In the past year 2019, cultural professionals have faced strong political challenges, explains Zimmermann, Managing Director of the Cultural Council, in a press release. For example, the colonialism debate on the handling of ethnological collections picked up speed, but was largely reserved for a narrow circle.

Zimmermann also complains that the state is increasingly trying to exert pressure on civil society by withdrawing non-profit status. According to the Cultural Council, limiting climate change "can only be achieved through profound cultural change".

Original article:
https://www.nmz.de/kiz/nachrichten/deutscher-kulturrat-kulturbetrieb-ist-politisch-stark-gefordert

Born in Geneva in 1971, Perroux worked as a music journalist for the Journal de Genève, the Gazette de Lausanne and Le Temps, as well as a lecturer, before working as a dramaturge for the Grand Théâtre de Genève between 2001 and 2009. He subsequently held the same position at the Aix-an-Provenca Festival. He was also director of the Opera de Poche de Genève between 2003 and 2011. He will take up the post in Alsace at the beginning of next year 2020.

The Opéra national du Rhin (OnR) is an inter-communal association and is jointly managed by three cities, each of which has its own artistic focus: the opera in Strasbourg, the ballet of the Opéra national du Rhin - Centre chorégraphique national since 1985 - in Mulhouse, the opera studio (training center for young singers) in Colmar

As far as the amount of the cantonal contribution is concerned, the counter-proposal fails to meet the expectations of the initiators, according to the Association of Zurich Music Schools. The canton should only cover 10 percent of the eligible costs of the music schools. However, the initiators concede that the 20 percent they are demanding could probably not be achieved even by means of a referendum.

The capping of parental contributions at 50 percent, i.e. well above the current average, is also dangerous. As a result, there is a risk that tuition fees will drift further apart from municipality to municipality and that soon there will no longer be any question of a uniform offer throughout the canton - at least as far as the financial burden on parents is concerned. This is where the Association of Zurich Music Schools comes in. Otherwise, the counter-proposal of the Cantonal Council largely corresponds to the concerns of the initiators.

Original article:
http://vzm.ch/willkommen.phtml

Empa researchers are also involved in the "The Sound of Brass" project at Bern University of the Arts, where they have analyzed the material and the sound of the historical originals - and have already compared the results with the first replicas. The project aims to show how replicas can be produced that can compete with the historical instruments - or even surpass them in terms of sound.

Egger, the project's industrial partner, specializes in historically informed instrument making and wants to recreate the special "German Romantic trombone", which was played in the 19th century, particularly in German-speaking countries and to some extent also in Italy. Brahms, Schumann and Rossini may have written their compositions for these trombones, which contemporaries described as having a "fabulously mellow and full tone".

Full original article:
https://www.empa.ch/web/s604/romantic-replicas-eq66

The German Stage Association was founded in 1846 and is based in Cologne. It represents the interests of its current 470 members, primarily from the theater and music theater scene. Its members also include public broadcasters and other institutions as associate members as well as artistic directors as personal members.

The Bühnenverein, which is divided into a federal association and eight state associations, aims to preserve, promote and cultivate the diversity of the theater and orchestra landscape. To this end, it is involved in an advisory capacity in federal and state legislative processes, deals with issues relating to the development of theatrical disciplines, but also with topics such as attracting audiences, financing and the public relations work of theaters and orchestras.

Together with the Cultural Foundation of the Federal States, the German Academy of Performing Arts and the respective federal state hosting the award ceremony, the German Stage Association also awards the German Theater Prize "Der Faust".

Arturo Corrales was born in El Salvador and studied guitar and composition there, in Geneva, Paris and Lugano. He is one of the co-founders of the Ensemble Vortex in Geneva, performs internationally and teaches at the CPMDT in Geneva.

David Rossel has been President of the Association of Choral Conductors of Northwestern Switzerland since 2017 and is co-founder and vice-conductor of the multiple international award-winning Männerstimmen Basel. In addition to Corrales and Rossel, Antoine Fachard and Javier Hagen (President) continue to serve on the current SGNM Board. In addition, Xenia Fünfschilling will take over the SGNM secretariat from 2020.

