From 1:00 pm
Welcome 1st day: Registration and accreditation, Körber-Stiftung Foyer

2:00 pm
Opening and Welcome, KörberForum
Eva Nemela – Körber-Stiftung, Christoph Lieben-Seutter – Elbphilharmonie, TAoME-Team: Anke Fischer – Elbphilharmonie, Kai-M. Hartig – Körber-Stiftung

2:30 pm
Revue: Three current themes from past TAoME editions, KörberForum
1. Young Audiences – Constanze Wimmer
2. Multi-Diverse Urban Societies – Katherine Zeserson
3. What Keeps Societies Together – Lydia Grün

Music education and outreach is not an invention of the 21st century. However, new concert hall buildings, festivals, formats, ensemble initiatives, digitalization, and social change have provided major impulses over the past three decades. We ask three long-standing companions and experts in music education and outreach to share their personal reflections on a field that has undergone profound change since the early 2000s.

3:30 pm
Keynote: Culture and Decivilization – Taking Stock on Unsteady Ground, KörberForum
Harald Welzer, sociologist and social psychologist

What happens to culture when the veneer of civilization begins to crack and the values we once took for granted start to falter? How can we respond to a world whose pace and scale of change are increasingly hard to grasp? And what role can cultural institutions play in strengthening a democratic society—if they realistically reassess their own potential? Sociologist Harald Welzer takes a critical look at our present and at some of our most deceptive certainties.

4:15 pm
Coffee Break, Körber-Stiftung Foyer

4:45 pm
Breakout Sessions: Reflecting on the Three Impulses
1.Constanze Wimmer – Young Audiences (Fleeträume, EG)
2.Axel Petri-Preiss – Multi Diverse Urban Societies (Start-Hub, 1.OG) english
3.Lydia Grün – What Keeps Societies Together (KörberForum, EG)

20 years of music education and outreach and 10 editions of TAoME: which questions from 2008 are still relevant today? What new topics are currently shaping the field? How has music education and outreach evolved? In three parallel breakout sessions, we invite participants to share questions and challenges from their daily practice and bring them together afterward.

5:30 pm
Presentation of Breakout Session Results, KörberForum

6:00 pm
Insights into Practice: Lightning Talks, KörberForum

From the many submissions to the Call for Participation, only a selection could be presented on the TAoME stage. These projects reflect the impressive diversity of contemporary music education and outreach and are intended as impulses for further exchange:
1. Leuphana Concert Lab – How can participation be practiced in university teaching?
Lea Jakob, Leuphana University of Lüneburg
2. Zukunftsmusik – Andrea Hoever, Head of Music Education and Outreach, Bodensee Philharmonie
3. Looping and Letting Loop – Güneş Oba Hennecke, music educator
4. “…And Now It’s Your Turn!” – Johannes Mnich, TauberPhilharmonie Weikersheim
5. “Giving Voice to the Future” – Eleni Hagen with Johanna Zill, TONALi

7:00 pm – approx. 10:30 pm
Get-together, Elbphilharmonie

We celebrate the tenth edition with conversations, snacks, and drinks—and a special guest: Hamburg’s Senator for Culture, Dr. Carsten Brosda. Join us in exploring the new spaces in the Kaispeicher of the Elbphilharmonie.

9:00 am
Welcome 2^nd Day

9:30 am
Input: Awareness in the Cultural Sector: Strategies for Safer Spaces, KörberForum
Teresa Hähn, act aware e.V.

In times of a global shift to the right, liberal achievements such as participation and equality are increasingly coming under pressure. Against this backdrop, cultural institutions serve not only as platforms for addressing socio-political issues in terms of content; they also shape social interaction through the frameworks in which these discussions take place. Awareness concepts support cultural practitioners in making their spaces safer and more inclusive for diverse audiences, thereby living up to their role as spaces of social resonance. The keynote will highlight various components of an awareness concept—from prevention to supporting those affected by discrimination and sexualized violence—and provide practical guidance for integrating these approaches into one’s own organization.

