The objectives and measures of the future city-wide cultural strategy were discussed with 180 participants from Bern's cultural scene at the 2nd Bern Cultural Forum. Based on the results of the forum, the formulated strategy will be submitted to the municipal council for approval in the fall.

According to the participants, the topics of temporary use and spaces, approvals and funding structures are of concern to them. Communication from the city the most. The discussion also revealed that the prominent place given to children's and youth culture in the catalog of measures was generally welcomed. Gaps were identified in the areas of amateur culture, building culture as well as dialog, cooperation and coordination. The participants also debated the self-image of Bern as a city of culture.

The revision of the legal basis essentially involves adapting the wording to current practice and a definitive regulation of the department's financial powers. The amended provisions will come into force on August 1, 2016. The department is also moving at the beginning of July - to the administrative building at Effingerstrasse 21.

For a long time, Johann Sebastian Bach was subject to what beer still is today: the German Purity Law. Stefan Müller (keyboard instruments) and Martin Pirktl (guitars) pay little attention to this. Neither do some composers who enriched Bach's works around 200 years ago. Ignaz Moscheles (1794-1870) left the fugues untouched, but added many a passage of his own to selected preludes of the Well-Tempered Clavier. Müller and Pirktl extend the dialogs of history by transferring Moscheles' pieces "provided with a concertante solo part" into the present. Both are historically informed interpreters and have given a great deal of thought to older moods as well as tempo issues.

Ignaz Moscheles' Bach pieces seem more like an absurd musical-historical scurrility, despite the unusual instruments - a Biedermeier guitar and a fortepiano from the early 19th century. Much more memorable are the Canonical changes from the Goldberg Variations in the careful arrangement by Josef Rheinberger (1839-1901). It is basically an orchestration, as Rheinberger essentially transferred the original variations to two pianos and only inserted chromatic fills or octave doublings in some places. Max Reger appreciated what Rheinberger described as a "reverent arrangement" and published Rheinberger's collection almost unchanged.

Even if some of the works seem strange, the CD always has a special tonal charm. The wondrously subtle tone of the old instruments, the pronounced sense of sound and the sovereignty of the clever interpreters make Bach - ganz leise a serious competitor to no less high-gloss productions, which incidentally are probably not entirely in Bach's spirit either.

The Yves Theiler Trio's debut album was released four years ago and was immediately voted Trio Album of the Year by the SRF2 culture editors. The 28-year-old pianist from Zurich says that he had actually wanted to double up earlier, but a change of personnel or instrument resulted in a delay. Instead of Valentin Dietrich's fretless electric bass, we now hear the double bass of Luca Sisera, with whom Theiler also plays in the band Roofer.

The sound of this instrument together with Sisera's fluid, melodic style lend the trio's rhythmically explosive yet crystal-clear, precise sound an almost sunny, new warmth. This much is already made clear in the first track of the second album co-produced by Radio SRF2 Dance In A Triangle clear. It is called For Bass and begins with an almost two-minute introduction, where a finely spun bass melody is driven forward by an insistent, single piano note and percussion, before Theiler introduces a powerful groove and a labyrinthine melody somewhere between Africa and Erik Satie.

The pianist has been working with percussionist Lukas Mantel for ten years. The resulting telepathic understanding allows the trio to illuminate the extremely subtle complexity of Theiler's compositions - most of which begin with an improvisation on the piano alone - with a rhythmic dynamic that provides strong emotional support for the breathtaking virtuosity on offer. With youthful playfulness, Theiler juggles with techniques and styles from all over the world, from Eritrea and Ahmad Jamal to post-rock. Nevertheless, you never get the feeling that you are dealing with a magpie, because each musician has their own voice and is not afraid to use it loud and clear. An album full of wit, energy and bold curves.

