Peter Schmidl was born in Olomouc, Moravia in 1941 and grew up in a family whose musical roots extended back to the days of Gustav Mahler. His father and grandfather had been first clarinettists of the Vienna Philharmonic and the Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera.

In its current exhibition, the mdw’s Exilarte Center has created a space of remembrance for the exiled Viennese composer Erich Zeisl. Erich Zeisl was born in Vienna in 1905, and it was with flying colours that he passed his entrance examination at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (today’s mdw).

From 30 May to 6 June 2025, the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna hosted an international seminar entitled “Quality versus Participation? Politics in Music and Performing Practices”. This week-long event brought together students from the mdw, the University of Cape Coast (Ghana), the University of Maiduguri, the University of Arts Linz, and the Center for World Music as part of the ongoing collaboration with the international graduate school “Performing Sustainability”.

On 23 June 2025, the Banquet Hall of the mdw played host to the third edition of “Kooperieren – Amateurmusiker_innen musizieren mit Studierenden” [Cooperating – Amateur Musicians Make Music with Students]. This evening event, held as part of the annual Fête de la Musique, once again placed amateur music-making and musical exchange between students, teachers, and lay musicians firmly in the spotlight.

How does the truly “artistic” manifest itself in a music lesson—and how can that be put into words? These questions were central to the interdepartmental workshop “Instrumental-/Vokaldidaktik künstlerisch befragt” [Instrumental and Vocal Didactics, Artistically Queried], organised by the Music Education for Voice and Instruments (IGP) team.

It is music’s power to overcome barriers and leave people deeply touched that the association Musethica has to thank for its consistent development since the very beginning.

Over the past four semesters, 16 students have engaged deeply with forms of artistic expression, techniques, and processes, also pursuing intensive work on the deepening of their own artistic language, various modes of collaboration, the scholarly undergirding of artistic practice, the cultural landscape’s socioeconomic and/or socio-political structures, and competencies relevant to managing organisations and oneself.

On 20 February, the Future Art Lab’s Sound Theatre hosted the final round of the Sounding Visions Award. Six exceptional artists and ensembles presented their performances to a live audience both in the hall and online.

2025 marks the beginning of a special cooperative project: CCOM, the mdw, and the renowned Austrian music publisher Universal Edition (UE) have teamed up to plan a competition for young composers. This competition is set to take place every two years, alternating between chamber and orchestral music focuses.

12 June will witness an international symposium and, with it, the opening of the International Research Center Gender and Performativity (ICGP) chaired by the theatre studies scholar and gender studies professor Evelyn Annuß. In view of current anti-gender politics, the establishment of the ICGP is a clear statement by the mdw concerning academic and cultural policy.