Dr. Ulrike Anton is the new director of the Arnold Schönberg Center as of March 1, 2023. She impressed with her successful career as an artist, scholar, and manager.
Ulrike Anton received her musical education and academic training in France, the United Kingdom, and Austria. Until February 2023, she was deputy chair of the Exilarte Center at the mdw - University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, a position in which she drew on her artistic and scholarly expertise to develop international projects and developed extraordinary skills in fundraising.
An internationally recognized flutist, Ulrike is one of the leading performers of music by composers who died in the Holocaust, were banned by the Nazis, or forced into exile. Her expertise in music of the 20th century has led to numerous invited talks and papers given at international conferences.
Nuria Schönberg-Nono, Arnold Schönberg’s daughter and president of the Arnold Schönberg Center Privatstiftung, has sent her congratulations and commented on Anton’s appointment: “in 2024, we will celebrate the 150th birthday of Arnold Schönberg, my father. With Dr. Ulrike Anton we found the ideal candidate to provide international impulses for this jubilee year, aiming at a lasting impact.”
Veronica Kaup-Hasler, Vienna’s City Councilor for Culture and Science, has emphasized the relevance of the center for Vienna and for research on Schoenberg: “The Arnold Schönberg Center does valuable work to preserve, sustain, and administrate Schönberg’s nachlass. I am delighted to know this important task will remain in good hands.” The City of Vienna as founder supports the Arnold Schönberg Center with an annual endowment (1.3 million Euros in 2023).
Ulrike Anton elaborates on her relationship to Schönberg with these words: “As a musician I’ve always been fascinated with the enormous expressive content of Arnold Schönberg’s music. A person who kindled this fascination was Richard Hoffmann, Schönberg’s last assistant in Los Angeles, whose seminars provided me with much insight into Schönberg’s music. It became clear to me that Schönberg’s method should never be seen as an end in itself but always as an expressive means. With regard to the presentation of the composer’s biography and oeuvre, the Arnold Schönberg Center is in an excellent shape.“