Karin Mairitsch succeeds Thomas D. Meier, who has held the position since 2009 and will step down at the end of September. She studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. She completed her doctorate at the University of Art and Design Linz on the subject of study program development and educational policy objectives.

From 2003 to 2018, she held various management positions at universities, including the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences and the Zurich University of Applied Sciences.

She also works as a freelance artist, curator, lecturer and author. Karin Mairitsch is currently head of the city of Rüsselsheim's own company Kultur123 with its Culture & Theater, Adult Education Centre, Music School and Public Library departments. 

With around 2100 Bachelor's and Master's students, Zurich University of the Arts is one of the leading art universities in Europe. The study and research program covers the fields of art education, design, film, fine arts, music, dance, theater and transdisciplinarity.

The ZHdK is currently converting its range of courses to the major-minor model. From fall 2023/24, the ZHdK will be the first art academy in Europe to enable its students to combine courses from different disciplines in their studies.

In line with the pandemic situation, a hybrid format was chosen. The on-site event was simultaneously broadcast online, three speakers were connected and discussion was possible among all participants, whether they were physically or virtually present.

The main title of the conference already specifically identifies its conceptual center: the rabab, an early string instrument played in medieval Europe until 1300, which is now largely lost to the European music tradition. Its reintegration into historical performance practice within early music is one of the main concerns of the interdisciplinary research project based at the HKB and supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation "Rabab & Rebec. Research into fur-covered string instruments of the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance and their reconstruction". The first project conference was able to contribute to this goal with a broad contextualization of the numerous textual, visual and ethnomusicological sources - not least by explicitly locating the string instrument in its Arabic-Islamic past and present, as stated in the conference's subtitle.

To this end, the speakers from various disciplines presented a broad spectrum of interconnected issues from often overlapping fields of research in a total of 15 lectures: historical musicology, ethnomusicology, music practice, music iconography, art history and linguistics. It ranged from the etymology of the term, the distribution channels and the functional context of the instrument as well as its practical playing and tonal characteristics to its pictorial representations in art and the current practice of the North African Andalusi-music.

The conference was opened by Thomas Gartmann (Bern), project manager and head of research at the HKB, who introduced project manager Thilo Hirsch (Bern) as the spiritus rector of the research project and the conference. After his introduction to the topic, one section was devoted to the Arabic-Islamic origins of the Rabab, which, in the absence of surviving original instruments, must be reconstructed from the basic textual sources. From the point of view of a musical translatio studiorum Anas Ghrab (Sousse) began by giving an overview of these textual sources and the mechanisms of such a transfer of knowledge across space and time. Salah Eddin Maraqa (Freiburg) impressively demonstrated that philological detective work is required where a term essentially shapes the conception of an instrument. He presented new findings on the etymology of the term on the basis of extensive critical source studies Rabābwhile Ioana Baalbaki (Târgu Mureș) is the position of the Rabāb within the music theory of the time on the basis of al-Fārābī's "Great Book of Music", the Kitāb al-Mūsīqā al-kabīr.

Al-Fārābī is also the one who created the Rabāb The monochord was first explicitly mentioned as a bowed stringed instrument in the 10th century, which is why Laura de Castellet (Barcelona) focused on the use of the string bow and its distribution channels alongside the characteristic vertical playing position in the section on textual and pictorial sources used for music practice and theory. Saskia Quené (Bern), on the other hand, located schematic representations of the monochord within music theory with an art-scientific approach as part of cosmological harmony theory, thus recalling that music, according to the medieval view, belonged to the quadrivium of the Artes liberales belonged to.