10:30 am
Insights into Practice: Lightning Talks, KörberForum

From the many responses to the Call for Participation, only a selection could be presented on the TAoME stage. These projects demonstrate the impressive diversity of contemporary music education and outreach and are intended as impulses for further exchange:
1. Symphonischen Hoagascht: Brass Band Music Meets the BRSO – Dr. Juliane Ludwig, Bayerischer Rundfunk
2. The responsibility of Universities of Music: CONCERNS and HOPES – Christian Fischer – Chair of the Rectors’ Conference of the German Universities of Music within the Hochschulrektorenkonferenz (HRK)
3. Travelling Program: “The Song Is Ours!” – Ottilia Dorner, House of Music Hungary

11:00 am
Coffee Break, Körber-Stiftung Foyer

11:30 am
Talk: Transforming Musical Culture – Reflections on Participation Projects at the Beethovenfest, KörberForum
Steven Walter, Artistic Director, Beethovenfest Bonn, and Martin Zierold, cultural scholar and organizational consultant

No institution today exists without an education department. What was not yet a given at the beginning of TAoME has now become standard practice. But is that enough? Does education hold the role—and the staff and resources—required by its broad scope of responsibilities? How strong is its expertise in community building, intercultural mediation, or hosting? As a Fellow at the Thomas Mann House in California, Steven Walter—founder of the Podium Festival Esslingen and now Artistic Director of the Beethovenfest—discusses comparisons between American and European concert cultures in conversation with Martin Zierold (among others, host of the podcast “Wie geht’s?”).

12:30 pm
Insights into Practice: “Echoes in Limbo” @ Beethovenfest Bonn – staging music from a deaf perspective, KörberForum
Hannah Baumann, Beethovenfest Bonn

12:45 pm
Keynote: Participation – Do We Really Want It, and Are We Actually Able to Do It?
Martina Taubenberger, curator

Greater participation and inclusion are intended to make cultural institutions future-proof and provide them with sustainable legitimacy. But who exactly should be involved—and in what, precisely? We must ask ourselves self-critically whether we are truly able to live up to what we have set out to achieve. Have we even learned participation—“we” on the side of the arts and “they” in the audience? Whose voices do we hear when we listen into the auditorium? This, too, has implications for art and the creative process. Or do we perhaps need an entirely new concept of participation?

1:30 pm
Lunch Break, Körber-Stiftung Foyer

2:30 pm
Keynote: Resilience as a Key Competence – “Out of Control: Staying Resilient in Unmanageable Times”, KörberForum
Kerstin Jaspers, educational scientist and resilience coach

Loss of control as the new normal: In an increasingly fragile, frightening, and incomprehensible world (BANI), cultural institutions—like society at large—are faced with the question of how to maintain agency and rethink responsibility.
The 7+1 pillars of resilience as the foundation of psychological resilience: how responsibility, optimism, and sustainable networks enable future-oriented action, and how diversity of perspectives can be actively lived. Why inner attitude and mindset are central to resilient communication and organizational development.

3:15 pm

Option 1: Resilience Workshops, Two parallel sessions: Group A – Fleeträume Jana Wieskötter/ Group B – Start Hub Kerstin Jaspers

Practice-oriented exercises and techniques for building resilient attitudes. Tools for self-responsibility and solution-oriented work in volatile contexts.
For all those who wish to shape shared responsibility and view disruption as an opportunity.

Option 2: Input: Speaking & Listening – What We Can Learn from Democracy Projects, KörberForum
Claudine Nierth, Federal Board Spokesperson, Mehr Demokratie e.V.

Speaking & Listening is a dialogue format developed by Mehr Demokratie e.V. that brings people with differing perspectives into conversation. Unlike conventional discussion formats, it does not ask what someone thinks about a topic, but how they feel about it. This subtle yet crucial shift encourages people to speak less about others and more about themselves and their needs—making listening easier and fostering a shared experience. The format is used nationwide, particularly in municipalities and organizations, to strengthen democratic culture.

4:00 pm

Option 1: Resilience Workshops, Two parallel sessions: Group C – Fleeträume with Jana Wieskötter / Group D – Start Hub with Kerstin Jaspers

Practice-oriented exercises and techniques for building resilient attitudes. Tools for self-responsibility and solution-oriented work in volatile contexts.
For all those who wish to shape shared responsibility and view disruption as an opportunity.

Option 2: Thoughts on Hospitality, KörberForum
Dan Thy Nguyen and Nina Reiprich, fluxus² e.V. and fluctoplasma Festival

Dan Thy Nguyen and Nina Reiprich have jointly led the association fluxus² e.V. and the interdisciplinary festival fluctoplasma – 96h Art, Discourse, Diversity in Hamburg for several years. Their work operates at the intersection of art, memory culture, political education, and social responsibility. Through curatorial formats, performative interventions, and discursive spaces, they address issues of post-migration, decolonization, anti-racism, and democratic public spheres. Both understand cultural work not as representation but as infrastructure: a space for negotiation, friction, and collective imagination.

