A formal ceremony on 3 October 2019 saw the appointment of Thomas Angyan, Executive and Artistic Director of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien, as the mdw’s first Honorary Senator. With Angyan’s investiture, the mdw recognised his service to Austria’s musical life and his many years of successful cooperation with the University. Thomas Angyan has guided the activities of the Vienna Musikverein for over 30 years, a period during which he has overseen not only the addition of four new halls to the Musikverein building but also the expansion of its musical programming alongside the commissioning of numerous contemporary works. He has played “a leading part and acted as a role model in the development of the arts and culture both in Austria and in the world cultural capital of Vienna,” said Rector Ulrike Sych in tribute to his activities. “Furthermore, he has spent many years promoting young artists while also doing outstanding cultural outreach work.” Angyan, who will be handing over his responsibilities at the Vienna Musikverein to the German music manager Stephan Pauly in June 2020, expressed how honoured this major gesture of recognition made him feel and went on to emphasise the close relationship between his institution and the University: “Above and beyond their common routes, the mdw and the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde share manifold artistic connections.” Laudatory speaker Rudolf Buchbinder praised Angyan as a protagonist of the arts
scene “who has contributed to the development of musical Vienna as have few others, and one who intimately knows Vienna’s musical spirit, which he has himself helped to shape and carry forth throughout the world.”
The entire ceremony can be viewed at the mdwMediathek.