Yves Theiler Trio: Dance In A Triangle. Musiques suisses MGB Jazz 18

Parallel to the latest complete edition of Bach's organ works published by Breitkopf and Härtel (7 of 10 volumes published to date) and the updated editions of the New Bach Edition (NBA) by Bärenreiter, a further edition of the organ works of the Cantor of St. Thomas is being published in the USA. It is edited by George B. Stauffer, Professor of Musicology at Rutgers University and one of America's leading Bach scholars, as General Editor and Christoph Wolff as Consulting Editor. While the lack of a critical report (Peters) or its publication in separate volumes (NBA) was regrettable in the older editions, it is all the more pleasing that all these new editions now have comprehensive commentaries that provide players with valuable background information on the works and their context directly and make editorial decisions more transparent. Breitkopf also provides various Incerta on an enclosed CD-ROM.

The three present volumes from the USA - 15 are planned - are characterized by an extremely comprehensive and detailed preface (unfortunately only in English), which describes the history of the works' creation and their context according to the latest state of research; they also have numerous facsimile pages, some in colour, as well as a complete critical report in the epilogue, which precisely breaks down the current source situation and explains the most diverse readings.

Volume 1 includes the Eight Little Preludes and Fugues BWV 553-560, the Pedal Exercitium and the chorales of the Organ booklets Bach's "pedagogical" works. It is available in two different editions: 1A with a more historical-scholarly focus (e.g. with variants on some chorales), 1B as a practical edition with ornamentation tables, four-part chorale movements or "undecorated" presentation of the colored soprano melodies, which is probably becoming more and more necessary not only in America, but also in this country, as the chorales used are threatening to disappear from liturgical practice and the consciousness of players. In addition to the trio sonatas, volume 7 contains further trio movements (some of which are only available from Breitkopf on the accompanying CD-ROM) and a particularly detailed preface, while volume 8 contains the 3rd part of the Piano exercise.

The musical text itself is clear and concise, also with good turning points, although in the two slightly larger German editions it is somewhat "airier" and printed in larger print with a similar number of pages. A detailed comparison reveals various small differences to older editions, although these are largely the same in the three new editions (they are based on the same sources) or are at least explained in the commentaries if the editors have opted for different readings. The double cadence with mordent on the penultima of the E flat major fugue BWV 552, which is missing in older Bach editions and also notated for the left hand, and whose provenance Stauffer traces back directly to a handwritten corrected printed copy by Bach and which he was the first editor to take into account, can now also be found in the - later published - updated NBA version, for example, but is missing in Breitkopf. The difference in BWV 675 is interesting: Christoph Wolff notated it on three staves for the NBA (with 4' cantus firmus in the pedal), while Stauffer represents the manualiter reading. It will be interesting to see how the editors deal with works of unclear attribution in the subsequent volumes that have not yet been published, for example with regard to a number of individually transmitted chorale preludes, for which Stauffer seems to have planned no fewer than five volumes, which suggests that many of these Incerta are likely to be included in the print. Conclusion: The American Bach Complete Edition completes the panorama of the latest Bach editions with a convincing variant. And as new sources are constantly being discovered, the Bach chapter is probably far from closed!

Johann Sebastian Bach, The Complete Organ Works, ed. George B. Stauffer; Vol. 1 A/B: Pedagogical Works; Vol. 7: Six Trio Sonatas and Micellaneous; Vol. 8: Clavier-Übung III; Wayne Leupold Edition, USA, 48 $ (Vol. 1, 7), 58 $ (Vol. 8).

Comparative editions by Breitkopf & Härtel (Sämtliche Orgelwerke, EB 8801 ff.) and Bärenreiter (Neue Bach-Ausgabe, partly revised)

In the mid-1920s, big bands gradually developed from the formations of New Orleans jazz, which were able to captivate audiences with their powerful sound and whose rich sound facets continue to inspire to this day. For many drummers, then as now, big band drumming represents the supreme discipline of drumset playing. Protagonists such as Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich and Louie Bellson - to name but a few - have had a lasting influence on this genre.

