mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna

The mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna traces its origins to the singing school opened by the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in 1817 under Antonio Salieri. The conservatory was nationalised in 1909 and became an academy, expanding its teaching in conducting, church music and other disciplines. Post-war development brought new artistic and research institutes, including film, music sociology and ethnomusicology. It became a Hochschule in 1970 and was transformed into an arts university under the 1998 legislation. Construction of the present principal campus began in 1996, with its opening in 1999. The International Summer Academy, established in 1991, forms another continuing strand of its artistic and educational activity.