4:45 pm
Coffee Break, Körber-Stiftung Foyer

5:15 pm
Insights into Practice: Podcast – You All Right?! Sharing Stories, Sharing Sound, KörberForum
Floortje Smehuijzen, Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ & BIMHUIS

5:30 pm
Insights into Practice: Music Therapy in San Francisco Public Schools, KörberForum
Anastasia Heroldová Tramontozzi, San Francisco Symphony

5:45 pm
Input: Third Places – Spaces for New Encounters, KörberForum
Louisa-Dominique Riedel, Otto Beisheim Foundation, and Anja Adam, Foyer Public, Theater Basel

Third places have long been talk of the town. Cultural institutions are opening their spaces to society—open, participatory, and free from consumption pressure. These spaces enable in-person encounters, counter loneliness, and strengthen democratic coexistence. As a strategy for opening up “for all,” more and more institutions are embracing the concept of the third place. However, those who take it seriously embark on a far-reaching change process—also in attitudes and values—and require time, resources, and skilled personnel. Anja Adam and Louisa-Dominique Riedel share insights and challenges from practical projects in Basel and Munich.

6:20 pm
Dinner, Körber-Stiftung Foyer

7:30 pm
Group Walk to the Elbphilharmonie, meeting point: Körber-Stiftung Foyer

8:00 pm
Concert: Elbphilharmonie Jazz Academy, Grand Hall Elbphilharmonie

Taking the stage at the Elbphilharmonie and learning from jazz greats such as Anat Cohen or Yaron Herman—the Elbphilharmonie Jazz Academy makes it possible. The academy offers talented jazz musicians aged 18–30 the opportunity to work for one week with renowned musicians and instructors in group and individual sessions, developing a joint program that is ultimately presented in the Grand Hall.
Jazz greats including Theo Croker, Donny McCaslin, and Julia Hülsmann serve as mentors throughout the week. The final concert in the Grand Hall marks the crowning conclusion of an intense, creative, and deeply emotional shared experience.

10:00 pm
Reception, Elbphilharmonie Foyer

9:00 am
Welcome 3rd day

9:30 am
Insights into Practice: Lightning Talks, KörberForum

From the many responses to the Call for Participation, only a selection could be presented on the TAoME stage. They reflect the impressive diversity of contemporary music education and outreach and are intended as impulses for further exchange:
1. SommerMusikWoche – Mira Possert & Sophie Löschenbrand, Wiener Konzerthaus
2. The Sound of Silence – Resonating, Improvising, and Listening as Collective Practice –
Nazfar Hadji, Institute for Music Education Research Hannover
3. Perfect Match – The Neighbourhood Opera “You Are Okay” – Nicola Pacha Vock, Head of Community and Education

10:00 am
Keynote: Communities of Distrust – On the Appeal of Populism and Conspiracy Ideologies (book title), KörberForum
Aladin El-Mafaalani, sociologist

Aladin El-Mafaalani is the author and editor of numerous academic publications, including twelve books as well as many articles in journals, edited volumes, and handbooks. He is one of the founders and editors of the Journal for Migration Research.
His research has received multiple awards, including the Augsburg Science Prize for Intercultural Studies, the Dissertation Award of the Institute for Cultural Studies in Essen, and the German Study Prize of the Körber Foundation. His public engagement has also been widely recognized, including the Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Public Impact of Sociology from the German Sociological Association and the Federal Cross of Merit, awarded by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

11:00 am
Insights into Practice: Social Aesthetics – Reframing Post-Migrant, Participatory Art, KörberForum
Kian Jazdi, Liedstadt gUG

11:30 am
Coffee Break, Körber-Stiftung Foyer

12:00 pm
Insights into Practice: Bringing Music Education from Theory to Practice, KörberForum
Avri Levitan, Musethica e.V.

