Payam Yazdani receives Boy-Gobert Prize 2025

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!

Yvonne Wasserloos, university professor of musicology, has been awarded the International Grand Prize for Science & Research (worth €12,000) by the Cultural Fund of the City of Salzburg for her outstanding achievements as a researcher, including her work on ‘Music and Power – Dimension and Context’ and her research on the social, political and cultural significance of music – especially in connection with democracy and the culture of remembrance. Congratulations!