isa, the International Summer Academy of the mdw, will take place this year on the mdw’s main campus at Anton-von-Webern-Platz, a new spatial setting that’s well positioned to offer students more opportunities—especially for creative exchange.
Fancy villas, green forests, majestic mountains: it’s for lots of good reasons that the Semmering region has long attracted summerers and holiday-makers. The violinist, conductor, and mdw Vice Rector Johannes Meissl is one person who’s spent numerous summers in that region—albeit in a professional capacity. Meissl spent 20 years leading the sojourns of isa – the International Summer Academy of the mdw amidst this picturesque landscape, commuting between course locations in Reichenau and Payerbach as well as Mürzzuschlag. But that’s over, now: 2025 will see this elite course for young talents, initiated in 1991 by then-rector Michael Frischenschlager, hold its inaugural urban edition at the mdw Campus on Anton-von-Webern-Platz.
A key consideration here is to conserve resources in light of the ongoing climate crisis: isa now seeks to fulfil the criteria of a “green event”, which entails the need for more efficient transport logistics. Another important factor behind this move, however, is what’s happened at the mdw Campus in Landstraße, Vienna’s 3rd district: recent years have witnessed consistent steps to enhance the facilities here, and the Campus now stands out for its ultramodern teaching spaces and concert halls.
Yet another point in Vienna’s favour was how the short distances between the various spaces at this compact new location will enable easier exchange between isa’s participants. The result, set to play out over two summer weeks, will be a stimulating critical mass of creativity that benefits from easy communication between its various moving parts. Meissl elaborates: “isa is by no means simply an agglomeration of master classes but much rather a transdisciplinary series of events—so it’s a huge plus to be able to do it all in one place.” The idea here, he explains, is much broader that just putting on master classes in which an international group of ca. 200 students can hone their core skills. These young artists should also be able to expand their horizons thanks to various events as well as interpersonal exchange. isa has already catalysed “the development of longstanding artistic partnerships and friendships,” notes Meissl, and ensuring the shortest-possible distances between isa’s various spaces will undoubtedly support this dynamic.
The master classes shall, of course, remain the centrepiece of the International Summer Academy, which took a break in 2024 and is relaunching this year with the programmatic motto of “Music City Lab”. For isa’s two weeks, scheduled from 21 July to 3 August, tutors including cellist Emmanuelle Bertrand, pianist Christopher Hinterhuber, soprano Laura Aikin, and bassoonist Sophie Dervaux have been engaged. Even so, this year’s offerings are not solely for up-and-coming vocal and instrumental talents: isa’s 2025 edition will also feature the master classes “Community Music” and “Film Music Scoring and Production”.
The master classes will be complemented by a colourful mix of workshops in which students can look beyond their main specialisations, and many of them will be open to all isa participants—be they pianists, wind or string players, or singers. They include opportunities to explore the basics of jazz improvisation, to try out waltz steps in light of Johann Strauss’ 200th birthday, and also to acquire professional know-how: How, for instance, do relaxation techniques help one deliver better performances? Can AI be used for self-marketing? And how does one speak to an audience from the stage? A further workshop will place the baroque oboe front and centre, while yet another will get synthesizers beeping and chirping. Meissl elaborates: “While isa’s programming can’t be exhaustive, it can be very broad. This varied abundance should offer inspiration, provide new impulses, and help our participants network. It’s in these things that we perceive our raison d’être.”
The diversity of isa’s offerings also includes a summer school for researchers—and in keeping with this year’s new location, isaResearch (formerly isaScience) will “explore the dynamic relationship between sound, urban space, and politics” as it welcomes around 20 early-stage researchers to the Campus from 21 to 23 July. isa’s young master class participants will, of course, be contributing some lively sounds of their own over their two weeks here—which, Meissl says, will be heard beyond just the two Fridays on which the entire Campus will become a performance venue. The International Summer Academy will also radiate out across the city with a multitude of concerts: the isaFestival is set to grace venues including the house where Schubert was born, Palais Pálffy, the Church of St. Ursula, and also less well-known sites like the Alte Schieberkammer in cooperation with the event series Kultursommer Wien [Vienna Cultural Summer]. isa is looking to plant its flag firmly in the Austrian capital, with an eye to becoming even more deeply networked here in the future.
In one respect, though, efforts will be made to avoid an excess of sound—namely, on isa’s final evening. “After the concluding concert, we’ll party here on the Campus for as long as we can,” says Meissl, but: “not forever—we don’t want to keep the neighbours up all night.”
