New University Council of the Mozarteum University Salzburg
The University Council of the Mozarteum University for the functional period 2023 to 2028 is now complete. Thomas Rietschel, M.A. and Sarah Wedl-Wilson, MA (Cantab) were elected by the Senate of the Mozarteum University. The Federal Ministry of Science and Research appointed Mag.a Silvia Grünberger and Univ.-Prof.in Mag.a Dr.in Rosa Reitsamer to the board. The four nominated members elected Em. o. Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Karlheinz Töchterle as the fifth member, who was also elected chairman of the collegial body in May. Rosa Reitsamer was elected as vice-chairman.
Contact
iris.wagner@moz.ac.at
+43 676 88122 301
The University Council is one of the three governing collegial bodies of the University Mozarteum Salzburg, along with the Rectorate and the Senate. Its main tasks include the election of the Rector and the election of the Vice-Rectors, and it is responsible for approving the development plan and the organizational plan. Its members may not be university members or university employees, nor may they be employees of the federal ministry responsible for university affairs. Two of its five members shall be elected by the Senate of the University Mozarteum or nominated by the Federal Government (Federal Ministry of Science and Research). These four members shall appoint the fifth member of the University Council, whose term of office shall be limited to five years, by mutual agreement at the constituent meeting. The tasks of the University Council are regulated in §21 of the University Act 2002.
Karlheinz Töchterle studied Classical Philology and German Studies in Innsbruck, Constance and Padua. After guest professorships in Graz and Munich, he was full professor for Classical Philology at the University of Innsbruck from 1997. His research interests included ancient drama, subject didactics, and Neo-Latin literature. He was Rector of the University of Innsbruck from 2007 to 2011, then Federal Minister for Science and Research until 2013, and Member of the Austrian National Council on an ÖVP mandate from 2013 to 2017. He has been emeritus professor since October 2017. He is married, has two children and four grandchildren, and lives in Telfes im Stubai/Tyrol.
Vice Chair Univ.-Prof.in Mag.a Dr.in Rosa Reitsamer studied sociology at the University of Vienna and the Academy of the University of Applied Arts Vienna. Since 2019, she has been Professor of Sociology of Music at the mdw - University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, where she heads the Institute of Sociology of Music. Her research interests include the history and theory of the sociology of music, tertiary music education, employability and music labor markets, and music, social inequalities, and activism. In 2021, she received the Gabriele Possanner State Prize for Gender Studies for her research and teaching.
Silvia Grünberger is Managing Partner of Rosam.Grünberger.Jarosch & Partner GmbH with a consulting focus on change and crisis communications as well as CEO positioning and litigation PR. Previously, she served 11 years as a Member of the National Council in the Austrian Parliament, during which time she was also active as a member of the Science Committee. Since 2016, she has been a member of the Advisory Board of the Department of Economics and Management Sciences at Danube University Krems. She considers it a great honor to belong to the University Council of the Mozarteum and will make the best possible use of her experience and network. Silvia Grünberger completed her studies in psychology, journalism and communication science at the University of Vienna as well as training as a certified life and social counselor. She also completed postgraduate studies with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) at Danube University Krems. Silvia Grünberger was awarded the Grand Decoration of Honor in Gold for her services to the Republic.
As a cultural consultant, Thomas Rietschel has been supporting cultural institutions such as foundations, art academies, ensembles or even associations in their development since 2016. The trained Germanist and empirical cultural scientist was active in music management in his "previous professional life", including as Secretary General of Jeunesses Musicales Germany, as Secretary General of the German Music Council and for 12 years as President of the University of Music and Performing Arts in Frankfurt am Main. He has three children, lives in the Tauber Valley south of Würzburg, and is active in a variety of volunteer activities, including an initiative of Holocaust survivors, a cultural center in Nicaragua, and climate protection.
Sarah Wedl-Wilson, a British-Austrian cultural manager, was born in London into a family of musicians and learned violin, piano, organ and singing as a child. After completing her master's degree in linguistics at Cambridge University, she embarked on an international career as a cultural manager, which took her to the Camerata Salzburg, the Cologne Philharmonic, Schloss Elmau, and the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music, among others. From 2014, she dedicated herself to the education of the next generation of artists, initially as vice rector and interim rector at the University Mozarteum Salzburg. In 2019, she followed the call to Berlin to the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music. In April 2023, she was appointed by the CDU Berlin as the new State Secretary for Culture.