The teaching aid Big Band Drumming by Stephan Genze aims to familiarize drummers with the theory and practice of working in a big band. In the theory section, the author explains the various components of a drum chart as well as the basic musical terms and common designations. The preparation and interpretation of a kick plays an important role in a drummer's routine. Genze explains how to approach this task in a special chapter using notated example fills. Incidentally, the author does not include a legend of drum notation. He rounds off the theory section with a short, illustrated big band history.

Six songs are available for the practical application of what has been learned: Medium Swing, Latin, Fast Swing, Swing Ballad, Shuffle Blues and Funk. Each drum chart is preceded by an introduction of no more than three pages. It contains the basic grooves and learning sequences for the individual song sections, which are also explained on the accompanying DVD. The drum charts only provide the essentials, leaving the player enough room for interpretation. The drum parts are no more than three pages long and are very easy to read. Only in the piece "Funkissimo" do numerous strung-together sixteenth notes with little flags between rests of the same name fall out of the otherwise neat framework.

The songs are originals by Stephan Genze, which he recorded in top quality with his jazz orchestra. They are available on the audio CD in a full version and as minus drums.

The practical course Big Band Drumming for beginners and intermediate level is suitable for self-study as well as for lessons. It was awarded the German Educational media prize "digita 2016" in the "Private study, over 16" category.

Stephan Genze, Bigband Drumming, A practical course with video tutorial for drummers, bandleaders and arrangers, booklet incl. DVD and audio CD, HI-S7151, Fr. 47.90, Helbling, Innsbruck/Esslingen/Bern 2015

Gabriel Fauré, one of the most famous French composers of the fin de siècle, mainly wrote vocal, piano and chamber music. And he was a master of the "mélodie française".
The Critical Urtext Edition, which is currently being published by Peters-Verlag, has set itself the goal of organizing the composer's songs as reliably as possible, taking cycles, collections and groupings into account and making coherent stylistic developments within the songs clear - which is obviously proving to be an editorial challenge due to the abundance and quality of the available sources.

The result is an edition that is appealing in every respect: a volume of Vocalises (2013, EP11385) has been published to date, which Fauré composed during his time as director of the Paris Conservatoire for his students as sight-singing exercises, but also as "basic voice training exercises for a flexible voice". 45 Vocalises were composed between 1906 and 1916. Although their practical purpose is evident, one can often sense the composer's pen in their melody and harmony, although in my opinion most of the pieces fall short of Fauré's elegant, confident and captivating song compositions.

Volume 1 of the Complete Songs, published in 2014, contains 34 early songs by Fauré. The collection includes compositions from 1861 to 1882 and contains some of the best-known songs such as Au bord de l'eau and Après un rêve. Volume 3 was published in 2015 with 17 songs based on texts by Verlaine; and volume 2 is planned for fall 2016. With reservations, there is already talk of a 4th volume in 2017.

Common to all volumes is a detailed preface (trilingual fr/dt/en) with information on sources and editorial procedures as well as notes on the edition and performance and details on the genesis of the individual works. The song texts are prefixed to the mélodies in French, English and German translation. The sheet music itself invites you to read, play and sing: It is easy to read and user-friendly, and a Critical Commentary, this time in English only, can be found at the end of the booklet.

All volumes are available for high and medium/low voice. Accompaniment tracks are also available online - a contemporary and very useful addition. My tip: a worthwhile purchase!

Gabriel Fauré, Complete Songs 1: 1861-1882. 34 songs for voice and piano, edited by Roy Howat and Emily Kilpatrick; high voice, EP 11391a ; medium voice, EP 11391b ; Fr. 33.30 each, Edition Peters, Leipzig et al. 2014

id., Sämtliche Lieder 3: Verlaine-Vertonungen; high voice, EP 11393a; middle voice, EP 11393b; Fr. 25.90 each, 2015

