"With our sponsorship contribution, we want to promote new, innovative projects and be an active partner.It is not about maintaining the status quo, but definitely about driving new elements in the artistic realm,” says Konstantin Klien about UNIQA’s engagement with the traditional Salzburg festival.Festspiele President Helga Rabl-Stadler agrees that UNIQA makes possible projects “that could not be realized with the ongoing budget.”This year, for instance, UNIQA is supporting the Mozart opera La Clemenza di Tito with Michael Schade in the leading role.“The sponsor must match the sponsored,” states UNIQA General Director Klien, emphasizing the ideal relationship of UNIQA to the Festspiele.Both companies stand for maximum quality and compliment each other perfectly.As such, the engagement of UNIQA is also not limited simply to financial injections, but represents a sponsoring partnership with the Festspiele at the highest level.

Offensive for Art and Business
The shared commitment of both companies to art and culture and the similarities in their Eastern European strategies led to the creation of the “Offensive for Art and Business” in the previous year as a meaningful combination of business development and promotion of the arts. An initial step was taken in this direction already in March 2002 in Warsaw, where the Salzburger Festspiele hosted a cultural evening together with UNIQA.A joint project in Prague will follow in December 2003, one in Budapest in the first half of 2004, followed by an event in Italy to build bridges for people interested in culture and to interest them in the Salzburger Festspiele.The fact that the actors of various productions include numerous performers from Central and Eastern European countries should also be conveyed to the people of these countries, thereby awakening increased interest.“We have a clear orientation toward the core markets of Central and Eastern Europe, and these are also future markets for the Salzburger Festspiele,” says Klien.“We make use of our experience and our contacts in these countries to work with the Festspiele to bring to life a Central European cultural identity without any nostalgia for the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.”

Practical College for Young Journalists
Another example of a thriving Central Europe is the “UNIQA College for Journalists”, which is being repeated this year within the framework of the Festspiele due to its success in the previous year.From about 150 applicants from Poland, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia and Austria, twenty young journalists were selected by a jury. From August 2nd to 9th, 2003, the participants with a maximum age of 29 will be offered top-flight expert discussions, theoretical journalism lectures and practice-oriented work with renowned professors and media professionals such as Dr. Anton Mayer, Cultural Director of ORF, and Dr. Christoph Hirschmann, Editor-in-Chief of “Format” and “Bühne”. Prof. Dr. Adolf Haslinger, Rektor a.D. of the University of Salzburg, together with the SMBS (Salzburg Management Business School) guarantees the required theoretical framework for the project and is available to the organizational team as an academic consultant.

In addition to the topic of cultural journalism, this year’s program will delve into the economic aspects of a cultural enterprise with lectures on budgeting, sponsoring and indirect profitability.

“UNIQA is applying itself fully as an active partner for the sharing of art and culture,” says Festspiele President Dr. Helga Rabl-Stadler. “We are very pleased with such an innovative commitment.With the practical college initiated by UNIQA, young talents are offered something unique and unforgettable – the grand cultural experience of the Salzburger Festspiele is made accessible to them.”Views into press operations and access to the archives of the Salzburger Festspiele not available to the public, contacts with national and international stars and prominent figures, exclusive access to side stages and behind the curtains – the dimensions of a major cultural enterprise become palpable and are experienced first hand.

Additional information is available at http://www.uniqagroup.com.