February 12, 2026, 12:00 | Online
CAS SEE Seminar — Creative Ecologies and Sonic Futures — in the framework of the RECAS Fellowship Program
March 2, 2026, 15:00 | Online (closed event)
Applied Research Workshop in the framework of the Joint Master in European Cultural Governance, CIFE – European Institute
May 26, 2026, 19:00 | Bucharest, RO – ARCUB Gabroveni Hall
A Clockwork Duo (2023) for violin and violoncello performed by ATEM Ensemble in the framework of ISCM World New Music Days 2026
September 23–25, 2026 | Nice, France
ENCATC Congress 2026
Presentation: Creative Ecosystems and Cultural Labour: Youth-Led Practices, Sustainability and New Policy Imaginaries
Aleksandra Bajde, PhD, is a cultural manager, researcher, and cultural strategist based in Vienna. Her expertise lies at the intersection of international cultural relations, cultural policy, and culture’s role in sustainable development. With an interdisciplinary background spanning political science, European studies, and music, she combines academic research with more than a decade of professional experience across international cultural organisations, higher education, and European cooperation initiatives. She is particularly interested in advancing interdisciplinary partnerships that connect cultural practice, research, and policy to foster social and ecological innovation and sustainable transformation.
She completed her PhD in Political Science at the University of Vienna. Her doctoral research, The Europeanization of Cultural Diplomacy of Small EU Member States: Comparing Austria and Slovenia, examined how European integration shapes national approaches to international cultural relations and cultural diplomacy.
Aleksandra is Co-Founder and Managing Director of the Culture and Sustainability Lab, an interdisciplinary non-profit organisation dedicated to advancing the role of culture in sustainable development. Through the Lab, she develops and leads international partnerships and cross-sector collaborations that foster innovation and sustainable transformation.
She regularly presents at international conferences, contributes to policy dialogue, and has taught sustainability-oriented project management at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw). Her international engagement has included the European Music Council Fellowship Programme, the Global Cultural Relations Programme, the Centre of Excellence in International Cultural Relations, Cultural and Public Diplomacy (CREDO) at the University of Siena, and the RECAS Fellowship.
Her experience as a cultural manager, composer, and performer complements her academic and policy expertise, bringing a practice-based perspective to her work in international cultural relations, cultural governance, and sustainable development.
2025–2026 | RECAS Fellowship
Awarded the RECAS (Regional Network of Centers for Advanced Studies in Southeast Europe) Fellowship for the research project Cultural Futures in Motion: Youth Agency and Ecological Imaginaries in Southeast Europe.
2024 | Centre of Excellence in Cultural Relations and Diplomacy (CREDO), University of Siena
Selected to participate in the Co-Creational Jam Session on Cultural Relations and Sustainability, contributing to the policy brief and presentation Enduring Efforts and Sustainable Effects in Cultural Projects.
2021 | Global Cultural Relations Programme
Selected for the EU-funded Global Cultural Relations Programme. As part of the programme, she initiated and led the international project Culture and the SDGs: Enhancing Creative Cross-Sectoral Collaborations, connecting artists, researchers, and cultural professionals around sustainability and international cultural relations.
2020–2022 | European Music Council Fellowship Programme
Selected for the European Music Council Fellowship Programme, where she developed the workshop Creating New Synergies Between Artistic Fields, EU Cultural Policy, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals under the mentorship of Victoria Liedbergius, President of the European Music Council.
Aleksandra Bajde’s artistic work explores the intersections of contemporary music, performance, improvisation, and participatory artistic formats. Combining composed and improvised music, electronics, performance, and audience participation, she creates immersive artistic experiences that blur the boundaries between performer and audience. Her recent work increasingly engages with collective listening, sustainability, and social transformation.
Her music has been performed throughout Europe, including in Austria, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, the Netherlands, and Romania, at venues and festivals such as Wien Modern, Musiktheatertage Wien, Brucknerhaus Linz, Porgy & Bess, mumok, Alte Schmiede, November Music, Operadagen Rotterdam, Cologne Opera, the Slovenian Philharmonic, and Cankarjev dom.
Her work has received numerous distinctions, including the Austrian Federal Ministry’s Start Scholarship for Music and Performing Arts (2019), the Theodor Körner Förderpreis (2020), and the State Scholarship for Composition (2022 and 2025). She was selected as a SHAPE+ artist (2022), completed a composer residency at .abeceda – Institute for Research in Art, Critical Thinking and Philosophy (2024), and her composition A Clockwork Duo (2023) was selected for the ISCM World New Music Days 2026 in Romania. Her artistic work is supported by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport, the City of Vienna, and SKE.
From tradition of Ipavec family into the world (in Slovenian) – a series of conversations with Slovenian composers of the younger generation – with the guest Aleksandra Bajde and the moderator prof. Gregor Deleja
On cultural diplomacy and contemporary music. Talk with Darja Korenčan Korez on the Radio-Television Slovenia 1 (in Slovenian) Profil: Aleksandra Bajde
Večer (in Slovenian): Aleksandra Bajde: Dunaj in Avstrija cenita umetnost
Donne 365 (in English): Meet the ComposHER: Aleksandra Bajde
mica – music austria (in German): „[Meine] Musik ist eng mit meiner Persönlichkeit verknüpft“
mica – music austria (in German): STRUKTURIERT-EXPERIMENTELLE IMPROVISATIONEN – ALEKSANDRA BAJDE UND ISABELLA FORCINITI IM PORTRÄT
a multimedia piece for ensemble, electronics, smartphones, video projection, light, performance elements, and audience participation
For further information please click here.
a multimedia performance in collaboration with Isabella Forciniti (electronics) and Uršula Berlot (visuals)
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A Room (2023)
a piece for harp, harpsichord, recorder, flute, 4 lamps, and electronics
For more information please click here.
The Animal Within (2022)
an interactive performance for voice, sound objects, electronics, modular synthesizers, performance, and audience participation in collaboration with Isabella Forciniti (composition, electronics) & Brigitte Wilfing (performance, choreography)
For more information please click here.
das ist ein missverständnis (2022)
for voice, grand piano, sound objects, electronics and performance
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Self-Portraits in Imaginary Places (2021)
a scenic musical work for a female singer/performer, ensemble, electronics, movement, video, and light, which was awarded with the Theodor Körner Förderpreis 2020
For more information please click here.