Max Reger's music is not easy to understand. It moves between times and aesthetic directions. Even a hundred years after his death, its status remains controversial. It is therefore all the more gratifying when an intimate connoisseur - also of the technical difficulties of playing the works - sets out to open up the special significance of the Reger phenomenon. The organist and theologian Hans-Peter Retzmann has A study of Reger's musical thinking in which he explores the essential characteristics of Reger's composing and his musical "attitude". In doing so, he draws on statements made by the composer himself, which have survived in a large number of letters, but above all on the (organ) works themselves. Based on Reger's own concept of "harmonic melody", Retzmann coins further vocabulary with which Reger's compositional processes and aesthetic objectives can be summarized: emancipated line, expressive fields, miniaturization, emotional inner connection, musical ciphering, mosaic cell technique, work delimitation. Further research will have to show whether these terms will hold their own in future discourse. The remarks on Reger's reception of Bach, on his alternative position in the debate between program and absolute music at the time, as well as on the fundamental openness of Reger's expressive, but not content-bound musical language are particularly illuminating.

In view of the complexity of the subject matter, there is a danger of not completely securing conceptual settings and of confusing the vocabulary once it has been acquired rather than stringently relating it to one another. Retzmann has not escaped this danger either, as important terms for him such as "disparate" (from p. 51), "parametric cell" (from p. 112), "transgressive behavior" and "valences" (from p. 294) as well as "integral transformation" (from p. 311) are not sufficiently substantiated or are not chosen with complete accuracy. Perhaps the author also wanted too much: his additional remarks on the reception of Reger's music, on Albert Schweitzer's reflections on organ stylistic questions and, finally, on the interpretation of the organ works go beyond the scope of his intention and obscure his central findings and postulates. What the book lacks is a critical proofreading that would have advised the author both in the arrangement of his thoughts and in the correction of linguistic deficiencies. Numerous printing, formatting and formulation errors give the impression that the impressive and thoroughly stimulating study ultimately remained a draft.

Hans-Peter Retzmann, Max Reger's Music. Eine Studie zu Regers Musikdenken, (=Quellen und Studien zur Musikgeschichte von der Antike bis in die Gegenwart, ed. by Michael von Albrecht and Eliott Antokoletz, vol. 44), 364 p., Fr. 76.00, Peter Lang, Bern et al. 2015

I spent 14 days with this heavy book and read it with great excitement. With its 2066 notes and a very useful index of 2400 names, it beats all previous history books on the violin. David Schoenbaum (born 1935 in Milwaukee, USA) has made a name for himself as a historian with the continuation of his Oxford dissertation The Brown Revolution: a social history of the Third ReichHe was a professor of history at the University of Iowa until 2008. The amateur violinist wrote this book for 20 years.

The chapters on the Violin making, read like a novel. One hears astonishing news about the origins of the violin (although China and India are not mentioned), the connection over the Alpine passes and the political influences. Truths and legends about the Amati, Stradivari and Guarneri families are unraveled. The rise and trade union background of Mirecourt, the long success story of Vuillaume, who was the first to flood the market with inexpensive "Stradivari" from his own workshop due to exploding demand, the history of German violin making from Stainer to the manufactories of Markneukirchen are described in detail, as are those of Japan and China. The development of the bow and its most famous maker are dealt with only briefly.

A 100-page section revolves around the Violin trade: interesting European historical backgrounds, the close connection between violin makers and dealers, the rise of the great trading empires Hill, Herrmann and the auction houses Christie's and Sotheby's with experts traveling around the world, the rapid price increases (formerly craftsmen's wages, later mansions served as a comparison), monographs on Bildupp, Fushi & Bein, Machold, also on the two dealers Felicity Foresight and Claire Givens, the incredible number of "Strads" and their unimaginable aberrations, crimes, inheritance squabbles, trials, including the "Stradi" Werro trial, which remained convoluted due to expert disputes, advances in the authentication of old instruments thanks to X-ray, pigment analysis and dendrochronology, which led to Wessel's question as to whether the auction houses would warm to something that "raises awareness of how many forgeries they had probably sold".

