Rector Sych, this March saw Austria’s new federal government sworn in. Do the Austrian universities of music already have concrete plans for some initial exchange with its members?
Ulrike Sych (US): We’re preparing for those talks right now, and we’ll hopefully soon be diving into intense exchange geared toward working together to develop forward-looking educational strategies. The competent ministry for us is the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research, but we’ll also continue working closely with the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I’m optimistic that we’ll be headed in positive directions together, seeing as our university plays a leading role worldwide and also contributes to ensuring the quality of artistic education internationally.
From your perspective and in your experience as mdw rector: What topics should be accorded priority in these talks?
US: An initial priority will be the matter of budgeting—specifically our budget for the 2028–2030 period, which needs to be negotiated with the new government.
The fact that the recently published 2025 QS World University Rankings once again put the mdw in 4th place in their Performing Arts category presumably represents a good starting point for these negotiations?
US: We’ve numbered among the world’s best universities of music for many years, now, which is great for Austria’s reputation. But remaining in our top position worldwide will, of course, require certain conditions and resources—one aspect of which is our budget.
My second big concern has to do with the training of music teachers. The new coalition’s governing programme contains language that would entail even stronger networking of teacher training with other institutions—with the tendency being to transfer various responsibilities to the university colleges of teacher education. To my mind, that would be suboptimal where music education is concerned.
Why do you think it would be important for the specialised aspects of teacher training to remain largely within the purview of universities and academies of music?
US: In our view, the functional responsibilities pertaining to future music educators’ artistic and pedagogical training absolutely must remain with the music-focused higher education institutions. It’s for this reason that the mdw has charted its own course with respect to quality assurance as one of a small number of Austrian universities that have refrained from joining the relevant networks1. We quite deliberately engage in cooperation only in those areas where we think it makes sense to do so. To this end, we’ve spent years working together successfully with university colleges of teacher education belonging to the Northeast Cluster (PH Vienna, PH Lower Austria, KPH Vienna/Krems) as well as with PH Burgenland. My hope is that our existing system will be accepted and supported by this new government, as well.
At the mdw, artistic research plays an important role. Is music education integrated into research activities?
US: All of the mdw’s areas of study are strongly intertwined with scholarship and research—including music education, which even has its own research department. Teacher training can only be elevated to the highest possible level of excellence if it’s deliberately kept distinct from the training of performers. These are two entirely different areas that require different kinds of expertise. And in terms of research, our university has now positioned itself just as strongly as it has in the artistic realm.
Speaking of specialised expertise: According to what parameters does the mdw select its teaching faculty?
US: Our university goes to extreme lengths to ensure quality. We hold very objective and stringent hearings to select new faculty members for artistic, research, and pedagogical disciplines. Our teaching staff have to demonstrate excellence in their areas of specialisation and also be highly capable educators. Our notion of quality is broad, however, and it goes hand in hand with a stance and mission that we consider non-negotiable: that of upholding human dignity and human rights. We hence place enormous importance on aspects like equal treatment, transculturality, diversity, and inclusion, themes on which we also pursue research. In this respect, as well, the mdw has developed a worldwide USP.
Another thing that’s central to us is a future worth living in. We’re therefore conscious of our responsibility to the natural environment, taking care to ensure sustainable use of ecological resources within our own organisation. And as an educational institution, we also convey perspectives and skills to our students that put them in a position to shape their own futures in an environmentally responsible manner.
In this same spirit, we make very sure that our stance is upheld by the people working here—meaning not only our teachers but also our administrators. And another thing that’s of great importance to us is respectful interaction. After all, it’s everyone at our institution that contributes to our top worldwide status.
As you’ve just mentioned, the mdw takes a stand for a democratic, fair, and open society in the realms of the arts, teaching, and research. Current political events on the world stage would suggest that in some cases, these values are being departed from or called into question. What’s your take on this development?
US: Particularly now, I think, university-level institutions are called upon to do even more to promote democratic values within broader society. This aspiration is also anchored in § 1 of the Austrian Universities Act. The rectors of Austria’s universities and academies of music come together for regular meetings, and we’ll be communicating these themes to the outside world even more strongly this year in order to help counter what we presently see happening in politics worldwide—that people are being goaded into hating each other, with communication growing cruder and cruder. The call to respect one another, ensure equal treatment for all, and safeguard democratic values is now more important than ever.
What can universities of music realistically accomplish in this regard?
US: At the mdw, we offer numerous courses that relate to these themes. What’s more, our over 1,300 events per year put us among Austria’s largest event organisers. Our portfolio includes projects and events on anti-discrimination, racism, and similar topics. And in terms of research, we’re likewise quite strong in these areas.
How are these events and projects received?
US: Very well! Which also goes to show how much our society needs them.
In closing, how would you characterise the overall reputation of mdw graduates nationally and internationally?
US: The mdw is a very international university, with students hailing from 72 nations worldwide. Our entrance exams are strict and laser-focused on quality, and we’re in the happy position of being able to select the best students from all over the world. No matter where in the world I travel as mdw rector, I always encounter our graduates—on the world’s great stages as well as in the most incredible film-related settings: our Film Academy is one big success story. Patrick Vollrath and Sebastian Thaler, who graduated from Film Academy Vienna’s directing programme, won a Student Oscar2. And in 2016, Patrick Vollrath’s Alles wird gut was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Live Action Short Film category.
It sometimes happens that successful alumni also return to the mdw as teachers, as is the case with composer Olga Neuwirth.
US: Close exchange with our graduates is important to us. Our focus here is on maintaining contact with an eye to working together on our institution’s further development. Olga Neuwirth is one of several alumni—who also include the conductor Andrés Orozco-Estrada, the film director Barbara Albert, and the violinist Christian Altenburger—who’ve returned to the mdw as teaching faculty. They represent a great enrichment to our teaching not because they studied here, but because their abilities help us achieve and uphold the quality to which we aspire.
There are also lots of mdw graduates playing in the world’s best orchestras—especially in those that uphold Viennese traditions in terms of sound, like the Vienna Philharmonic and the Wiener Symphoniker.
US: Upholding the traditional Viennese sound is a huge concern of ours. We teach instruments here whose sole home is Vienna—instruments like the Vienna horn, the Viennese oboe, and the Viennese timpani—and we also pursue research on this tradition at our Department of Music Acoustics – Wiener Klangstil. It’s also currently the case that Viennese instruments and the Viennese sound are being heard more frequently elsewhere in the world, as well. And many of our professors who teach these subjects are themselves orchestral musicians with deep roots in this Viennese tradition. That, too, sets the mdw apart and makes us unique worldwide.
- The Federal Framework Act on the Introduction of a New Teacher Training Scheme (BGBl. I Nr. 124/2013) effected a reorganisation of teacher training in Austria. Since then, programmes of study for secondary-level educators (qualified to teach at compulsory and academic secondary schools and at colleges for higher vocational education) have been jointly run by the universities and the university colleges of teacher education (Pädagogische Hochschulen – PH). Existing degree programmes for future schoolteachers were integrated into one of four university clusters: “Verbund Mitte” [Central], “Verbund Nord-Ost” [Northeast], “Verbund Süd-Ost” [Southeast], and “Verbund West” [West]. The Viennese arts universities (the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, the University of Applied Arts Vienna, and the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna) have refrained from joining these clusters and instead pursued their own more individual approaches to ensuring quality assurance in artistic training through instances of targeted cooperation.
- “Student Oscar” is an informal term denoting a Student Academy Award.