The SGNM is the Swiss section of the International Society for Contemporary Music (IGNM/ISCM). It was founded in 1922 by the Winterthur patron Werner Reinhart, the first Secretary General of the ISCM, as one of the first country sections of the ISCM. It is the interface to the ISCM and thus, among other things, to the ISCM World Music Days, which have been held in a different country every year since 1923. The SGNM has hosted the ISCM World Music Days six times to date: in 1926, 1929, 1957, 1970, 1991 and 2004. It is also significantly involved in the ISCM Collaborative Series, which was launched for the first time in 2019 and led to prominent performances of works by Beat Furrer and Heinz Holliger at the Meridian Festival in Romania. As part of its ensemble call to promote the presence of Swiss ensembles and composers abroad, it is sending Ensemble TaG Winterthur on a tour of Germany in fall 2020.
 

The increases would affect the cost of filing fees, including fees for O and P artist visa applications submitted by orchestras and other nonprofit arts organizations across the country. A date for the measure has not been announced.

The application fees for regularly processed O visa applications would increase from 460 dollars to up to 715 dollars per application, those for P visa applications from 460 dollars to up to 705 dollars per application.

The total number of individuals in a single petition would be limited to 25, meaning that numerous petitions would be required for larger ensembles such as visiting orchestras. For example, an orchestra with 110 musicians and a handful of accompanying personnel would now require six visa applications instead of two. The League of American Orchestras also points out that there are currently serious processing delays.

More info:
https://americanorchestras.org/advocacy-government/news-and-alerts/december-12-2019.html

Over 2000 years ago, the Roman nobleman Gaius Maecenas enabled writers to create freely through material support. Today, his name stands for altruistically-minded, usually very wealthy people and foundations who support cultural and social projects without expecting anything in return. The term "philanthropy" (love of humanity), which originated in ancient Greece, is closely linked to patronage.

The foundation report from Swiss Foundations, an important umbrella organization of charitable grant-making foundations in Switzerland, shows that 301 foundations were established in 2018. 195 were liquidated. Total foundation assets amount to around 100 billion Swiss francs. The foundation density is 15.5 per 10,000 inhabitants. This puts Switzerland at the top internationally. According to NZZ am Sonntag (online) from December 14, 2019 the sum of inherited and gifted assets amounted to CHF 95 billion in 2020. This could trigger a further boost in the development sector.

Felix Bamert, Head of MA in Music Education at the HKB and organizer of the Symposiumdrew parallels between money and music in his welcoming address: "Both can move, trigger energy and emotions." This assessment was reinforced in the morning by the keynote speaker, philanthropy and foundation specialist and author Elisa Bortoluzzi Dubach. She presented a comprehensive overview of the nature and specific forms of patronage. In the afternoon, a number of important Swiss patrons explained their personal convictions and reported on their projects.

"Patronage fundraising means targeted collaboration with patrons to finance a civil society project, an individual or a non-profit organization," explained Bortoluzzi Dubach. The speaker took a close look at the characteristics of wealthy individuals who are potentially willing to donate and came to the conclusion that they are happy to be inspired by good projects. Quality plays a decisive role. Empathy and a relationship of trust are just as essential. Donors often value long-term cooperation and expect reliability, results and involvement. Important, often underestimated elements are the gratitude of the recipient and their responsible management of resources.

Self-confident applicants who know what they want and are able to represent their project with passion, explain its social added value and have a vision, strategy and short and long-term goals in mind have a clear advantage. Preparation is important: lists of potential donors must be drawn up, and a business plan, budget and communication strategy must be developed. Unique selling points of the project must also be worked out, as well as conditions that could lead to the rejection of an offer of support.
There are now a considerable number of links for tracking down potential donors. In addition to websites such as swissfoundations.ch or fundraiso.ch, the Balance Sheet of the 300 Richest (many of whom are philanthropically active) or wealthx.com (which lists personalities with assets of over 30 million dollars) can also help.

