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University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna
Hooves once echoed here where Vienna's greatest composers now create music. Emperor Joseph II ordered an animal hospital built beside the Wiener Neustadt Canal. In 1821, Johann Adam constructed the veterinary academy that stands here today. Now the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna fills these walls—home to the Second Viennese School's revolutionary compositions. The square outside bears Anton Webern's name. As you enter these halls, imagine the transformation: animals once received care here; now musicians create some of the world's most innovative sound.
Did You Know?
- :fact: The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (MDW) was originally founded in 1817 as the Vienna Conservatory by the Society for the Friends of Music, making it one of the oldest music universities in the world and the birthplace of formal music education in Austria.
- :fact: The university’s Institute for Composition, Electroacoustics and Tonmeister Education (ELAK) is a pioneering center for experimental music, where students explore sound art, improvisation, and cutting-edge technology—once the home of early electronic music experiments in Europe.
- :fact: Antonio Salieri, the famous composer and rival of Mozart, was the Conservatory’s first director, and his legacy lives on in Vienna’s musical folklore, inspiring stories and even modern films about the dramatic world of classical music.