“One of my earliest specific memories is from my musical training as a small child. We were standing around an open grand piano and were supposed to see how long we could actually hear a note,” remembers the passionate musician. Thanks to music-loving parents who wanted to give him the opportunity to acquire a musical education, the Lower Austria native began with piano lessons in the first form of primary school and then took guitar and saxophone lessons later on.

It was in 1994 that Ališer Sijarić, a composing student at the Sarajevo Music Academy, received an mdw scholarship to continue his studies far off from the ongoing war. Now a well-regarded composer and educator, Sijarić is following in some illustrious footsteps as the dean of his Bosnian alma mater.

Three performance programme graduates, one idea: it was in 2023 that Manuel Egger, Magdalena Pramhaas, and Sabrina Reheis-Rainer joined forces to found the wienerwald festival [Vienna Woods Festival], a series of events that unite music with nature in unique concert formats at interesting locations.