As one year turns to the next, we devote this issue’s Special section to the work being done by the mdw’s Department of Organ, Organ Research and Church Music. A group interview with experts from this department provides a look at the many facets of its study programmes and also surveys the range of career options open to graduates. The department’s research emphases are described in a report by Organ Research Centre head Wolfgang Kreuzhuber, and the section is rounded off by a photographic tour of the wonderful diversity of organs at the mdw.
You can also read an extensive interview with ethnomusicologist and ICTM Secretary General Ursula Hemetek in which she discusses her work and the reasons why she intends to use the cash prize from her Wittgenstein Award to found a centre for ethnomusicological research on minorities. And in his jubilee year, we observe what would have been the 100th birthday of our important former teaching staff member Gottfried von Einem, who held a composing professorship here from 1963 to 1972.
A new series of lectures on artistic research with international experts and innovative formats that began in October 2018 is the subject of another report. This lecture series represents a further step in the development of a critical discourse on artistic research at the mdw. In a related article, series lecturer Barbara Lüneburg provides insights into the field of artistic research as such.
The mdw is also a place where women*’s history was and still is made. And in the 2018/19 academic year, spiel|mach|t|raum is devoting itself to the mdw’s first woman professor: Anna Fröhlich. You can also get up to speed on why gender-sensitive language is important and how it provides visibility: Hannah Alker-Windbichlershares some findings from her master’s degree thesis at the Department of Cultural Management and Gender Studies (IKM) on gender-appropriate language at cultural institutions.
Furthermore, things well worth knowing about the successful work to create the chamber music degree programme ECMAster as well as about the significance of sensory impressions in the area of artistic and pedagogical practice covered by the Rhythmics degree programme can likewise be read about in this issue.
I wish you an enriching read, contemplative holidays, and a great start to the new year!
