Overview | Academics | Cost | Location | Life Abroad | Student Voices
The IES Abroad Vienna Music Program is specially designed for Music students and offers a wide-ranging and academically rigorous Music curriculum coupled with unique components such as the Music Performance Workshop. Area studies courses in a variety of disciplines are also available in conjunction with the European Society & Culture program. Previous German language experience is not required to participate.
Curriculum Highlights
Participate in English- and German-taught IES Abroad courses in the following areas:
Music History
Music Theory
Performance Studies
Area Studies and Language
Participate in the Music Performance Workshop, a unique program feature that offers instrumentalists and vocalists the opportunity to expand their repertoire and enhance their performance skills.
Benefit from one-on-one music instruction.
Enroll in the Universitat fur Musik und darstellende Kunst (University of Music and Performing Arts), which offers lectures and seminars in Music History, Theory, and Composition, or the Universitat Wien (University of Vienna), which offers a wide variety of courses in the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences. Advanced proficiency in German is required
Other Exciting Program Aspects
Internships & Field Experience in Music Research, Business, Education, Public Service, and Arts and Culture
Housing in private apartments, apartments shared with local residents, or residence halls with Austrian and international students
Field trips to Budapest, Krakow, and Prague in the fall; to Dresden, Leipzig, and Budapest in the spring; and to to Styria, Wachau, and a ski resort in the Austrian Alps in both semesters
Language partners that help you practice speaking German
Located in the heart of Europe, Vienna is a city of almost 2 million inhabitants that, since its founding in the 3rd century, has served as a bridge between a myriad of cultures. Situated on the Danube River not far from the Alps, Vienna is the capital of Austria, an EU member state that enjoys advantages as a crossroads between East and West, North and South. It hosts a wide variety of international organizations and, with its historical role in music and the arts, offers cultural opportunities that are second to none. Its concert and opera performances, art galleries, museums, and parks are just some of the reasons why, in 2010, Vienna was rated the city with the highest quality of life in the world!
Getting to Your Program
You are responsible for arranging round-trip transportation to the program site.
Visa
Once you are admitted, IES Abroad will inform you if you need a visa and will provide a packet of information detailing the visa process. Since visa requirements and timelines vary by country, you should not make any travel plans prior to your program until you have reviewed all instructions. Ultimately, applying for a visa is your responsibility. Please note: You must have a passport, valid for at least six months beyond the end date of the IES Abroad program, before you can apply for a visa.
Orientation
You will participate in an additional orientation in Vienna.
Housing
Private Apartments - Located throughout Vienna, private apartments house two or more IES Abroad students and are furnished. You have full access to kitchen facilities for preparing your own meals.
Housing with Viennese Residents - Also located throughout Vienna, these apartments are shared by two or more IES Abroad students and an Austrian landlady or landlord. All shared apartments are furnished. You have full access to kitchen facilities for preparing your own meals.
Residence Halls - Offering you the opportunity to live among Austrian and international students, residence halls feature double rooms with a shared bath. Double rooms are occupied by two IES Abroad students. There is a kitchen on each floor of the residence hall, which is shared by all students on that floor. You have full access to these kitchen facilities for preparing meals.
The commute from IES Abroad-assigned housing to the IES Abroad Center varies from a short walk to a 45-minute ride using public transportation. Vienna has an excellent public transportation system which facilitates the daily commute to and from the Center.
Excursions and Activities
Extended Field Trips In the fall, an optional three-city tour of Krakow, Budapest, and Prague provides an introduction to the history and culture of Central Europe in relation to Austria and Vienna. In the spring, an optional trip to Berlin, Dresden, and Weimar provides insight into the important role that Germany plays in the New Europe. A week-long adventure trip to Poland is also offered in the Spring.
Additional Field TripsIES Abroad arranges a number of shorter optional trips each semester. Past highlights include a ski trip to the Austrian Alps and a Wachau trip that visits the spectacular region of the Danube valley, where castles are perched high above the river and some of Austria?s best wines are cultivated.
Optional field trips are partially subsidized by IES Abroad and the number of participants is limited. The fee includes transportation, accommodations, tours, and most meals and entrance fees.
Cultural Events and ActivitiesArranged for the general student body and for individual courses, past events include tours to the United Nations, the Freud Museum, ? Jewish Vienna,? ?The Third Man? tour of Vienna?s sewers, as well as visits to folk dance performances, concerts, theater performances, and opera.
Insurance
You will be enrolled in the UW System required health insurance through Cultural Insurance Services International (CISI. IES also provides comprehensive accident and illness insurance to you as well. The cost of the insurance coverage is included in program fees.
On-Site Support
The IES Vienna Study Center director and staff assist students on the program.
Handbooks
Use the links below to find out more information on academics, daily life and student impressions for this program.
IES Summer 2013 (Summer - 2012-13)
Returned Student Network
Click
here to see testimonials from students abroad or to contact a returned student.
Student Testimonials
Vienna is the Mecca of classical music. The city animated people from my text books and made them accessible human beings. I saw their homes, studios and lived on their streets. I took lessons and received instruction from incredible musicians who treated us not only as their students, but trained us as future colleagues.