12:15 pm
Insights into Practice: The Resonance-Oriented Touring Orchestra, KörberForum
Martina Elmer, Budapest Festival Orchestra

12:30 pm
Insights into Practice: Zwischenraumklänge – Responsibility and Participation in the Education Formats of the asambura ensemble, KörberForum
Joss Reinicke, asambura ensemble

12:45 pm
Insights into Practice: Artistic Quality and Social Engagement at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, KörberForum
Axel Petri-Preis, Hannah Baumann, Martin Schlögl, Viktória Várkonyi, Institute for Research and Practice in Music Education

1:00 pm
Insights into Practice: Sound Worlds – Our Language Is Music, KörberForum
Caroline Prassel, Dr. Hoch’s Conservatory, Frankfurt am Main

1:15 pm
Thoughts on your way, KörberForum
Sonja Anders, Artistic Director, Thalia Theater Hamburg

To close the conference, we invite our guests to share one or more “thoughts to take with you”—a question, a reflection, or an encouragement that lingers, offers support in everyday practice, and conveys meaning. This might be a glimpse into the future, or a personal observation or experience that has remained essential to their work.

2:00 pm
Lunch, Körber-Stiftung Foyer

Andrea Thilo works nationally and internationally as a journalist, moderator, and trainer in the fields of culture and education, sustainability, and digital transformation. Until 2010, she produced documentary films for cinemas with her company BoomtownMedia (Trip to Asia, Rhythm Is It!). Andrea Thilo studied social and business communication at the Berlin University of the Arts and, after completing her traineeship at NDR, worked as a reporter, editor, and presenter for ARD and private broadcasters.

Kai-M. Hartig studied cultural management at the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre after training as a pianist, and subsequently worked in cultural sponsorship and for Deutschlandfunk. From 1997 to 2001, he served as personal advisor to Hamburg’s Senator for Culture, Dr. Christina Weiss, after which he became Head of the Presidential Office of the Ministry of Culture. Since 2005, he has been responsible for the cultural activities of the Körber Foundation, and since 2009 has headed the Culture Department. He is a co-founder of the Network for Cultural Management and of the Young Friends of the Hamburger Kunsthalle. He is a member of the project advisory board of the German National Youth Orchestra and of the board of trustees of the Museum of Arts and Crafts Hamburg.

Anke Fischer (born 1977) has been part of the Elbphilharmonie team since 2015 and took over as Head of the Education Department in 2018, leading a team of 30. Each season, she is responsible for the artistic content of up to 1,000 events focused on making and discovering music. The program is aimed at people of all backgrounds, with and without prior musical training. Since 2016, she has co-curated the symposium “The Art of Music Education” together with the Körber Foundation Hamburg. Since its launch in 2008, the symposium has established itself as a key forum for discussion on education-related issues within the European music sector. Since 2016, she has also been a member of the executive board of the LAG (State Association for Children’s and Youth Culture).

Lea Jakob is a research associate and doctoral candidate at the Institute of Management & Organization at Leuphana University and a lecturer in cultural management at Heilbronn University of Applied Sciences. Since 2023, she has coordinated the transdisciplinary teaching project “Leuphana Concert Lab” and works freelance as a cultural manager, collaborating, among others, with the Havana Lyceum Orchestra and the treppenhausorchester. Previously, she held various positions at institutions such as the Elbphilharmonie & Laeiszhalle, TONALi, and Heidelberger Frühling, and from 2015 to 2022 she directed the Cuban-European Youth Academy. Her research focuses, among other topics, on audience perspectives on “unconventional” classical concerts and on the resilience of musical communities in contexts of crisis.

Andrea Hoever is a versatile arts manager and artistic personality who brings people of all ages together through art and music. In her projects, she fosters individual talents and creative ideas, collaborating with teams to develop innovative, cross-disciplinary formats for diverse audiences. For her concept of the Tiny Music House, realized in collaboration with the Dortmund Philharmonic, the orchestra received the German Orchestra Foundation’s Innovation Award in 2021.

She is currently working with the Bodensee Philharmonic as a music educator and leads the project Zukunftsmusik (Music of the Future). In addition, she conceives and moderates concert formats for all age groups and has collaborated with renowned ensembles such as the German Radio Philharmonic and Ensemble Reflektor, including projects at the Elbphilharmonie.

Güneş Oba Hennecke is an artistic citizen, concert pianist, improviser, elementary music educator, and piano teacher. She completed degree programs in piano, instrumental pedagogy, and elementary music education at the Hochschule für Musik Saar and is currently further refining her profile in a master’s program in piano improvisation.

In her work, she combines music theater, performance, and collective improvisation with social issues in the spirit of artistic citizenship. As the founder and artistic director of the Kim Collective, she develops interdisciplinary music theater projects for young people and was a finalist in the university competition for music pedagogy. She is a scholarship holder of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and understands music as a living artistic process in which individual voices come together to form a shared sonic space.

