In late 1924, just over a century ago, the then-Academy of Music and Performing Arts was joined by a Fachhochschule of Music and Performing Arts—a further predecessor of today’s mdw that was intended to operate in parallel with the Academy. Just a few years later, however, the Fachhochschule was dissolved—plunging its sister institution into a deep crisis.

With projects like Musethica, the All Stars Inclusive Band, and Musik am Krankenbett [Music at the Sickbed], the mdw champions free access to the arts and culture—thereby elevating social responsibility to a central commitment.

Online professorship search committee hearings, digital entrance exams, blended learning—the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has catalysed the digitisation process in education. And at the mdw, the Audio/Video Centre—part of the University’s Information Technology Department (ZID)—has been a strong institution-wide partner in these trying times.