Eleven days, around 200 participants from over 40 countries, 23 master classes, 15 workshops, and numerous concerts all around Vienna: from 22 July to 2 August 2026, isa’s 35th edition brought together young musicians from all over the world at the mdw Campus. Guided by this year’s motto of “global – local”, participants practiced and rehearsed hard, learned from one another, and formed new friendships. And with isaOnStage, the fruits of their daytime mdw labours were presented at public venues throughout the city.
Nearly two weeks’ worth of isa can be seriously intense. Between master classes, workshops, and concerts, the mdw Campus played host to isa participants’ rehearsal work from morning til night. The participants also honed their repertoire in individual lessons with renowned musicians and professors. And whoever ventured onto the Campus, which is otherwise fairly quiet during the summer months, heard isa at every turn: the sounds of pianos, strings, and other instruments emanated from the practice rooms to create an unambiguously musical soundscape.
The breaks that need to be taken amidst so much music were explicitly provided for by the isa26 programme. Table tennis and Hitster offered some diversion at the Infopoint, while volleyball could be played on the Campus lawn. An image photo shoot, guided tours of the Exilarte Center and the Vienna Musikverein, and further social activities were also planned in. “With all the intensive practicing that goes on, it’s also important to create convivial spaces where you can clear your head, make new friends, and grow together as a community,” explains Elias Zahraddnik of the isa team.
Just how much got worked on in the classrooms was something the general public was given a taste of in isaOnStage. This series of concerts saw the young musicians play in special locations around Vienna. One of these summer evenings featured the programme Global Sounds – Local Hub in cooperation with Vienna’s MuseumsQuartier complex. Numerous passersby paused for a moment to listen to solo and chamber music by composers ranging from Bach to Bosmans being performed on the MQ’s open air stage. Others grabbed ice cream or got comfortable on the colourful seating elements. The open-air setting and its partly coincidental audience turned this evening into a special isaOnStage moment.
A couple days later, the park Stadtpark Atzgersdorf hosted Cool Classics—amid temperatures that made this title seem aspirational indeed. Despite the ongoing heatwave, numerous guests turned out to listen in the shade beneath the trees. This concert was organised in cooperation with the festival Kultursommer Wien and brought classical music to an audience including some people who might never have specifically sought out a classical concert, hence enabling them to encounter an entirely new musical world.
isaOnStage was also present away from the open-air stages. Further concerts drew audiences to venues including the Vienna Musikverein and the Ehrbar Saal, while other musical encounters played out on the mdw Campus with free admission. Among the highlights in this series were the competitions for isa participants. In the “Viennese Challenge”, which served as the final round of the “Preis Wiener Musik” (Viennese Music Award) competition, the Cuore Piano Trio—founded in Warsaw and now resident in Vienna—claimed the first prize. And the first prize of the “Exilarte Award” competition featuring music by composers who had been persecuted, displaced, or murdered under National Socialism went to the duo Jiayi-April, whose violinist Jiayi Chen and pianist April Siyue Zhang both study at the mdw.
The master classes and isaOnStage were joined by isaCommunity and isaResearch, which opened up perspectives on music mediation, social issues, and scholarly inquiry. This mix demonstrated just what all can arise when around 200 people from over 40 countries come together in one place, namely: musical impulses, onstage experience, and encounters that ultimately extend beyond the allotted eleven days. The work that’s required for isa to go off without a hitch begins long before the first note is heard and continues in the background throughout. Schedules, rooms, workshops, concerts, and the desires of participants and tutors alike need to be coordinated, and the supporting team works tirelessly to ensure that the numerous programme items result in one unified isa.
After a full eleven days, the final notes of isa26 fell silent on 2 August. What remain are new experiences, contacts, likely this or that friendship, and an audience that can look back upon some truly special summer concerts. In 2027, isaOnStage will offer plenty more opportunities to come and listen. Perhaps entirely planned, in the concert hall. Or perhaps with ice cream in hand the next time one suddenly hears classical music while on a summer stroll through town.