Johannes Mnich is the founding artistic director of the TauberPhilharmonie and, since 2026, managing artistic director of Bachwoche Ansbach. He studied piano in Hanover and London and worked in cultural management at BASF as well as as a project manager for Heidelberger Frühling. With the TauberPhilharmonie, which opened in 2019 in Weikersheim (near Würzburg), he is responsible for an exceptionally unexpected concert hall in a rural setting, where curated artistic experiences—from recitals to symphony orchestras, from jazz to children’s musicals—are made accessible to a broad audience.

Johanna Zill studied elementary music education in Hanover and cultural mediation in Hildesheim. Since 2024, she has been heading the Audience Academy at TONALi, where she develops participatory formats at the intersection of cultural management, music, and society.

In her work, she designs projects, trains young people and emerging professional musicians for artistic collaboration, and supports participatory processes in their practical implementation. Innovative approaches to cultural mediation and the development of participation-oriented cultural formats are at the heart of her practice.

Diana Huth is a psychologist (M.Sc.), certified stress trainer, and Qigong/Taiji instructor. She has been working for more than 20 years as a moderator at conferences, panels, and educational events. Her work is located at the intersection of resilience, learning culture, and societal transformation.

With her new project ACTivate Life, she combines modern psychology with practical strategies for sustainable performance and mental health.

At TAoME 2026, she will guide participants through the second day of the event – with a clear focus on resilience as a key future skill.

Dr. Juliane Ludwig heads the department “BRSO und du” at the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (BRSO; Chief Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle). Her projects have received multiple awards. From 2010 to 2018, she served as Education and Outreach Officer at the BRSO, having previously managed the music festival Klang & Raum in Irsee (Allgäu).

She studied Cultural Management and Musicology at the universities of Passau, Granada, and London, where she also completed her doctorate. She has taught at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich and at the Detmold University of Music, and currently serves as a lecturer in music education and outreach at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt.

Christian Fischer has been Rector of Trossingen University of Music since 2019. Since 2023, he has also served as Chair of the Rectors’ Conference of the German Universities of Music (RKM) and is deeply engaged with higher education and cultural policy issues.

He previously taught choral conducting, among other institutions at the Leipzig University of Music, and as a cultural manager has initiated and directed several festivals and conferences. One of his artistic focal points is interdisciplinary and innovative concert formats.

Ottilia Dorner is a music educator and classical singer based in Budapest, Hungary. She works at House of Music Hungary at the Music Outreach Department where she’s involved in music education activities and family programmes, and besides she’s the professional leader for HoMH’s travelling education programme called “The Song is Ours!”. She has a strong background in music education for diverse groups, disadvantaged pupils and equal opportunities music programmes. She studied at the Liszt Ferenc Academy and Trinity College Dublin. She’s actively involved with the capital’s several cultural institutions, including Müpa Budapest (Palace of Arts) and the Hungarian Radio Choir.

Hannah Baumann is a musician, dramaturge/director, and Senior Artist for concert design at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. In 2025, she was a Fellow of the Beethovenfest Bonn and is currently a scholarship holder at the Akademie Musiktheater heute. As a co-founder of the collective godot komplex, she has created productions for a wide range of institutions, including the Vienna Konzerthaus and the Mozartfest Würzburg.

Floortje Smehuijzen (1977) is Head of Artistic Affairs and Education at the Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ and Head of Education at the BIMHUIS in Amsterdam. With a background in Music and Theatre Studies, she works at the intersection of artistic programming, education and audience engagement.

As both cultural producer and jazz saxophonist, Floortje is driven by the belief that making music together creates space for dialogue, imagination and connection. Her work focuses on developing innovative formats that position concert halls as places of encounter, co-creation and meaningful exchange — especially for young people.

Ms Heroldová is a native Californian who has worked in the field of music education for more than 30 years, first with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and more recently with the San Francisco Symphony. In 2023, she completed a Master’s degree in social work, focused on working with children and families who are differently abled. She holds secondary degrees in dance and ethnomusicology from UCLA. 

Sophie Löschenbrand studied music education and instrumental pedagogy at the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, as well as English studies and linguistics at the University of Vienna and the University of Toronto. In addition, she completed the university program “Music Mediation – Music in Context” at the Anton Bruckner Private University in Linz.

