Christian Spitzenstaetter becomes the new President of ISCM Switzerland
On July 1, 2025, the mandate of ISCM Switzerland was transferred from SGNM/SSMC to the Swiss Music Edition SME/EMS. In his function as President of SME, Christian Spitzenstaetter will take over the presidency of ISCM Switzerland from Javier Hagen.
The ISCM Switzerland is the Swiss section of the ISCM (International Society for Contemporary Music) It was founded in 1922, making it one of the oldest ISCM national sections in the world. It owes its foundation to the conductor Hermann Scherchen and his employer at the time, the Winterthur patron of the arts Werner Reinhart. Its first president was the composer and then chief conductor of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Volkmar Andreae (1879-1962). 1922-1995 the mandate of the ISCM Switzerland is held by the Swiss Association of Musicians STV/ASM, 1995-2025 by the SGNM/SSMC, the Swiss Society for New Music.
From 2025, the Swiss Music Edition SME/EMS the mandate of ISCM Switzerland. Volkmar Andreae was succeeded on the Executive Committee in chronological order Hans Ehinger (1934, ad interim), Paul Sacher (1935), Samuel Baud-Bovy (1955), Paul Müller (1960), Constantin Regamey (1963), Hermann Haller (1968), Julien François Zbinden (1973), Francis Travis (1974), Fritz Muggler (1978), Jean-Luc Darbellay (1995), Max E. Keller (2007), Nicolas Farine (2010), Javier Hagen (2014) and Christian Spitzenstaetter (2025).
The history of the ISCM and its World New Music Days
The International Society for Contemporary Music ISCM is one of the most important music-cultural societies in the world and - against the backdrop of the League of Nations - goes back to an initiative of the Second Viennese School during the Salzburg Festival in 1922. Its founding members included the composers Bartók, Hindemith, Honegger, Milhaud, Ravel, Berg, Schönberg, Stravinsky and Webern. In German-speaking countries, the organization is better known as IGNM, International Society for New Music.
At this year's General Assembly in Lisbon, long-time Vice President Frank J. Oteri was elected as the new President of the Society. He is the first US-American ISCM President and succeeds the outgoing New Zealander Glenda Keam, who has held the office since 2019. Rebecca Diependaele (Belgium) was elected as the new Vice President and Deborah Keyser (Wales) was newly elected to the ISCM Board. As before, the other ExCom members are Magnus Bunnskog (Sweden) and Chialin Pan (Taipei). The delegates also appointed two female composers as honorary members: Karin Rehnquist (*1957) from Sweden and Jacqueline Fontyn (*1930) from Belgium.
The ISCM organizes the World Music Days, which take place every year in a different country (ISCM World New Music Days WNMD). They last between one and two weeks and are organized differently in each country. What they all have in common, however, is that compositions from all member countries are represented equally and democratically, which always places the festival programs in a unique field of tension between top international positions and a reflection of the global diversity of new music. Since the founding of the ISCM in 1922, the Swiss IGNM sections have organized the ISCM World Music Days a total of six times: 1926 (Zurich), 1929 (Geneva), 1957 (Zurich), 1970 (Basel), 1991 (Zurich) and 2004 - under the motto "Trans_it" - throughout Switzerland.
The this year's ISCM WNMD took place in Portugal from May 30 to June 7 under the motto "Thirst for Change". The 23 concerts in Lisbon and Porto covered 14 categories. The artistic director of the festival was Miguel Azguime.
New plants wanted for 2026
The next ISCM WNMD to be held in Romania in 2026 will take place. The call for submissions is already open and closes on October 1, 2025. Composers without age and origin restrictions can apply in two categories: Open Submissions (open to all) and/or via submissions from ISCM member sections.
Christian Spitzenstaetter (*1994) comes from Wörgl, Austria, and is a clarinettist, composer and conductor. From 2013, he studied at the HKB in Bern with Ernesto Molinari, and in 2014 he founded the KOMP.ART orchestra, which is made up of music student friends from various European countries. In March 2016, he was engaged as conductor by the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg for two concerts. Spitzenstaetter lives in Bern, currently works as an assistant to the head of the study program at the HKB and is also the current president of the Swiss Music Edition SME/EMS.
Transparency notice: The author provided the text and image free of charge. Editorial office: SMZ
The text was supplemented on July 3, 2025 with further information on the ISCM General Assembly and the ISCM WNMD 2025.
