Mag.art.
Helmut Schaumberger
PhD
Mag.art. Helmut Schaumberger, PhD was Professor of Music Education at the Gustav Mahler Private University of Music from October 2021 to March 2026 and will be Vice-Rector for Teaching and Studies at the Mozarteum University Salzburg from April 1, 2026.
Shortly after his appointment to the Gustav Mahler Private University of Music, Helmut Schaumberger took on key management and committee roles, including in the Research, Teaching and Practice Committee, the Council for Good Scientific Practice, the Music Teacher Training Department and the Doctoral Project. He also held positions in the Senate and the Study Commission. He provided significant impetus for the expansion of music teacher training in Carinthia and, in addition to conducting research on singing with children and young people and on music teacher training, he led the accompanying research for the pilot project ‘Musikschule Plus’ (Music School Plus). Until 2026, he was an associate partner in the EU project Teacher Education Academy for Music and maintained a wide range of national and international collaborations. As EAS National Coordinator for Austria, he was responsible for the European Days of Music in Schools. He held executive positions in music education associations such as the MFÖ and the AGMÖ.
Guest teaching and research stays took Helmut Schaumberger to several European countries and the USA. He has published over 45 specialist articles, several anthologies on music education and has given more than 65 lectures and keynotes at national and international conferences (details: ORCID).
In addition to his academic work, he has had a lasting impact on the musical life of his home region as a choir director and artistic director of several festivals. He has also been a sought-after speaker in teacher and choir director training for many years.
Helmut Schaumberger completed his teacher training in Vienna and graduated in 1997 with an award-winning thesis on Hubert von Goisern. This was followed by 18 years of teaching as an instrumental, music and German teacher, including at the Stiftsgymnasium Seitenstetten. In 2012, he moved to the Mozarteum University in Salzburg as a university assistant, where he obtained his doctorate in 2018 with a thesis on the professionalisation of children's and youth choir conductors. He shaped music education training in the music teacher training programme, was deputy head of the Department of Music Education, operational director of the School of Music and Arts Education (SOMA) and was involved in the new teacher training programme in the Cluster Mitte. In 2020, he was awarded first prize in the Research Competition.