The 250 pages about the Violin playing begin with a list of many famous violinists - you'd be amazed! Originally, violin playing was passed down from father to son, just like other crafts. In the Italian ospedali, orphans learned to play music in order to earn a living at the many religious and secular festivals. Teaching developed from the secret teaching of virtuosos via the orphanages (= conservatories!) to the state and famous privately endowed institutes worldwide. The transition from outlawed minstrel to court employee to free, highly paid artist took a long time. We hear a lot of new things about Paganini, Viotti, Auer, Stern and many others. Competitions are also political! The confusing stories of the founding of orchestras are extremely exciting, including the astonishing successes of youth orchestras in underprivileged areas. Publishers and record companies craved great performers and vice versa!

There is not much to read about pedagogy, only about many successful university teachers. Group teaching began with Birkbeck in England in 1839. There are detailed reports on Shinichi Suzuki and Roberta Guaspari, but not a word about the equally great achievements of Paul Rolland and Sheila Nelson or about the influential ASTA and ESTA (American and European String Teachers Association). There are reports of many successful, difficult and tragic fates of artists; the completeness here justifies the term "Who's who". The late but now equal inclusion of women in orchestral and solo playing is an important chapter. The listings of the violin as an all-round instrument in all styles of music, in the visual arts, poetry, literature and film are extensive, but cannot be exhaustive (may I add: Jean Diwo, Les violons du roi; Jaume Cabré, The Silence of the Collector; Mechtild Borrmann, The Violinist). The book would be even more suitable as a reference work if there were more subtitles in the table of contents and in the individual sections.

David Schoenbaum The violin: a cultural history of the world's most versatile instrument, translated from the American by Angelika Legde, 730 p., Fr. 67.00, Bärenreiter Kassel & Metzler Stuttgart 2015, ISBN 978-3-476-02558-6

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious." This quote from Albert Einstein is Barbara Arens' motto for her book published in 2015 Piano Misterioso. In fact, her compositions give the player an inkling that another world is waiting for them behind the notes. Latin titles such as Gothicae ruin or Obscura luce take him to distant times and cultures and we look through the sounds, as it were, into our inner fantasy world, in which the past is still present and figures from legends and fairy tales exist in a very real way. - For all her poetry, however, the composer has managed to keep her feet firmly on the (pianistic) ground and not lose sight of her target audience. She deliberately tries to compose in a technically uncomplicated way, but still incorporates a wide variety of basic pianistic and musical figures into her pieces. The pieces are easy to grasp in terms of structure and are a welcome addition to the intermediate level literature.

Barbara Arens, Piano Misterioso, 28 magically easy pieces, EB 8883, € 15.90, Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden 2015

Hans-Jürg Sommer taught guitar as a professional music teacher for around forty years, but is also a renowned alphorn player, composer of over 500 works for alphorn - including the famous Moss-Ruef -He is also known as a conductor, course leader and music writer. In 2002, he was awarded the Golden Treble Clef for his musical merits and in 2006 the Music Prize of the Canton of Solothurn for his cultural achievements.

In 2010, Sommer published a 154-page documentary entitled An evaluation and interpretation of historical sources on alphorn melodies (self-published by Oensingen). His aim was to edit old pieces not from the perspective of an ethnomusicologist, but as a player in search of traditional melodies. He collected old notations of rows of carols from the travel literature of the 18th and 19th centuries, as already published in Alfred Leonz Gassmann's Alphornbüechli from 1938 and in other publications, but supplemented them with old sound recordings that have been available since the 1930s and have now been transcribed.

However, the author did not reach all of the 5000 or so alphorn players in Switzerland with this important collection, because many of them can only learn melodies by ear. This realization gave Hans-Jürg Sommer and one of his alphorn partners, Thomas Juchli, the idea of recording the Kühreihen melodies from this collection and setting them in carefully selected Swiss mountain landscapes. The music educator's aim was not simply to visualize the well-known connection between landscape, music and dairy farming in the film, but to present individual parts of six recurring cow rows from the 18th and early 19th centuries in their original function. Initially, the invocation motifs can be heard in ascending melodies. After these introductions, lure and row parts show that cows grazing on the Alps still follow them today in the traditional manner. The discussion about the meaning of the term "rows of cows" is concluded by this natural phenomenon: when the alphorn or other music is played, the cows line up one after the other in a long row. In further sequences, which Sommer calls caesuras, everyone recognizes quiet passages of music during which the alpine herdsman used to wait for the cows in front of the barn. After further lure and row sections, the rows of cows end with a repetition of the introduction and a whoop.

