Steering Board

Elisabeth Gutjahr has been Rector of the Mozarteum University since 2018. After completing her studies in Rhythmics and Music Theory in Stuttgart and Cologne, at the age of 26 she was appointed to teach at the Trossingen University of Music in Baden-Württemberg, where she was Rector from 2006 to 2018. In the field of tension between score and performance, libretto, stage and interdisciplinary processes, she soon focused on text composition in the context of music. Besides organising competitions and festivals, she has worked in music dramaturgy, choreography and stage direction.

Eugen Banauch heads the department of Research Management at the Mozarteum University. He studied Literature and Cultural Science, graduating MA (University of Sussex) and gained his PhD at the Universities of Vienna and Ottawa. He has taught and lectured internationally, and managed (2011–2015, 2018) the PEEK programme (arts-based research) of the  FWF (Austrian Science Fund). Topics of publications include the Blues, Bob Dylan, and Canadian exile literature.

Pianist Andreas Groethuysen, born in Munich in 1956, first explored various academic fields  including philosophy and medicine, before finally deciding on music. He studied piano with Ludwig Hoffmann at the Munich Academy of Music, and after graduating, continued his studies with Peter Feuchtwanger in London. He was then accepted into the Federal Selection of Concerts for Young Artists, which brought him concerts – solo performances, chamber music and orchestral concerts – throughout the Federal Republic of Germany. After some years of solo performance, Groethuysen teamed up with Yaara Tal to form a piano duo which – now his main professional focus – has become one of the best-known internationally. He is head of the department of Keyboard Studies at the Mozarteum University, directs a class for solo piano and, together with Yaara Tal, a master class for piano duo.

Sophie Thammer has studied stage and costume design, film and exhibition architecture at the Mozarteum University since 2017. Previously, she undertook work experience in architecture, photography, film, theatre and music festivals including the Bayreuth Festival of Young Artists. In 2018 she had a scholarship from the Michelangelo Foundation for the international Homo Faber festival for artisans and designers in Venice. In recent years she has gained experience working in galleries, at cultural festivals and on film-sets.