University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna

University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna

Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien
University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna main building
Former name	Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien
Motto in English	Tradition and Innovation
Type	Public
Established	1817; 207 years ago (1817)
Rektor	Ulrike Sych [de]
Academic staff	850
Administrative staff	200
Students	>3,000
Location	Vienna , Austria 48°12′06″N 16°23′06″E / 48.20167°N 16.38500°E / 48.20167; 16.38500
Website	www.mdw.ac.at

The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (German: Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university established in 1817 located in Vienna. 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 1817, it was established by the Society for the Friends of Music. It has had several names: Vienna Conservatory, Vienna Academy and in 1909 it was nationalized 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. In 2019, the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Wien (MDW) was named one of the "best performing arts schools in the world" by the CEOWORLD magazine.^[1]