Bella Musica and LAUT:SPRECHER included in the ‘Atlas of Good Teaching’

The "Atlas der guten Lehre" (Atlas of Good Teaching) is a publicly accessible online platform established in 2015 by a working group of the Austrian Universities Conference. It highlights innovative approaches to teaching and learning at Austrian universities and promotes the exchange of ideas and experiences across the higher education sector. The platform is aimed at both members of the academic community and those involved in quality assurance and enhancement.

The inclusion of "Bella Musica" in the Atlas highlights that Mozarteum’s educational concepts for highly gifted students begin with targeted individual support. Highly gifted young musicians aged 14 to 20 are typically taught in highly individualised settings, and Bella Musica deliberately expands this approach to include the development of collaborative skills. Under the artistic and pedagogical direction of Stefan David Hummel, the project creates a learning environment that prepares students for the demands of their future professional lives. In addition to technical proficiency, today’s professional music world requires skills such as teamwork, self-management and communication. Through rehearsals, concerts, international collaborations and outreach activities, participants learn to combine musical excellence with these broader competencies.

The overall pedagogical concept is based on innovative methods:

• Participatory rehearsal work: Students take on leadership roles, help shape artistic processes and learn to make decisions collaboratively.
• Responsibility in practice: Students independently assume leadership roles, such as section leader or mentor in sectional rehearsals.
• International networking: Cooperation with partner institutions along the “European Mozart Trail” enables participants to experience linguistic and cultural diversity.

A particular highlight is the partnership with the International Mozarteum Foundation, which has offered participants the opportunity to perform on original historical Mozart instruments since 2024. The ensemble has also been honoured as a Rotary Ambassador in recognition of its strong commitment to community engagement (Third Mission). Bella Musica is an outstanding example of how historical experience, musical excellence and personal development are interwoven.

With the inclusion of "LAUT:SPRECHER" in the Atlas, Mozarteum University gains a prominent platform for forward-looking educational concepts. Under the academic direction of Yvonne Wasserloos and the artistic direction of Florentine Klepper and Kai Röhrig, the project deliberately crossed traditional disciplinary boundaries. Seven departments – from the opera class to scenography and musicology – worked closely together. The project was initiated to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.

The project was structured around three core components:

• a double opera production featuring Viktor Ullmann’s Der Kaiser von Atlantis, alongside the world premiere of a new chamber version of Simon Laks’ L’Hirondelle inattendue, developed in collaboration with Boosey & Hawkes;
• a weekly undergraduate seminar on “Music and Anti-Semitism”;
• the symposium and concert ERINNERUNGSORTE III (“Places of Remembrance III”) marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day, held in cooperation with the University of Music Mainz.

The pedagogical core of the project lay in students’ active participation. They moved beyond the role of performers: in the seminar, they explored historical contexts, while for the concert ERINNERUNGSORTE III they wrote programme notes and acted as moderators. This active engagement with historically sensitive material fostered a strong sense of ethical responsibility in artistic practice. As a model of the “Third Mission,” LAUT:SPRECHER brings reflection on the social responsibility of the arts directly into the public sphere.