What seems easy to understand in an astonishingly simple commentary in either German, French or English, and is also beautifully presented, is the result of years of painstaking work to reach a general audience and, above all, schoolchildren.

Pierre-Alain Monot, can you tell us something about this farewell?

A circle closes. What begins at some point must also end at some point. And in art, it is best when this happens at its peak, in the midst of creative fever. The conditions for handing over the baton are favorable: last year, the NEC celebrated its twentieth anniversary, which I didn't want to miss. In the 2015/2016 season, we were then able to let this transition mature. The color scheme of the programs will change, that's normal. But all the elements are in place for the NEC to evolve naturally and continuously. Antoine Françoise, one of the ensemble's pianists, will be the new artistic director. There will no longer be a chief conductor.

How do you feel about taking this step?

Of course there is melancholy, melancholy, because I have longstanding friends here. I live in the canton of Zurich, so the local distance will make itself felt. But I'm not sad. I would be if I left the ensemble in a bad phase or with problems, but it's all going so well!

And what musical plans do you have now?

People often only see me as a conductor, but I am a musician. I will continue to work as a solo trumpeter at the Musikkollegium Winterthur, where I will also be able to select and conduct contemporary pieces - my specialty - from time to time. Also in Winterthur, I am the artistic director of a concert series with a multimedia, captivating focus. I will continue to appear as a guest conductor, for example with the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne in Montreal. And I will get back to composing, which I haven't had time to do so far.

Could you briefly outline your wide-ranging artistic career?

I wrote my first piece when I was twelve. And I've been composing ever since, completely self-taught. I regret that, because I miss the method a bit, but maybe it was the right thing to become a performer after all. As a trumpet player, I played in a brass quartet for a long time, the Quatuor Novus, with whom I made recordings between alto and modern. We were anachronistic in our search for difficult repertoire, but we found a style and a sound that was historicizing and made the music shine.
I came to conducting by chance. I would have liked it as a child, but I didn't have the opportunity - until I founded the Nouvel Ensemble Contemporain. The ensemble wanted to perform one of my works and suddenly they asked me if I would like to take over as conductor. I just started without asking myself too many questions and it became what I like to do best. What I like most of all is taking an idea and developing it together with others. I think that's great.

And why are you so dedicated to contemporary music?

The niches, the old and the modern, have always particularly interested me. Then I concentrated on the contemporary and this led to my collaboration with the NEC. Unfortunately, you always quickly wear a label and are then only asked to work in this area. I love the adventure of contemporary music. You can still set foot in unknown territory there. That's a rare privilege in today's world.

Are there any moments or works that have particularly touched you on this adventurous journey?

The feeling when you read the score of Boulez' Marteau sans maître on the podium before embarking on three quarters of an hour of incredible music that has to be performed with the utmost precision. And Maître Zacharius ou l'horloger qui avait perdu son âme by Leo Dick, a piece of music theater. We had an extraordinary production by the composer about the relationship between man and machine. It is also a rare stroke of luck when a contemporary piece becomes part of the repertoire, such as Gérard Grisey's Quatre chants pour franchir le seuilwhich has become a monument, or the Tower music by Heinz Holliger.
Generally speaking, one of the best moments is when the composer of a work sits at a concert and thanks the performers at the end for their faithfulness to the text. This means that the exchange that is the basis of our profession has come about, that the musicians, composer and I have all pulled together.

Once again about your farewell concert with the NEC. Did you have something special in mind, a special program?

