Awards of Alumni & former students - 2025

Simon Unseld

Simon Unseld has won the audition for the Hamburg State Orchestra and will take up the position in March 2026.

Previously, the former mdw student won first prize at the 23rd Osaka International Music Competition Brass in Japan. He has performed as a soloist with the Franz Schmidt Chamber Orchestra and played at the Beyond Talent – Best of mdw Artists concert at the Musikverein in Vienna.

Simon studied Tuba with Michael Pircher.

Austrian Jazz Award 2025

Helene Glüxam was awarded first place in the Newcomer of the Year category at this year's Austrian Jazz Award. Second place in the Live Act of the Year category went to Golnar Shahyar. Second place in the category Best Album 2025 went to the project Harry Pepl & The (Lonely) Single Swinger Band: Live by Clemens Salesny.

Helene (Bass), Golnar (Voice) and Clemens (Saxophone) are graduates of the Institute for Popular Music.

First place in the Live Act of the Year category went to Christian Muthspiel's Orjazztra Vienna, which includes mdw lecturer Ilse Riedler and former students of the Institute for Popular Music.

Raffaele Giannotti

Italian bassoonist and mdw graduate Raffaele Giannotti has been appointed professor of bassoon at the Institute for Classical Music at the Basel Academy of Music.

Raffaele Giannotti, born in Italy in 1995, received his first bassoon lessons at the age of ten. At 15, he graduated with honours from the Turin Conservatory and completed his studies with Richard Galler at the mdw in 2022. He has been principal bassoonist with the Munich Philharmonic since 2016.

Jessica Lind

Jessica Lind received the FIRST STEPS Award 2025 in the Screenplay category. The FIRST STEPS Award is Germany's most prestigious award for young talent and is presented each year to the most outstanding graduation films from German-speaking film schools.

Jessica is a graduate in Screenplay Writing and Dramaturgy under Götz Spielmann.

Divinerinnen

The female ensemble Divinerinnen has been awarded the German Record Critics' Prize 02/2025 in the category Traditional Ethnic Music for their album divinerisch!.

Theresa Aranya Aigner, Julia Brunner, Erna Ströbitzer, Andrea Götsch, Anna Aigner and Stefanie Kropfreiter are graduates or former students of the mdw.

Benedikt Palier

Benedikt Palier won the Diagonale Award for Sound Design from the Austrian film sound association Filmton Austria in the category of best sound design for a feature film for his work on the film Bluish.

Benedikt is a graduate of the Tonmeister Studies at the mdw.

Markus Zizenbacher

The Life of Sean DeLear (Markus Zizenbacher) received the award for best documentary at this year's Max Ophüls Prize Film Festival in Saarbrücken.

Markus Zizenbacher is a graduate of the Bachelor's program in Screenplay Writing and Dramaturgy at the Film Academy Vienna.

Tami Daniel Rueda-Blanco

Tami Daniel Rueda-Blanco has been appointed Associate Conductor of the Medellín Philharmonic Orchestra (Colombia).
After a career as Associate Conductor of the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra in Denmark, Tami Daniel is returning to his home country with his new position.

Tami Daniel studied Orchestral Conducting with Thomas Kreuzberger and Simeon Pironkov and is also a former student of the Master CAP - Contemporary Arts Practice.

Alexander Grassauer

Bass-baritone Alexander Grassauer has won the Emmerich Smola Förderpreis 2025, which includes prize money of €10,000.

Alexander studied Voice (Performance) with Karlheinz Hanser.

Nikol Henter

Nikol Henter has won the audition for a one-year substitute position for 2nd Flute/Piccolo and Solo Flute at the Volksoper Vienna.

Nikol studied Flute (Performance) with Barbara Gisler-Haase and Piccolo with Renate Linortner.