This publication is based on a conference held at the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna on June 15 and 16, 2023, organised by Sarah Chaker and Axel Petri-Preis. Both the organization of the conference and the preparation of this volume were made possible through generous support from many sides, for which we would like to express our heartfelt thanks. First and foremost, we wish to thank the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and University of Music Luebeck for their generous financial support, without which neither the conference nor this publication would have been possible in its current form. Specifically, we would like to thank Therese Kaufmann, head of the research support unit at mdw, and Kathrin Heinrich and Max Bergmann from mdwpress.
A big thank you also goes to the City of Vienna, especially to the Executive City Councillor for Cultural Affairs and Science, Veronika Kaup-Hasler, who financially supported our conference and also wrote a foreword to this volume.
Special thanks, of course, go to all the authors of this book for their willingness to contribute and to endure the extensive publication process, including the double-blind peer review. In this context, we would also like to warmly thank all the reviewers, whose expertise significantly contributed to the quality of this book. We would also like to thank Viktória Várkonyi, who, as associate editor, provided invaluable support with her comments and substantive remarks throughout the editing process. Thanks are due to Peter Waugh for his meticulous copy-editing and Karoline Spöring for her support in proofreading the manuscript. Last but not least, thanks go to Lisa Hacek, who provided enormous organisational support both during the conference and in the publication process, and was particularly supportive during the formal revision of the contributions and the creation of the manuscript.
