SYLFF Fellows 2023/2024

The Tokyo Foundation supports excellent students from selected universities worldwide through its SYLFF scholarship programme (The Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund). Since 1996 the mdw has been one of the approximately 70 universities in this programme.

Among the numerous applications, a specially appointed jury of experts and the mdw SYLFF Steering Committee selected three excellent students for the SYLFF scholarship for the academic year 2023/2024. Due to the high endowment of the scholarship, for the third time these students also submitted their own project concepts as part of their application documents.

Fellows and Projects

Nicole Henter

Nicole Henter is currently studying for a master's degree in chamber music at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, where she graduated with distinction in March 2023. She performs as a soloist and chamber musician in numerous countries. She has already made her debut in various European concert halls such as the Vienna Musikverein and the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. As part of Wien Modern 2018, she performed Luciano Berio's virtuoso soloist piece Sequenza in the main hall of the Wiener Konzerthaus. In the 2022/2023 season, she performed on the solo piccolo in the RSO with a temporary contract.

Like a wave

The planned project Like a Wave draws inspiration from Philipp Manuel Gutmann's composition for flute, clarinet and piano. It emphasizes the inseparable connection between man and nature, especially life-giving water. Water, as a central component, not only shapes the world, but is the origin of all life. Natural disasters illustrate the consequences of the reckless use of this essential resource. The project includes a professional recording of the work, a film project at the mdw Film Academy and a unique charity concert. The aim is to make the piece better known and raise awareness for water conservation. The Trio Dobona will not only present the piece, but will also focus on contemporary compositions and donate the concert proceeds to OceanCare to actively promote awareness for water protection.

Yuliya Kazimirovich

Yuliya Kazimirovich has been studying violin at the mdw since 2018. She has performed with ensembles such as the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO), the Grafenegg Academy and the Vienna Philharmonic Summer Academy, as well as being concertmaster of the Miami Music Festival. Her passion ranges from the baroque violin to chamber music, jazz and contemporary music. She has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in Africa, America, Asia and Europe.

United Artists for Peace

The United Artists for Peace project brings together different art forms to spread the message of peace, love and togetherness. The interdisciplinary project consists of bringing together chamber music works from turbulent periods and regions and seeking a path to peace and dialogue through art. By integrating live painting, photography, dance and song during the concert, Yuliya aims to use the diversity of the arts to show solidarity and the desire for peace in today's world.

Concert date:

20 October 2024, 6 pm, Gleis 21

Concert programme

Dario Zanconi

Dario Zanconi has been studying piano at the mdw with Christopher Hinterhuber since 2021. In Italy, he studied with Ingrid Flier at the piano academy Incontri col Maestro in Imola and completed a bachelor's and master's degree with Andrea Padova at the conservatory in Parma.

He has won twenty-one national and international piano competitions and has performed at the Reichenau Festival, Ö1, the Blüthner Meister-Konzerte in Leipzig, the Camerata Musicale Barese and the Fondazione Toscanini.

The power of memory: a series of concerts in selected retirement homes in Vienna

During the coronavirus pandemic, the isolation of senior citizens in retirement homes around the world has become particularly noticeable. As the mental health of older people suffered massively from the lack of visits and human closeness, it became clear that they needed an increased level of emotional and human support.

The project consists of a series of four concerts that take place in various Viennese senior residences and serve as a means of combating the isolation of their residents. Through a combination of Viennese piano pieces and recited chapters from Stefan Zweig's The World of Yesterday, the performances bring older people's memories to life and encourage them to tell their own stories and talk about life.

Concert dates:

10 October 2024, 4 pm, Vitaly Residenz am Kurpark
17 October 2024, 3 pm, Kursana Residence Vienna-Tivoli