Mission Statement

The Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna (MUK, for short) brings together musicians, performing artists and researchers from all over the world and offers them the opportunity for artistic and academic development in a cosmopolitan, appreciative and innovative atmosphere. Regular cooperation with domestic and foreign partners is an integral part of its own self-image. On the basis of Vienna's rich artistic tradition, the students and staff of the MUK develop and explore music and the performing arts together. They carry their work and their competences into the whole world in the awareness of the strength and responsibility of cultural creators.
 

An autonomous urban university with tradition

The MUK is an autonomous university for music and performing arts and offers artistic, artistic-scientific and artistic-pedagogical studies and courses. As a place for the practice of arts and education, it is committed to the further development of music and the performing arts as well as their freedom. The MUK engages in active dialogue with society on the relevant issues and challenges of our time.
Through its predecessor institutions, the MUK has a long tradition dating back to the beginnings of the 20th century.
Aware of the institutional co-responsibility of its predecessor institutions for the crimes of National Socialism, the MUK upholds the memory of its expelled and murdered students and teachers.
When it became a university in 2005, the MUK became an independent municipal university and an indispensable part of Vienna's educational and cultural offerings. Through a variety of public events and cooperations, the MUK makes a significant contribution to the city's cultural life.
The public sponsorship and financing by the City of Vienna form the basis for an excellent yet affordable artistic education, from which not least the city's art and cultural institutions also benefit. The internationally active graduates also secure Vienna's reputation as a city of culture worldwide with their acquired expertise.

Development and exploration of the arts as a core mission

The MUK develops and explores both traditional and contemporary art forms and develops innovative concepts of arts education. Contemporary artistic trends are just as much the focus of teaching and research as historical artistic practice and theory.
One of the university's central concerns is to complement discipline-specific education with interdisciplinary, cross-faculty work and transdisciplinary projects.
Teaching and art development encompass the areas of interpretation and creation, scholarship and research, as well as mediation and participation.
In addition, researchers from the fields of music, theatre and dance studies as well as pedagogy contribute to the generation and dissemination of knowledge in many forms on an international level and as part of an academic community oriented towards excellence criteria.
 

Focus on talents and competences

For students and teachers, access to the MUK is based on criteria of excellence in terms of both artistic talent and professional aptitude. Building on this, the comprehensive education and development of the independent artistic personality of students and teachers at the MUK is of central importance.
Students are supported according to their special talents and personal visions in order to be able to develop professional identities on the basis of the competences acquired during their studies. The student-centred education focuses, in addition to the established professional profiles in particular, on the individual development of the students in their respective artistic work.
To achieve this goal in the best possible way, teachers and students work together in individual and group lessons, in teams and in ensembles, applying the principles of co-determination, co-creation and co-responsibility.
 

Diversity, equal treatment and equality as a lived self-image

Cooperation between students, teachers and the administration is based on the principles of appreciation, acceptance and transparency.
The MUK forms a diverse, intercultural community and promotes the willingness to recognise other identities without thereby introducing structural inequality between people. Members of the MUK respect personal identities without reservation.
The MUK is strongly committed to the principles of anti-discrimination and equal treatment, the promotion of gender equality and the advancement of women.
 

Quality in the spotlight

According to its self-image, the MUK is a learning organisation and promotes a lively quality culture with close-meshed, formal and informal communication structures with the participation of all organs, committees and members.
A comprehensive, active network is maintained through university and non-university cooperation with renowned cultural and educational institutions. This ensures an intensive exchange between teachers and students and an ongoing examination of current artistic and scientific developments and issues.
In all the art forms represented, the MUK sets itself the standard of international artistic competitiveness and presents these to a critical public in regular events.