Oliver Vitouch will be the new rector of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw). The university council unanimously elected the Vienna native, the institution announced on Monday. Vitouch will succeed the long-serving rector Ulrike Sych on October 1, 2027. His term of office will initially last four years.

Oliver Vitouch

With Vitouch, the university has found "an exceptionally suitable personality" as rector, said Angelika Möser, chair of the mdw's university council. "His profound experience in the Austrian university system is beyond question. Furthermore, he particularly impressed us with his vision for the future development of the mdw and his outstanding understanding of art and music."

Vitouch (born in 1971) called it "a great privilege to be able to take over the management of such a renowned institution." He added that his predecessor would be "handing over a first-class institution.".

The university professor of general psychology served as chairman of the senate from 2006 to 2012 and as rector of the University of Klagenfurt from 2012 to 2024, as well as alternating as president and vice president of the Austrian Universities Conference (uniko) from 2016 to 2024. His studies in clarinet at the Vienna Conservatory, now the Music and Arts Private University of the City of Vienna (MUK), led him to music psychology at an early stage of his academic career, culminating in a relevant dissertation and habilitation at the University of Vienna.

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