Methodologically oriented round-table discussions rounded off the varied program on both days by thematically following on from the last lecture. On the first day, this was a joint lecture by Thilo Hirsch (Bern) and Marina Haiduk (Bern), who presented the draft of a methodological-practical guideline for the reconstruction of lost musical instruments. Their proposal was designed as a critical counter-proposal to the common practice of unquestioningly adopting morphological features from pictorial representations. How this uncertain basis can be used for the purpose of practical instrument reconstruction was discussed controversially in the field of tension between music iconography, organology and art history, first in the three co-presentations by Antonio Baldassarre (Lucerne), Theresa Holler (Bern) and Karolina Zgraja (Zurich), and then in the subsequent round table. By its very nature, the negotiation process could not be conclusively clarified. However, the identification of problem areas and interdisciplinary dialog were identified as prerequisites for the development of fruitful perspectives, where the interpretative sovereignty of one's own discipline can be set aside in favour of a necessary exchange.

The second day began with a lecture by project collaborator Marina Haiduk, who presented a selection of depictions of vertically held small stringed instruments from the 11th to 13th centuries and examined their geographical distribution and functional context, whereby their occurrence in a few subjects was conspicuous. Thilo Hirsch analyzed the Rabab depictions in the Cantigas de Santa MaríaThese manuscripts from the circle of Alfonso X provide information about the types of European rababs with fur covers that were widespread on the Iberian Peninsula in the 13th century. The rabab, reconstructed from one of Hirsch's miniatures, was presented to the public for the first time and questioned about its practical use in music.

The following two sections, chaired by Martin Kirnbauer (Basel) and Britta Sweers (Bern), were dedicated to the Rabāb as part of musical practice in contemporary North Africa and its recent past (Mohamed Khalifa, France, and Anis Klibi, Tunis). Amedeo Fera (Leuven) and Vincenzo Piazzetta (Lamezia Terme) presented the bowed Calabrian lyre and its Byzantine origins, focusing on the relationship between the instruments. The two subsequent lectures focused on plucked instruments with skin covers: Emin Soydaş (Çankırı) examined the Turkish Kopuzwhile Sylvain Roy (France) played the plucked instruments of the sarinda type to the Afghan Rubāb in relation to each other. The lecture by Ed Emery (London) served as a transition to these ethnomusicological questions, examining both the influence of the music of al-Andalus in the European tradition as well as presenting small string instruments as part of nomadic cultures that can be traced back to the traveling troubadours of the Middle Ages.

Finally, an intradisciplinary dialog between ethnomusicologist Britta Sweers (Bern) and Cristina Urchueguía (Bern), representative of historical musicology, focused on the responsibilities, similarities and differences between the two (sub)disciplines. The questions considered from various perspectives, e.g. on historicity and authenticity, were finally taken as an opportunity to round off the conference with a discussion extended to the plenary session. Finally, in an informal jam session, the Tunisian and Moroccan Rabābs as well as the reconstructions of European string instruments (Rabab and Lyra).

Portraying war and misery on stage is always difficult, writes TOBS. When this war and this misery are now portrayed on the opera stage, as in the case of Mazeppa"when reality catches up with us and people die every day in Ukraine - where the opera is set - it becomes an impossible undertaking".

In Mazeppa is not only about a tragic love affair, but also about a war of independence between what was then Tsarist Russia and Ukraine, which dates back to the 17th century. The Board of Trustees and the management of TOBS therefore "agreed that the fiction in the play cannot be separated from the bitter reality in Ukraine".

The temporary cancellation of the play has nothing to do with the fact that it is sung in Russian or that Russian artists are on stage. It is about the war of that time, which is too close to the war of today. The harrowing war in Ukraine "does not mean that we are no longer performing Russian plays or engaging artists from this cultural sphere".

Theater Orchester Biel Solothurn attaches great importance to the fact that the entire Mazeppa-team will be included in the replacement program and perform in their homes.

More info: www.tobs.ch
 

Lionel Martin comes from Tübingen and received his first cello lessons at the age of five. He has been studying at the Zurich University of the Arts for around two years. Since last year, he has been supported by the SWR2 New Talent program for three years with CD productions.

The Ton & Erklärung music competition organized by radio station NDR Kultur and the NDR Radiophilhamormie focuses on "classical music talent in order to challenge and support young musicians". This year, the competition was open to cellists. The first prize is endowed with 10,000 euros.

