Legendary Rector of Graz University of Art, Otto Kolleritsch, Dies at 89

The longtime rector of the Graz University of Art, Otto Kolleritsch, is dead. The legendary rector of Graz headed the Graz University of Art from 1979 to 2007 – with a four-year break. Kolleritsch died in Graz on Friday evening (April 21) at the age of 89, the Graz University of Art announced on Monday. “He shaped the house and its development like no other,” said the first reaction of his decades-long workplace.

On March 17, 2024, the longtime rector would have celebrated his 90th birthday. He was born in 1934 in Brunnsee in southern Styria. His older brother was the Austrian writer Alfred Kolleritsch. After studying piano and music theory as well as studying philosophy and musicology, Otto Kolleritsch wrote his dissertation on Thomas Mann and music at the University of Graz.

From 1970 he headed the Institute for Valuation Research and Critical Music Aesthetics at the Graz University of Music, where he retired in 2002. Since 1979 he has held the position of Rector of the University of Music and Performing Arts – with an interruption as Vice Rector – in the sixth period. During this time, the university was elevated to the status of university and new buildings and renovations (Brandhofgasse, Theater im Palais) up to the MUMUTH, the practice and event building for orchestra, choir and ensemble productions, for the realization of which Kolleritsch worked for decades. As chairman of the art college committee of the Austrian Rectors’ Conference and one of the vice-presidents of the all-Austrian Rectors’ Conference, Kolleritsch was involved in the development of the organizational and study laws for the Graz University of Art.

Always new goals

“Don’t take any conviction as the ultimate one, but always make new attempts to achieve your goals,” was how he formulated his life motto to the APA while he was still in office. The rector, who taught valuation research and critical music aesthetics until his retirement in 2002, also attached great importance to the development of international relations.

In 1999, Kolleritsch was appointed “Dr. hc” by the Romanian Academy of Music in Klausenburg (Cluj) for his services in musicology and university art education in the sense of the Critical Aesthetics he represents. His achievements were also recognized with the Grand Decoration of Honor in Gold for services to the Republic of Austria (2004), the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art (2005), the Josef Krainer Prize and the Grand Decoration of Honor in Gold of the Province of Styria with the star.

Kolleritsch leaves behind his wife, a daughter and three grandchildren.