New Name for Konservatorium Wien University: Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna (Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien, acronym: MUK)

After 10 years as a university, Konservatorium Wien University is being renamed MUSIC AND ARTS UNIVERSITY OF THE CITY OF VIENNA (MUK). The name change takes legal effect as of 3 November 2015.

City Councillor Christian Oxonitsch supports the renaming of the only university owned by the City of Vienna: “The MUK, formerly Konservatorium Wien University (KONSuni), plays an important role in the cultivation and further development of Vienna’s tradition of music and the arts. The high level of education provided by this institution was confirmed by its accreditation as a university in 2005. The new name Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna is intended to emphasize its educational standard as a university in compliance with the guidelines of the Bologna Declaration.”

For Rector Prof. Dr. Franz Patay, renaming the university Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna is an important step in positioning the institution more strongly as a university: “In order to underline the status of the university, in particular as its distinguishing feature in comparison with private conservatories in Vienna, we decided to adopt the name Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna.” The name change was preceded by an intensive internal process in which everyone on staff at the university was involved; the new name and logo were jointly decided upon as the result of several phases of discussion and voting.

Of what elements is the new name composed?
The new name no longer contains the term conservatory, which had been in use for 70 years, because the university wished – and found it necessary – to place stronger emphasis on the distinction between itself and the private conservatories in Vienna. Rector Prof. Dr. Franz Patay explains the process thus: “We noticed that our name was being played with and that there were instances of confusion between institutions. There are conservatories here in Vienna that have imitated us as regards the choice of colours and wording in their corporate identities. We noticed that graduates of other conservatories were using the name of our institution in reference to their training. As a result of the renaming, a clear distinction should be possible in future.” In contrast to conservatories, which award a diploma at the end of a course of study, students at the MUK conclude their studies with a bachelor’s or master’s degree in accordance with the principles of the Bologna Declaration of the European Union. The study programmes offered encompass more than 30 Bologna-compatible bachelor’s and master’s programmes as well as non-degree university courses and preparatory courses.

In 2005, Konservatorium Wien was spun off from the City of Vienna as an institution and accredited as a university within the meaning of the Private Universities Act (Bundesgesetz über Privatuniversitäten, PUG) by the Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation Austria (AQ Austria; at that time still called the Österreichische Akkreditierungsrat, the Austrian accreditation council). Since then, the MUK, formerly Konservatorium Wien University (KONSuni), has earned an international reputation as a university of study and research in the field of music and performing arts.

Vienna is known the world over as a city of music. For this reason, the word Music is a prominent element of the university’s new corporate identity. The word Arts appears in the new name without the modifier “performing”. This is intended to give expression to the comprehensive perception of the arts that is communicated and experienced at the MUK. This university attaches great importance to interdisciplinary exchange between the fields of music, music theatre, acting and dance, which is correspondingly promoted and given appropriate scope.

The logo was inspired by Vienna’s municipal coat of arms and is intended to express the university’s relation to the City of Vienna, which is its owner and funding institution. With its reduced colour scheme and modern font, the new logo reflects the core values of an education in music and the arts.

The Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna (MUK) sees itself as an urban university of music and the arts in the here and now, which, through indefatigable research in music, dance and theatre, creates cultural values for the future. Today’s MUK is rooted in the efforts initiated by private sponsors and the public administration of the City of Vienna in the 1920s to give broad segments of the population access to high-quality artistic and musical education and professional training. In 1945, the newly constituted municipal government founded the institution Musiklehranstalten der Stadt Wien, consisting of the conservatory, music schools and a children’s choir school. When the conservatory was spun off and accredited as a university in the year 2005, the City of Vienna, as the sole owner of the institution, made it possible for students from all over the world to receive tertiary artistic education that was up-to-date, of high quality even in an international comparison, and nevertheless affordable, in accordance with the principles of the Bologna Declaration of the European Union. Until 2 November 2015, the institution was called Konservatorium Wien University (Konservatorium Wien Privatuniversität).

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Bernhard Mayer-Rohonczy
Media Relations

Johannesgasse 4a, 1010 Vienna
T +43 1 512 77 47 - 222
E presse@konswien.at
www.konservatorium-wien.ac.at
www.muk.at