From March 4 to 6, 2022, adolescents from all over Switzerland took part in the entrada competitions of the Swiss Youth Music Competition (SJMW). Over 1,000 music-loving young people took on a panel of judges alone, as a duo, in chamber music ensembles and/or as composers. Over 150 jury members were called upon to evaluate the entries.

A total of 774 prizes were awarded, including 90 1st prizes with distinction and 224 1st prizes. This means that 219 individual and 37 chamber music formations will be heard at the final from April 29 to May 1, 2022 at the Musikschule Konservatorium Zürich.

The detailed ranking lists with the results of the participants can be found on our homepage under the following link: sjmw.ch/classica/downloads
 

The dramaturgy, which shapes the artistic signature as a "think tank", will be strengthened. According to the press release, it thus "makes an important contribution to ensuring that the cultural institution is perceived externally as more than just the sum of its four divisions". In terms of personnel, the contract of Chief Conductor Modestas Pitrenas will be extended for a further four seasons until 2026/2027.

The contracts of concert director Florian Scheiber and dance company director Kinsun Chan expire at the end of the 2022/2023 season. It was decided earlier that the contract of theater director Jonas Knecht will also end at the same time.

An eight-member, broad-based management team runs the theater collaboratively and transparently. In addition to the director with overall responsibility, this includes the heads of the four divisions (concert, music theater, drama, dance), the heads of dramaturgy, scheduling and technology as well as the CFO.

The head of the dance division and the drama division are to be filled by summer 2022. The search for the head of the orchestra office and the CFO position will begin in the following season. The Board of Directors would like to take this opportunity to thank the departing colleagues for their great commitment.

Friday, August 26, 5 p.m., Reformed Church Baden
Ukrainian benefit concert "Life becomes music" 

Tyhran Nakhalov, cello; Borys Gusev, cello; Elena Dovhan, piano; Irina Daschkeeva, harp

For four years, a European research group has been working on the development of experimental psychological and sociological measuring instruments, which are now being used extensively. Following a sneak preview in September 2020 and opening concerts in the Pierre Boulez Saal in mid-April 2022, a nine-day concert series will take place in the Radialsystem from April 28 to May 6, sponsored by the Aventis Foundation.

Concertgoers will be given an insight into this unusual research project and will have the opportunity to engage with their experience of the concert as test subjects. Using a specially designed combination of methods, they are wired up and interviewed - and thus actively and passively involved in the investigation.

More info:
https://experimental-concert-research.org/?lang=de

As announced by Forum Wallis, the international festival for new music Forum Wallis 2022 will take place for the third time in a row at Leuk Castle in November rather than at Whitsun as usual. The decision is based on the long-term consequences of the coronavirus pandemic: several major events that had to be postponed for two years due to the pandemic are now taking up the dates in the first half of the year. The exact festival program will be announced in late spring.

Electroacoustic compositions can now be submitted until July 1 as part of the 8th Ars Electronica Forum Wallis competition for acousmatic music. Hundreds of works are once again expected. The international jury is made up of Kotoka Suzuki (Toronto), Reuben de Lautour (Auckland), Jaime Oliver (Lima) and Javier Hagen (Forum Wallis/ISCM Switzerland). The prize-winning works will be performed in November in Leuk by Simone Conforti (IRCAM Paris).

Brigitt Leibundgut was elected to the board of the Schweizer Musikzeitung association as a representative of the Swiss Music Pedagogical Association (SMPV) at the delegates' meeting on September 22, 2000. For 13 years, she meticulously recorded the minutes of the association's numerous board meetings and delegates' assemblies. The Swiss Music Newspaper owes a great deal to her many years of work on the association's board.

As the family announced in the obituary, Brigitt Leibundgut died "after a richly fulfilling life full of energy and passion for music" on February 23, 2022, shortly before her 86th birthday.

An obituary will be published in the next issue on the SMPV pages of the Swiss Music Newspaper published.
 