In his welcoming address, the Rector of the BUA, Thomas Beck, quoted an important American patron of the arts of the 19th century, Andrew Carnegie, who was convinced that rich people had a moral obligation to give something back to society. This attitude, which is also evident in the above quote from Carnegie, was also evident among the illustrious guests. The art collector and benefactor Hubert Looser posed the question of the purpose of money: "If you have lived well yourself, it is the public's turn." He supports humanitarian projects worldwide with his foundation. Art collector Marlies Kornfeld presented her Nepal Foundation for socially disadvantaged children and young people. Jobst Wagner, entrepreneur, collector and President of the LARIX Foundation, emphasized that "private individuals need to do more for our country again". It's not just about the really big projects; "small buns" should also be baked. Elisabeth Oltramare-Schreiber, honorary member of various foundations, spoke of her passion for supporting and promoting, especially in the service of young, talented musicians. "Generosity is part of patronage," Konrad Hummler is convinced. The banker has created a monument of considerable proportions with the performance and recording of the complete vocal works of his favorite composer Johann Sebastian Bach. To this end, he founded the J. S. Bach Foundation St. Gallen. This project started in 2006 and will keep him busy for several years to come.

The successful violinist Kamilla Schatz took the path from musician to foundation director. A few years ago, she decided to give up her career as a musician and founded the Pestalozzi School Camps Foundation.

There is a reason why most Swiss philanthropists are unknown to the general public. While the motto in other countries is "Do good and talk about it", Swiss patronage relies on restraint and discretion.

The performance in Lucerne is also the diploma concert in the Master's program in Orchestral Conducting, the Christian Erny currently studying with Howard Arman at the Lucerne School of Music. Born in Winterthur in 1988, the musician has released internationally acclaimed CDs as a pianist and as choirmaster of the Zurich Chamber Singers.

Together with the Orchestra of Europefounded in 2011 by Swiss violinist Astrid Leutwyler with former members of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, and young soloists, Erny now performs the two works by Honegger and Milhaud, which were written almost simultaneously.
 

As announced by the music schools involved, in November 2018 the members of the Jegenstorf Music School and Mossee Music School associations unanimously gave the go-ahead to begin merger negotiations and prepare the groundwork for a merger. As a result, the merger committee set up for this purpose used the past year to draw up a mission statement, organization chart, statutes, service agreement and merger agreement.

The two general meetings of the Jegenstorf Music School and the Moossee Music School independently approved the merger agreement on November 26, 2019, thus enabling the merger and the founding of the "Jegenstorf Region Music School". This means that pupils from the municipalities of Bäriswil, Fraubrunnen, Iffwil, Jegenstorf, Mattstetten, Moosseedorf, Urtenen-Schönbühl and Zuzwil will attend the same music school from the 2020/21 school year.

For residents of the municipalities of Aefligen, Hindelbank, Kernenried, Rapperswil, Utzenstorf, Wiggiswil, Wiler bei Utzenstorf and Zielebach, who are currently free to choose their music school, the new music school will remain open.

The new organization should bring greater efficiency in administration, allow music teachers to work larger hours and offer students a wide range of subjects. Teaching will continue at all existing locations.

In each participating federal state, the project is supported by its own patrons. Each federal state has its own approach to achieving the cross-state goal: To arouse curiosity and attention for the many facets of the violin.

In 2019, the Schleswig-Holstein State Music Council declared the saxophone the instrument of the year. The Swiss saxophonist and President of the Lübeck University of Music, Rico Gubler, has been won as patron.

The aim of the project is to do public relations work for music as a whole, but also to illuminate an instrument in many different facets. The website www.instrument-des-jahres.de has been online since January 9, 2020 and links the countries' project information, among other things.

Ursula Steinhauser managed the Seemuseum Kreuzlingen after completing her studies in archaeology. She has continued her education in the fields of communication, sponsorship and leadership. The Canton of Appenzell AR acknowledges her "profound knowledge in the project-related advancement of cultural topics" and her "methodical and didactic skills and leadership competencies".

