News

The Belarusian flutist, conductor, cultural manager, and Honorary Professor at Mozarteum University, Maria Kalesnikava, delivered the opening speech at the Salzburg Festival last weekend. Her moving reflections on freedom, responsibility, and the unifying power of music deeply resonated with the audience, underscoring the vital role of culture in challenging times.

The City of Salzburg recently recognized four projects featuring interdisciplinary ideas for Salzburg. One of the projects, titled “Stadt Raum Hörbar” (City Space Audible), submitted by Florian Brand, Ulrike Hatzer, Carla Stenitzer, and Karen Werner, invites the people of Salzburg to explore the sounds of their city.

Amélie Niermeyer Professor at the Mozarteum University and long-time director of the Thomas Bernhard Institute, will take up the position of President of the Bayerische Theaterakademie August Everding in Munich on 1 October 2026. In her new role, the internationally renowned director will lead the largest educational institution for theatre professions in the German-speaking world. We extend our heartfelt congratulations!

The Mozarteum University Salzburg mourns the passing of actor and theatre director Lutz Hochstraate, who died on 29 March 2026.

An applicant in a wheelchair, with physical and speech impairments, wishes to study acting. Doubts among the teaching staff, uncertainty about how to interact with him, organisational hurdles – and yet the commitment not to judge too hastily, but to look more closely: at his enthusiasm for acting, his spontaneity, his ability to work in a group, and his sense of humour.

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!

Alek Niemiro, a graduate of the Thomas Bernhard Institute's directing programme, has been awarded the new Austrian Art Alumni Award for his project ‘Last Hour of Resistance’. Starting this year, the award will be presented annually by the BMFWF and Austrian art universities to selected outstanding graduates, and comes with a twelve-month scholarship worth €24,000. Congratulations!

Theater-interested, -enthusiastic and -newcomers are welcome! Everyone together, citizens, people who live in Salzburg, students and life artists try out together.

From 22 to 28 June, the Mozarteum University hosted the national competition for German-speaking drama students, in conjunction with the 36th meeting for the promotion of young drama talent in Salzburg. The ensemble prize ‘Raus aus der Bubble’ (Out of the Bubble), worth 3,125 euros, went to the 4th year acting class of the Thomas Bernhard Institute and their production “Jederman” (Everyman), directed by Hanna Binder. Amadeus König was awarded in the category ‘Strong Performance’.

How long is a minute? A fleeting moment or rather an eternity? In fact, each of us perceives time differently. For some, a minute at the bus stop drags on endlessly, for others it races by like a world record attempt.