It was drawn up by an interdisciplinary committee of scientists with the involvement of cultural event organizers and the Federal Environment Agency. It was initiated by the Minister of State for Culture and the Media.

The recommendations provide operators of cultural event venues with uniform guidance for hygiene measures on site. This applies both to short-term preventive measures during the current pandemic, as well as in the medium and long term for the time afterwards. The recommendations enable flexible adjustments to be made to the infection situation and can form the basis for uniform nationwide certification.

More info:
https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/bundesregierung/bundeskanzleramt/staatsministerin-fuer-kultur-und-medien/fuer-einheitlichere-corona-regeln-in-der-kultur-2010308

According to the ZHdK, the soprano will join the vocal ensemble with Lina Maria Åkerlund, Markus Eiche, Sebastian Geyer, Werner Güra, Martina Janková, Yvonne Naef (classical), Rahel Hadron and Yumi Ito (jazz, pop).

Caroline Melzer studied singing with Rudolf Piernay and Vera U. G. Scherr as well as song interpretation with Ulrich Eisenlohr and Irwin Gage. The soprano, who is active throughout Europe, is successful in an extraordinary range of repertoire, in both lyrical and youthful-dramatic repertoire, in operettas and contemporary works, some of which were composed especially for her.
 

According to the BVMI's press release, by far the largest share was generated digitally, with 76.4 percent of revenue coming from online music use. This means that the industry in Germany is now also heading towards a digital share of almost four fifths, which has long been a reality in the Scandinavian countries in particular.

Audio streaming, which has been growing dynamically for years, once again increased significantly by 18.6%. Although the growth curve was somewhat flatter compared to the previous year (2020: +24.6%), this form of music usage from the cloud was able to increase its share of the overall market to 68.3% compared to the previous year (2020: 63.4%).

The CD remains in second place with a 16.3% share of sales, a decline of 16.7% compared to the previous year. Vinyl is once again in third place in the format ranking. Thanks to an increase in sales of 20.1%, vinyl has a respectable overall market share of 6% in the age of audio streaming. Not least because of this, the contribution of the physical market to sales remains fairly stable at 23.6% despite a decline of 9.1%. Downloads still account for 3 percent of revenue.

Bánffy-Hall first studied Performing Arts / Community Music at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts from September 2000 to July 2004, followed by a Master's degree in Arts and Cultural Management at Manchester Metropolitan University.

She went on to become director of the community arts company Amabadelo and led numerous projects in cultural and educational institutions in the fields of music, movement and theater. She also worked as a creative agent for Creative Partnerships Merseyside in England. During this time, she was also the conceptual director of the first four community music projects with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra.

At the same time, she completed her doctorate at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich, where she graduated in March 2019 and was awarded the Bavarian Culture Prize for her dissertation. At this time, she was already gaining extensive teaching experience through lectureships, for example at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich, the Catholic Foundation University of Applied Sciences Munich, the University of Hildesheim, the Zurich University of the Arts and Manchester Metropolitan University.

From December 2016, she was a lecturer for special tasks at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, where she helped to set up the first Master's degree program in inclusive music education / community music, and has held a professorship at Landshut University of Applied Sciences since September 2021. Since 2018, she has been advising the Konzerthaus Dortmund on the development of community music in Dortmund. Her teaching and research focus will be on community music, community arts and music in social work.

The dramatic transformation of the instrument market, in which over 70 percent of sales are distributed among a small number of online retailers, has already had a strong negative impact on the Musikmesse trade exhibition in recent years and has intensified the transformation from an industry event to a consumer event. As a result, Messe Frankfurt will not be continuing the B2B section of Musikmesse. The theme of music will be implemented at a later date as part of a reorganization of the B2C formats, writes the fair.

The end-consumer formats Musikmesse Plaza and the Musikmesse Festival cannot be implemented in view of the current situation and the short lead time for April 2022, Messe Frankfurt continued. In particular, concerts with high attendance by international artists, concerts in clubs and unusual venues as well as music education offers could not have been seriously planned under the current hygiene regulations.