Ursula Steinhauser will take up the post on July 1, 2020, the date on which Margrit Bürer, who headed the Office of Culture for almost 14 years, will retire. A tribute to Margrit Bürer and her "many sustainable and identity-forming projects for culture in Appenzell Ausserrhoden as well as her involvement in supra-regional and national committees" will be made as part of her farewell in mid-2020.
 

Today, posting and sharing online is done in no time at all. It is a different matter to populate the Internet with meaningful content and make it usable with today's technological possibilities. This is exactly what the Joachim Raff Archive in Lachen does. On December 10, the archive premises on the upper shores of Lake Zurich opened the portal.raff-archiv.ch presented. Since autumn 2018, Joachim Raff's (1822-1882) birthplace has been home to the most comprehensive center of expertise on the life and work of the composer, who also grew up in Lachen. The existing holdings are constantly being added to and have been systematized and recorded from the outset in such a way that the resulting data sets are suitable for online presentation. Around 350 works, 2300 postal items, 1350 people and 150 institutions related to Raff are now available in the beta version.

Today, there are publicly accessible standards according to which continuous texts are categorized in such a way that they become machine-readable and can be automatically linked to other texts. The more material is networked in this way, the more diverse and surprising the insights that result. The portal thus becomes a kind of super-brain that always has all content available and links everything with everything else. In the humanities, work with coding systems is referred to as "digital humanities", to put it simply. It offers almost inexhaustible potential in terms of exploring the connections between figures, works and institutions. The project team felt that Raff was an ideal starting point for the creation of such a database, as he had a huge network at his disposal, which is very well documented in thousands of letters and other documents that have been systematically collected by the Raff Society for many years.

At the press conference, Res Marty, President of the Joachim Raff Society, called it a historic day. He expressed his sincere thanks to the academic team who had brought this project so far in such a short time with a great deal of passion and hard work and in the best of German-Swiss cooperation: In addition to Severin Kolb, head of the Joachim Raff Archive in Lachen, the team includes Stefan König and Dennis Ried, both from the Max Reger Institute in Karlsruhe and the latter responsible for research data management at the Raff Portal. Nick Pfefferkorn, head of the publishing house Breitkopf & Härtel, with whom the Raff Archive works closely and who joined us towards the end of the press conference, summed it up in a nutshell: the project is a pioneering achievement.

The Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) has long been offering preliminary artistic training programs that prepare students for studies in the fields of design, music and dance. In October 2018, the Canton of Zurich enshrined these courses in the University of Applied Sciences Act. Now the ordinance on tuition fees at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences is also to be amended.

The range of tuition fees for the preparatory courses is set out in the Universities of Applied Sciences Act. The government of the Canton of Zurich has now set the semester fees on this basis. The fees are based on the previous rates of the ZHdK. An additional semester fee is charged for students from outside the canton.

The semester fee for courses in preliminary artistic training is:
Propaedeutic design course full-time 4500 francs
Part-time creative propaedeutic course 2700 francs
PreCollege music with vocal or instrumental lessons 1950 francs
PreCollege Music without vocal or instrumental lessons 1150 francs
Basic studies in dance 1000 francs

Complete list:
https://www.zh.ch/bin/ktzh/rrb/beschluss.pdf?rrbNr=1145&name=V_Studiengebuehren_Aend._4.12.19&year=2019&_charset_=UTF-8
 

Is alphorn playing to be understood as "blown" yodeling? Has it influenced yodeling with its characteristic natural tone series and sound? Do the two musical practices have historical points of contact? Researchers from the Department of Music at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts investigated these questions in the project "Musical relationship between alphorn and yodel - fact or ideology?". The project was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation SNSF.

Although the research team came to the conclusion that there was a certain amount of influence depending on the region and era, "there was no consistent influence," says project leader Raymond Ammann. The researchers were also only able to prove points of contact in the development of the alphorn and yodelling in places: "The earliest sources proved to be too imprecise in terms of content to be able to identify clear adoption processes between these two musical practices."

Original article:
https://www.hslu.ch/de-ch/hochschule-luzern/ueber-uns/medien/medienmitteilungen/2019/12/11/alphorn-und-jodel-eine-greifbare-aber-unstete-wechselbeziehung/