In the following interview with mdw Magazine, Ursula Hemetek—former head of the Department of Folk Music Research and Ethnomusicology and founder of the Music and Minorities Research Centre (MMRC)—joins us together with the department’s current head Marko Kölbl to look back upon its eventful history, share insights on current developments, and discuss present-day political challenges.

The introduction of the Master of Arts in Ethnomusicology at the mdw in October 2019 brought initially subtle but steadily building change to our institution that has, in fact, ended up being quite broad-based. For the first time in the mdw’s 200-year history, it became possible to study styles of music and dance that had previously lacked any representation in an academic context, doing so via both research-based exploration and artistic practice.

The mdw’s Department of Folk Music Research and Ethnomusicology, which is Austria’s largest place of research and teaching in its field, has existed at the mdw for 60 years. It’s hence no wonder that the department’s history is commonly viewed as having begun in 1965. However, folk music as well as research on folk music had been present here long before.

It was a milestone in the development of the Department of Folk Music Research and Ethnomusicology—but also of the mdw—when the stage of the Joseph Haydn-Saal came alive with a celebration of musical diversity on 24 May.

Contesting Border Regimes – Sounds and Images was the title of 2021’s international symposium Transkulturalität_mdw, which took place online on 7 and 8 May.

And for around 20 years, now, we’ve used the terms “applied” or “engaged ethnomusicology” to also imply “outreach”. It has hence long been a central point in ethnomusicology (rather than being a recent development, like in other disciplines) to ensure that research has a reciprocal impact on society—an impact that, in turn, flows once again into research findings.

In ethnomusicology, one frequently deals with the music and dance of people who are perceived to be “different”. However, one needn’t travel to the far corners of the earth to do so—after all, Vienna itself is home to an extremely varied range of musical cultures that exist side by side.

This past June, the ethnomusicologist Ursula Hemetek became the first woman professor at an arts university to receive the Wittgenstein Award.

Joint Meeting of the ICTM Study Groups “Music and Minorities” and “Music and Gender”.