The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university located in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, established in 1817. With a student body of over three thousand, it is the largest institution of its kind in Austria, and one of the largest in the world. In 1817, it was established by the Society for the Friends of Music. It has had several names: ''Vienna Conservatory'', ''Vienna Academy'' and in 1909 it was nationalized as the ''Imperial Academy of Music and the Performing Arts''. In 1998, the University assumed its current name to reflect its university status, attained in a wide 1970 reform for Austrian ''Arts Academies''. In 2019, the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Wien (MDW) was named one of the "best performing arts schools in the world" by the ''CEOWORLD'' magazine.

The university

With a student body of more than 3000, the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Wien (MDW) is one of the largest arts universities in the world. The University consists of 24 departments including the

Max Reinhardt Seminar The Max Reinhardt Seminar (Reinhardt Seminar) is the School of Drama at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Austria. It is located in the Palais Cumberland, Penzingerstraße 9, in Vienna's 14th district (). History A ''Leh ...

, Vienna Film Academy and the Wiener Klangstil. MDW facilities include the Schönbrunn Palace Theater, Antonio Vivaldi Room, Salesian Convent, St. Ursula Church, Lothringerstrasse (Franz Liszt Room) and the Anton Von Webern Platz (university main campus). Modern film studios were completed on the university campus in 2004, offering the Vienna Film Academy modern equipment. The University organizes around 10 competitions, including the International Beethoven Piano Competition. It also presents an acclaimed students’ film festival every two years. The MDW may be considered a "feeder" institution to all major orchestras in Austria, with a particular association with the

Vienna Philharmonic The Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; german: Wiener Philharmoniker, links=no) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. It ...

History

Calls for a music conservatory in Vienna started in 1808. In 1811 an "outline for a music education institution" for Vienna was published. A year later the Society for the Friends of Music was formed, with the foremost aim of establishing a conservatory. The Vienna Conservatory was founded in 1817. It was meant to be modeled on the Paris Conservatory, but, due to a lack of funds, it began solely as a singing school. Antonio Salieri was the Conservatory's first director. In 1819, it hired violinist Joseph Böhm, and by 1827 offered courses in most orchestral instruments. 3raum

The Conservatory's finances were very unstable. Tuition fees were introduced in 1829, but by 1837 the institution was bankrupt. The state eventually funded the Conservatory from 1841 to 1844 and from 1846 to 1848. In 1848

political unrest Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

caused the state to discontinue funding, and the Conservatory did not offer courses again until 1851. With support from the state and the city, finances again stabilized after 1851. Despite growing state subsidy, The Society for the Friends of Music, which founded the Conservatory, remained in control of the institution. However, by a January 1, 1909 imperial resolution the school was nationalized and became the ''Imperial Academy of Music and the Performing Arts'' (''k.k. Akademie für Musik und darstellende Kunst''). (Until then its name was the ''Konservatorium der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde''.) Until 1844, when Gottfried Preyer, professor of

harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. Howeve ...

and composition became director, the director of the Conservatory was not a member of faculty, but a member of the Society for the Friends of Music. Joseph Hellmesberger Sr. was director from 1851 to 1893. From 1907 Wilhelm Bopp had been the director of Conservatory. The Conservatory was still dominated by the aging Robert Fuchs and Hermann Grädener, both of whom, but especially Fuchs, Bopp considered to be anachronistic and out of touch. In 1912, attempting to rejuvenate the Conservatory Bopp offered teaching positions to

Franz Schreker Franz Schreker (originally ''Schrecker''; 23 March 1878 – 21 March 1934) was an Austrian composer, conductor, teacher and administrator. Primarily a composer of operas, Schreker developed a style characterized by aesthetic plurality (a mixture ...

and

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

. Schoenberg declined the offer, but Schreker accepted it. His teaching duties were carried through with great success and by January 1913 he was awarded a full professorship. Bopp was also instrumental in the 1909 nationalization of the Conservatory. The administration of the Academy was now assigned to a state-appointed president, an artistic director and a board of trustees. After the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, the State Academy was again reorganized. President Karl Ritter von Wiener resigned and conductor

Ferdinand Löwe Ferdinand Löwe (19 February 1865 – 6 January 1925) was an Austrian conductor. Biography Löwe was born in Vienna, Austria where along with Munich, Germany his career was primarily centered. From 1896 Löwe conducted the Kaim Orchestra, to ...

was elected director by the teachers. In 1922,

Joseph Marx Joseph Rupert Rudolf Marx (11 May 1882 – 3 September 1964) was an Austrian composer, teacher and critic. Life and career Marx was born in Graz and pursued studies in philosophy, art history, German studies, and music at Graz University, earnin ...

took over. He wanted the Academy to be granted University status. After the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germa ...

, many teachers and students were dismissed on racial grounds. In 1941, the Academy became a Reich University (Reichshochschule). After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the institution became a State Academy again. In the process of

Denazification Denazification (german: link=yes, Entnazifizierung) was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the Nazi ideology following the Second World War. It was carried out by remov ...

