Mag. ^A art. Ulrike Sych is a Singer and vocal pedagogue Mag.a art. Ulrike Sych has served as rector of the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna since October 2015.

Ulrike Sych studied music education with majors in voice and piano at Salzburg’s Mozarteum University, after which she continued her own vocal training in New York and Italy. She began working at the mdw as a teacher in 1990. In 2007, she broadened her university-level activities by accepting an invitation to also teach at the Anton Bruckner Private University, where she headed the Institute for Voice and Music Theatre until her appointment as mdw vice rector in 2011.

Since the very beginning of her professional career, countering discrimination and ensuring equal opportunities have been among Ulrike Sych’s central concerns: she has headed both the mdw’s Working Group on Equal Opportunities and the Bruckner University’s Non-Discrimination Commission as well as been a member and/or chair of various other university representative bodies and commissions.

Alongside her university obligations, Ulrike Sych has continued to perform in concert internationally. At the mdw, she was elected Vice Rector of Academic Affairs and the Advancement of Women by the University Board in 2011, and 2014 saw her transfer to the area of Central Resources while also being appointed as the rector’s deputy.

Her work today as mdw rector is founded upon the linkage of art, research, and teaching, the ideals of participation and transparency, and a style of communication that strives to be both open and esteeming along with the non-negotiable principle of upholding human dignity and human rights.