University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna

The University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna (, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university located in Vienna, established in 1819.

Today, with a student body of over three thousand, it is the largest institution of its kind in Austria, and one of the largest in the world.

In 1819, it was established by the Society for the Friends of Music. It was nationalized in 1909 as the Imperial Academy of Music and the Performing Arts. In 1998, the university assumed its current name to reflect its university status, attained in a wide 1970 reform for Austrian Arts Academies.

The university

With a student body of more than 3000, the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Wien (MDW) is one of the largest arts universities in the world. The University consists of 24 institutes including the Max Reinhardt Seminar, Vienna Film Academy and the Wiener Klangstil institutes.

MDW facilities include the Schönbrunn Palace Theater, Antonio Vivaldi Room, Salesian Convent, St. Ursula Church, Lothringerstrasse (Franz Liszt Room) and the Anton Von Webern Platz (University main campus). Modern film studios were completed on the university campus in 2004, offering the Vienna Film Academy state-of-the-art equipment.

The University organizes around 10 competitions, including the International Beethoven Piano Competition. It also presents an acclaimed students’ film festival every two years.

The MDW may be considered a "feeder" institution to all major orchestras in Austria, with...
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