News

The Mozarteum University Salzburg is extremely happy and relieved about the release of its honorary professor Maria Kalesnikava and 122 other political prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of the human rights organisation Viasna, Ales Bjaljazki, from detention in Belarus. Thanks to careful mediation by the USA, Kalesnikava was released from prison on Saturday, 13 October 2025 after almost five years of incarceration in apalling and inhumane conditions.

Leonor Dill received an Award of Excellence for her dissertation entitled ‘Schubert's Metamorphoses. C.G. Jung's Archetype Theory as a Basis for Musical Analysis – An Investigation of the Creative Process’. Congratulations!

The interdisciplinary teacher training programmes in art & design and technology & design have not only been given new names, but also a new focus in terms of content.

2025 offers countless opportunities to look back on the past 80 years. The Second World War ended in Europe on 8 May 1945 with “Liberation Day,” marked by Germany’s unconditional surrender and the final collapse of the Nazi regime. In the months leading up to this, Allied forces had liberated the concentration camps.

Starting in autumn 2026, the Mozarteum University will offer new teacher training programmes in music and instrumental music. Andreas Bernhofer, professor of music education, provides an overview of the new content, perspectives and opportunities for students.

Singing brings people together – even online. In the ERASMUS+ research project ‘Choir@Home’, the Mozarteum University Salzburg (Prof. Dr. Heike Henning), in collaboration with the University of Liechtenstein (Dr. Janine Hacker) and Anhalt University of Applied Sciences (Prof. Dr. Alexander Carôt), investigated how singing together can take place in virtual spaces and be reimagined.

Violence against women (and minorities) is omnipresent, firmly anchored in our patriarchal structures, and is one of the most widespread human rights violations. In order to increase the visibility of the numerous initiatives of the United Nations and other organisations in relation to this topic, the UN campaign ‘Orange the World’ (OTW) introduced a uniform, strong subject colour. In keeping with its mission as an educational institution with social responsibility, the Mozarteum University is also taking part in ‘Orange the World’ during the ‘16 days against gender-based violence’ (25 November - 10 December).

Florentine Klepper and Kai Röhrig discuss their upcoming production of the two one-act operas Der Kaiser von Atlantis and L'Hirondelle inattendue, which will premiere on 6 December in the Max Schlereth Saal.

On 8 November 2025, at the closing dinner of the AEC Conference in the Carabinierisaal of the Residenz Salzburg – a gathering that brought together delegates from more than 120 music universities across Europe and beyond – the Mozarteum University awarded honorary doctorates to Dame Janet Ritterman and Professor Michael Worton. This marks only the second time in the university’s history that this distinction has been conferred: after Nikolaus Harnoncourt received the first honorary doctorate in 2008, it has now been bestowed on two individuals who have played a decisive role in shaping the Mozarteum’s research profile.

This year's RCM Award Ceremony took place on 11 November 2025 in the Faistauer Hall. Senate Chair Christoph Lepschy opened the event and emphasised the guiding principle of the Research Competition Mozarteum: openness to all disciplines, fields of study, career levels and alumni. Since 2019, this internal research funding instrument has contributed to establishing a diverse research culture at the university.

Cristina Giurgea, alumna of the Master's programme in Applied Theatre at the Mozarteum University’s Thomas Bernhard Institute, has received a €12,000 grant – awarded annually by the State of Salzburg in the field of Performing Arts – to support her work at the intersection of research theatre and performance art in Salzburg. Congratulations!