, fifty-nine teachers were dismissed; by November 1945, sixteen were reinstated. Only five of the teachers dismissed in 1938 were reinstated. By laws introduced in 1948 and 1949 the institution was granted the status of "Art Academy". In 1970, the "Law on the Organization of Art Colleges" effectively gave all Art Academies University status, and in 1998 the title of "Art Academy" was changed to "Art University". Institut für Komposition, Elektroakustik und TonmeisterInnen-Ausbildung aka ELAK is part of MDW and focuses on

electroacoustic music Electroacoustic music is a genre of popular and Western art music in which composers use technology to manipulate the timbres of acoustic sounds, sometimes by using audio signal processing, such as reverb or harmonizing, on acoustical instru ...

improvisation Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

, composing of

contemporary music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included se ...

sound art Sound art is an artistic activity in which sound is utilized as a primary medium or material. Like many genres of contemporary art, sound art may be interdisciplinary in nature, or be used in hybrid forms. According to Brandon LaBelle, sound art ...

Departments

*Department of Composition and Electroacoustics (aka ELAK) *Department of Conducting *Department of Music Analysis, Theory and History *Department of Keyboard Instruments (Instrumental Programme) *Department of String Instruments (Instrumental Programme) *Leonard Bernstein Department of Wind and Percussion Instruments (Instrumental Programme) *Joseph Haydn Department for Chamber Music and Special Ensembles *Department of Organ, Organ Research and Church Music *Department of Voice and Music Theatre *Max Reinhardt Seminar Department of Drama *Film Academy Vienna Department of Film and Television *Department of Music Education *Department of Music and Movement Education *Department of Music Therapy *Department of Stylistic Research in Music *Department of Popular Music *Ludwig van Beethoven Department of Keyboards in Music Education *Hellmesberger Department of Strings in Music Education *Franz Schubert Department of Wind and Percussion Instruments in Music Education *Antonio Salieri Department of Voice in Music Education *Anton Bruckner Department of Music Theory, Ear Training and Ensemble Direction *Department of Music Research and Ethnomusicology *Wiener Klangstil Department of Music Acoustics *Department of Music Sociology *Department of Cultural Management and Cultural Studies

Notable past teachers

* Joseph Böhm *

Anton Bruckner Josef Anton Bruckner (; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-Ger ...

Ferruccio Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary ...

* Josef Dachs * Julius Epstein *

Robert Fischhof Robert Fischhof (31 October 1856 – 31 March 1918Stieger, Franz. ''Opernlexikon.'' Teil II: Komponisten. Tutzing: Hans Schneider, 1977.) was an Austrian pianist, composer, and professor at the Vienna Music Conservatoire. Biography Robert Fis ...

* Robert Fuchs *

Leopold Godowsky Leopold Mordkhelovich Godowsky Sr. (13 February 1870 – 21 November 1938) was a Lithuanian-born American virtuoso pianist, composer and teacher. He was one of the most highly regarded performers of his time, known for his theories concernin ...

* Jakob Grün * Leopold Hager *

Rotraud Hansmann Rotraud Hansmann (born 1 March 1940) is an Austrian soprano in opera and concert. She was a singer in the recordings by Nikolaus Harnoncourt which began historically informed performances, such as Monteverdi's operas and works by Johann Sebastian ...

* Hans Haselböck * Joseph Hellmesberger Sr. * Władysław Kędra, from 1 October 1957 * Josef Krips * Hartmut Krones *

Uroš Lajovic Uroš Lajovic is a Slovenian conductor. He has served as guest conductor, permanent conductor, artistic director and artistic advisor at numerous prominent European orchestras. Career Uroš Lajovic, born on July 4, 1944 in Slovenia studied comp ...

* Mathilde Marchesi *

* Joseph Merk * Martin Gustav Nottebohm * Karl Österreicher * Anna Pessiak-Schmerling *

Erwin Ratz Erwin Ratz (22 December 1898, Graz – 12 December 1973, Vienna) was an Austrian musicologist and music theorist. He is known especially for his work as president of the ''Gustav Mahler Gesellschaft'' and for his book ''Einführung in die musikalis ...

Max Reinhardt Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born theatre and film director, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his innovative stage productions, he is regarded as one of the most pr ...

Carole Dawn Reinhart Carole Dawn Reinhart (born December 20, 1941) is an American musician. She is a trumpet soloist and Professor Emeritus at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Early life Reinhart was born on December 20, 1941, in Roselle, Ne ...

* Hilde Rössel-Majdan * Antonio Salieri *

Emil von Sauer Emil Georg Conrad von Sauer (8 October 186227 April 1942) was a German composer, pianist, score editor, and music (piano) teacher. He was a pupil of Franz Liszt and one of the most distinguished pianists of his generation. Josef Hofmann called von ...

Simon Sechter Simon Sechter (11 October 1788 – 10 September 1867) was an Austrian music theorist, teacher, organist, conductor and composer. He was one of the most prolific composers who ever lived, although his music is largely forgotten and he is now mainl ...

* Franz Schalk *

Arnold Schoenberg was not a faculty member, but he taught a private theory course in 1911. * Franz Schmidt *

* Richard Stöhr * Otmar Suitner *

Hans Swarowsky Hans Swarowsky (September 16, 1899September 10, 1975,) was an Austrian conductor of Hungarian birth. Swarowsky was born in Budapest, Hungary. He studied the art of conducting under Felix Weingartner and Richard Strauss. Jiří Vysloužil, ...

* * Mimi Wagensonner * Luise Walker * Felix Weingartner * Erik Werba

Notable alumni

Notes

Citations

External links

*
Entry
at the Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon ONLINE {{DEFAULTSORT:Music And Performing Arts Vienna, University Of Arts organizations established in the 1810s Buildings and structures in Landstraße Educational institutions established in 1817 Music in Vienna Music schools in Austria