural partnerships in Vienna and internationally

Our Story

It’s always been the case that individual teaching personalities at the mdw have admitted gifted children and adolescents to their classes, thereby making major contributions to the development of numerous young musicians. Over the years, however, community-building has become more and more important—and long-running partnerships with institutions like the Johann Sebastian Bach Music School have since begun contributing to a diverse range of projects.

2008 witnessed the establishment of the mdw’s Enrichment Programme for the Exceptionally Gifted in the interest of bundling such initiatives, with Barbara Giseler-Haase and Wolfgang Aichinger appointed as its coordinators. And in 2015, this programme was accorded a new status by Rector Ulrike Sych, who set up an internal organisational unit for the promotion of young artists under the aegis of the Vice Rectorate for Academic Affairs and Young Artists’ Promotion.

In 2021, the Enrichment Programme for the Exceptionally Gifted was renamed “mdw talent lab – Support Centre for Young Musicians”, but the basic idea remained the same: that of employing projects, concerts, and workshops to provide impulses that enrich young musicians personally and artistically as they progress.