The preparation was the same as for all concerts: you have to master the program perfectly, that's all. We hadn't chosen anything special, certainly nothing sentimental. It was just a normal concert for our extraordinary audience in La Chaux-de-Fonds. Parts by Hanspeter Kiburz, a great work that must be known, that remains in the audience's memory and that every ensemble should have performed at least once. And with Garden of earthly desire by Liza Lim, we have continued the line of Romitelli, which was on the program in January. They belong to the same generation. I've wanted to play something by Liza Lim for a long time.
I am very satisfied, because both works are extremely orchestral and written in such a way that they show the ensemble's skills in the best light.

According to the Bachhaus, the first part of the exhibition deals with Luther's hostility towards Jews and its after-effects in Lutheranism. Bach's interest in Jewish history and (anti-)Judaism and the recurring question of whether Bach's Passions are anti-Jewish are addressed.

A second part is dedicated to the Itzig and Mendelssohn families, as well as personalities such as Joseph Joachim, and the cultivation of Bach among the Jewish bourgeoisie of the 19th century and its significance for the Bach Renaissance. The exhibition also provides a supplement to the 2013 theme year of the Reformation Decade "Reformation and Tolerance".

Info:
"Luther, Bach - and the Jews": special exhibition from 24.06. - 06.11.2016. Bachhaus Eisenach, Frauenplan 21, 99817 Eisenach.
 

Born in Radebeul near Dresden in 1992, Hermes Helfricht is a scholarship holder of the Conductors' Forum of the German Music Council. He sang in the Dresden Kreuzchor for nine years and assisted Kreuzkantor Roderich Kreile as choir prefect from 2008 to 2010. He studied orchestral conducting with Lutz Köhler and Steven Sloane at the Berlin University of the Arts.

Hermes Helfricht has performed with numerous European orchestras and has a repertoire ranging from baroque to contemporary. In Switzerland, he appeared in a production of the Haldenstein Castle Opera (Bat) on the podium of the Kammerphilharmonie Graubünden. He made his debut at the Theater St. Gallen in February 2016 with "Eugen Onegin".

Hermes Helfricht has been assistant conductor of the Joven Orquesta Nacional de España since 2014. In 2015, he conducted the "Orchestra 1770" at the Rheinsberg Music Academy. In the 2015/2016 season, he was engaged as Kapellmeister at the Erfurt Theater.

Under the "Telemann 2017" brand, the cities want to raise public awareness of the musical cosmopolitan Georg Philipp Telemann with various event formats. The aim is also to build a bridge to the anniversary of the Reformation in 2017, as it was Telemann who reformed Protestant church music in the 18th century.

June 25, 2017 marks the 250th anniversary of Telemann's death. Telemann shaped the musical repertoire of the late Baroque and early Enlightenment. He knew how to adapt and blend the many different musical styles of his time and develop his own personal style from them. As a concert entrepreneur, he established a bourgeois musical life in Leipzig, Frankfurt am Main and Hamburg, the effects of which can still be felt today. He was also active as a publisher and ran his own publishing house.

More info: www.telemann2017.eu

The current work of musicians in all areas of music is eligible for the call for entries in the field of music. The contributions from this call for entries are used for publication and the associated costs for promotion and distribution. The total amount available is CHF 60,000.

The contributions from the call for proposals in the area of theater/dance totaling CHF 120,000 can be awarded to productions by professional theater and dance professionals that will be performed for the first time in 2017.

The deadline for submitting dossiers for participation in the selective funding is September 30, 2016. A four-member jury of experts will be appointed to assess the submitted works. The competition results and awarded contributions will be announced at the public handover ceremony for the work contributions on 11 November 2016 at the Braui cultural center in Hochdorf.

From 2017, the canton plans to issue calls for proposals every six months, at the end of January and the end of June. Production grants will be awarded in the music and theater dance categories, and work grants in the liberal and applied arts categories. The new funding instrument is based on the planning report on cultural funding in the canton of Lucerne adopted by the Cantonal Council in 2014.

More info: www.kultur.lu.ch