With this series, we bring together the experiences and perspectives of women and non-binary people in the music business. In 2025, we take a look behind the scenes and focus on the people beside the musicians. Regardless of quotas, so-called categories or classifications, it takes 100% of us to stand up for feminism to have the greatest impact.
What kind of support have you received in the course of your career? Where would you have liked (more) support?
Nadja Kayali: The most important support for me was my friends. I would have liked a female mentor. When I was starting out, women were unfortunately not that common in management positions. And there are enough reports about men in positions of power… However, in addition to some very negative experiences, I also had positive ones. At Ö1, for example, the producer of “Pasticcio” at the time, Alfred Solder, who was enthusiastic about my “radio voice”, encouraged me and really stood up for me. That’s how I got to ORF.
Institutionally, I only tried once to apply for a support program. That was the women’s promotion program at ORF. As a freelancer, I would have liked more insight into the company and its structures. But I was turned down and asked if I would like to be a mentor. I was very frustrated at the time, because you were obviously only promoted if you had difficulties or deficits and I was interested in developing myself further.
How and where did you gain experience in the music industry?
Nadja Kayali: I studied musicology, but first went to the spoken theater for several years (Burgtheater, Akademietheater, Volksbühne Berlin, Schauspielhaus Hamburg). Following that, the then Konzerthaus dramaturg Christoph Becher brought me into an opera production at Wien Modern and that gave my professional life a new direction. After that, I worked in the opera business for a few years (Lucerne Theater, Opéra du Rhin) before I became a freelance director and dramaturg and only did projects outside the mainstream. I was very happy to be able to work frequently at the Arnold Schönberg Center, for example. As part of my work in the music editorial department of Ö1, I then worked intensively on content for many years. This knowledge benefits me today as an artistic director, as does my involvement with other cultures, forms of literature and music.
“The biggest challenge was that I didn’t follow a straight path.”
What were your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
Nadja Kayali: The biggest challenge was that I didn’t follow a straight path. There were always snags and unforeseen turns. That’s why I didn’t progress continuously, but in waves. However, I never allowed myself to be discouraged by setbacks and was always ready to adapt to completely new situations. It was never “comfortable” and always risky. But at a certain moment, everything I had done and learned in my life suddenly made sense and qualified me for my dream job. And that’s what I have now.
Did you have role models around you that you could look up to? What role models do women in the music industry currently have?
Nadja Kayali: For me, Helga Rabl-Stadler was always someone I looked up to. I have followed her career very closely. She has had a rocky road behind her, which she has mastered above all through her intelligence, her discipline and her courage.
I have a very successful predecessor as artistic director of the Carinthian Summer: Gerda Fröhlich. She shaped the festival for 23 years, until 2003.
Today there are great women in all areas who can be role models. I’m thinking of female conductors, female professors, female rectors of music universities, but also female heads of publishing houses, etc. There are only too few female artistic directors!
“Today there are great women in all areas who can be role models.”
How can women and binary people support each other and promote solidarity in their professional environment? What can you pass on to the next generation?
Nadja Kayali: I have been teaching at the University of Vienna for ten years, at the institute where I once studied. I always try to support good female students there and open doors for them into professional life. I see that as the most important thing: you have to trust women to do something, even if they don’t yet trust themselves! It takes attention, trust and you also have to be able to give up something for the benefit of those you want to support.
What questions are you asked that a man would never be asked?
Nadja Kayali: I couldn’t say that I am asked any other questions. But I think that as a woman, you have to do everything with more emphasis and mindfulness, because you are still judged differently than a man.
Nadja Kayali is the managing director of the Carinthian Summer. The musicologist, presenter and journalist has also worked as a freelance director and dramaturg. She was was the artistic director of the Imago Dei festival until 2024.
Translated from the German original by Arianna Alfreds.