2020’s Beethoven jubilee inspired a great number of cultural events and musicological research projects in many places—especially in Vienna. And to conclude this year here, 18 students from the University of Vienna’s Department of Musicology (as part of the course “Beethovens Violinsonaten – Entstehung, Analyse, Interpretation”) join forces for an inter-university project with 15 performers from the mdw.

It is immensely gratifying that Austria’s Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research has once again awarded a Diversitas Prize to the mdw! It was in 2016 that the mdw received its first Diversitas Prize for “All Stars Inclusive”, an inclusive band that has continued its activities at the mdw ever since.

The mdw now has a publishing house of its very own: as of March 2021, the growing number of university presses in Austria and Europe is being joined by the open access academic publisher mdwPress.

Online professorship search committee hearings, digital entrance exams, blended learning—the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has catalysed the digitisation process in education. And at the mdw, the Audio/Video Centre—part of the University’s Information Technology Department (ZID)—has been a strong institution-wide partner in these trying times.

Elisabeth Stein, who teaches at the Department of Music and Movement Education/Rhythmics and Music Physiology, relates her experiences with COVID-19.

253 participants from 27 countries, 39 online events, and 22 hours of live streaming from 18 to 24 August: these are the hard facts of this year’s isaDigital.

Behind any person’s favourite song, there’s a personal story—and behind the project lieblingslied.at [Lieblingslied = favourite song—Trans.], launched in March 2020 by the Department of Music Therapy in light of Austria’s COVID-19 lockdown, there’s likewise a story. It’s a story that we’d like to briefly summarise here.

The International Franz Schmidt Organ Competition Vienna is held every two years, and the present year witnessed its eighth edition. Twenty-five young organists from twelve countries managed to qualify for the 2020 competition, which was held in cooperation with the mdw; they tested their mettle from 11 to 19 September 2020 at three churches in Vienna’s city centre.