After several years working as a project manager for youth orchestra camps and as a staff member in the Young Audience department at Jeunesse Austria, she joined the Wiener Konzerthaus in 2021. There, she is responsible for programming concerts and workshops for young audiences and for designing and implementing mediation projects in cooperation with various institutions in Vienna.

Mira Possert has been working in music education at the Wiener Konzerthaus since 2018. During her school years, she attended the gifted program for violin at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz and later studied musicology at the University of Vienna. Her professional journey took her from the Wiener Taschenoper through ORF III and the Berlin radio station multicult.fm to the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, where she worked in music theater education. At the Wiener Konzerthaus, she is responsible for organizing concerts and events in the Pop & Alternative sector as well as inclusive formats.

Nazfar Hadji studied instrumental pedagogy with a major in piano, as well as music research and music education, in Hanover. She is currently a research associate in music pedagogy at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media. Her areas of focus include music education research using ethnographic methods, diversity-sensitive music education, and transcultural artistic music education practice.

Nicola Pacha Vock is an orchestral musician and business administrator. As a double bassist, she is a member of the Bridges Chamber Orchestra and has headed its Education and Community departments since 2024.

Kian Jazdi is a musician and project developer based in Hamburg. He brings together professional and non-professional artists in interdisciplinary projects. Together with Julian Prégardien and Catherine Pisaroni, he co-founded the Liedstadt Festival, where he serves as artistic co-director and managing director. He works as a composer, curator, and lecturer (among others at mdw and HfMT Hamburg) and is active on juries and advisory boards.

Avri Levitan, internationally acclaimed violist and co-founder of Musethica, studied in Tel Aviv and at the Conservatoire de Paris. A sought-after soloist, chamber musician, and educator, he launched Musethica in 2012 – an international programme tailored to integrate intensive concert practice into higher music education. Musethica has a strong and direct social impact, providing society with live concerts of highest quality.

Martina Elmer works internationally as a cultural manager and curator in concert and music theatre. She heads Artistic Planning at the Budapest Festival Orchestra, realizes projects with Ensemble Resonanz and Cantando Admont, and serves as a guest lecturer at Paris Lodron University of Salzburg and the Anton Bruckner University. At the Salzburg Festival, she initiated and co-curated the youth programme jung&jeder*.

Joss Reinicke is a conductor and university lecturer. For the past two years, he has been a member and artistic co-director of the asambura ensemble, working closely with musicians from diverse cultural backgrounds. He is the founder of several ensembles, including polyLens vokal and EnsembleOhm. Alongside his conducting work, he holds teaching appointments at the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK Berlin), the University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar, the universities of music in Freiburg and Karlsruhe, and the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts (HfMDK Frankfurt), teaching conducting, music theory, music education, and musicology.

Axel Petri-Preis is Professor of Music Mediation and Community Music at the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. His particular interests include the tertiary education and continuing professional development of musicians, curriculum and higher education development, discrimination-sensitive music mediation, and ethical–aesthetic questions of socially engaged musical practices. He is Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Music Mediation and most recently co-edited the book Turning Social. The Social-Transformative Potential of Music Mediation (2025, mdwpress).

Martin Schlögl is a community artist, curator, and music educator. He initiated community music projects such as Käfigkonzerte and Grätzl Töne and has worked as a music curator and venue manager, including for the Kultursommer Wien. As a community music facilitator, he has collaborated with the Fonds Soziales Wien and Integration Wien. He partners with institutions such as the Vienna Symphony Orchestra as well as with NGOs and local cultural initiatives. Schlögl is Senior Artist for Community Engagement at mdw (Department: Music in Dialogue) and a board member of the IG Musikvermittlung Österreich.

Viktória Várkonyi combines her musical practice as a violinist and music educator with research. She is a university assistant for Music Mediation and Community Music at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and is completing a PhD on “Stage Presence as Embodied Music Mediation”. Her artistic and pedagogical work spans from classical repertoire to innovative concert formats. In 2024/25, she served as Instrumental Ambassador for the Benedetti Foundation.

Dr. Caroline Prassel is Co-Director of the Frankfurt Music Academy Dr. Hoch’s Conservatory. A PhD in theatre and film studies and trained cultural manager, she initially worked as an editor, copywriter, and project manager for various agencies, newspapers, and publishers before taking over the press and public relations management of the Dr. Hoch’s Conservatory Foundation. Appointed to the directorate in 2018, she now oversees training management, teaches in the area of administrative skills, and is responsible, among other things, for the institute’s music mediation and concert education projects and collaborations.