In addition, Denis Schuler from Geneva will succeed the retiring auditor Laurent Mettraux. Fachard was born in New York to a Swiss father and a Greek mother and grew up in Lausanne. He studied composition with Daniel Glaus, William Blank and Xavier Dayer, as well as with Lachenmann, Ferneyhough and Boulez. In 2015 he was Composer in Residence at the Composer's Next Generation program of the Geneva Ensemble Vortex. Fachard lives in Lausanne. Alongside him, Max E. Keller, Egidius Streiff and Javier Hagen (President) are members of the current SGNM Board.

The SGNM is the Swiss section of the International Society for Contemporary Music (IGNM/ISCM) and was founded in 1922 by Winterthur patron Werner Reinhart - the first Secretary General of the ISCM - as one of the first country sections of the ISCM. It is the Swiss interface to the ISCM and thus to the ISCM World Music Days, which take place in a different country every year and have also been held in Switzerland six times to date: in 1926, 1929, 1957, 1970, 1991 and most recently in 2004.

The PRJ Symposium on January 19, 2019 was small but nice, without a lot of fuss, but with substance. It was once again organized by the Bern Conservatory Music School in cooperation with the Association of Bernese Music Schools (VBMS) organized. The further education event for the pop, rock and jazz sector
was opened up somewhat in the direction of general pedagogy compared to the first edition. Organizer Victor Wanderley emphasized that his symposium was not only aimed at PRJ teachers, but at representatives of all musical genres. This opening up was very well received by the event, but one had the impression that the representatives of classical music did not (yet) feel addressed.

The event took place in a "come-together format", meaning that the participants were given plenty of space to exchange ideas and share their results and experiences in the plenary session. Three invited experts provided important input, led workshops and stimulated discussions.
 

Natalia Ardila-Mantilla, Head of Instrumental and Vocal Pedagogy at the Institute for Music Education Research at the Cologne University of Music and Performing Arts, conducts research on music education in formal and informal learning contexts and on the development of concepts for learning to make music in heterogeneous groups. She provided an exciting introduction with six questions about their personal educational history and what they believe they have learned in the various learning contexts. Everyone had to give their own answers in the plenary session. It was amazing to see the illuminating insights that emerged. Anyone who thought they could deduce the advantages of one form of learning or another was just as wrong as those who thought that informal learning was more suited to the PRJ sector and formal learning to the classics. The speaker used teaching profiles that she had created in her research work to prove that the two forms of learning occur more or less equally on both sides. She assumed four learning worlds: Classroom, ensembles, performance and private, all of which can be more or less formal or informal. It is crucial that there is a fruitful mix and that the teacher tries to influence the informal learning worlds of their students.

Photo: Niklaus Rüegg

Natalia Ardila-Mantilla

Nik Bärtsch, internationally successful jazz pianist from Zurich with a classical music degree, described his career as a music student in the 1970s and 1980s and spoke about the formation and maintenance of creative communities, his Club Exil, the Monday series with his "Ritual Groove Music" with workshops and concerts. "Creativity needs structures," Bärtsch is convinced. Local roots, a base camp, are important for him to be able to work internationally. That is why he goes into his "exile" every day, thereby defining home and exile as congruent. Bärtsch is an advocate of "freestyle pedagogy", which relies on personal initiative, on "doing, risking, learning". He had already acquired this "wild way of learning" during his challenging career as a music student. The Zurich music school initially had a hard time with his interests: he wanted to play drums and boogie-woogie and detested sheet music. These things were not part of the teaching culture at the time. So he had no choice but to learn self-taught and in bands. Eventually, the talented boy did meet understanding music teachers who "somehow followed him" and helped him to find his way.

Photo: Niklaus Rüegg

Nik Bärtsch

The pianist, drummer, mathematician and lecturer at the Jazzcampus Basel, Malcolm Braff, surprised us with a scientific approach to a phenomenon that is not considered academic: the groove. He takes the opposite approach, so to speak, and attempts to explain and formalize freestyle. Braff distinguishes between theoretical and musical-practical rhythm: "In folk music rhythm is never equal," he emphasized, adding, "in classical music it isn't either." The groove in swing is created by a slight shift and variation in note lengths. With a group of a quarter and two eighths, for example, this can mean an approximation of a triplet. This rule can also be used to make some classical pieces swing. A popular example is Bach. Even the Viennese waltz would not be a waltz if all three notes were played exactly the same length. Braff illustrated these rhythmic shifts graphically, starting from an even triplet as an isosceles triangle, and divided the rhythmic effects into "negative groove balance" (or "laidback"), "positive groove balance" (driving forward) and "taking off the ground/taking down to the ground" (phrasing through changing accents). The practical demonstrations drumming and at the piano with simultaneously played alternating rhythms on the left and right were impressive.

Photo: Niklaus Rüegg

Malcolm Braff

This year, Musikmesse will take place on four working days (Tuesday to Friday) for the first time. It is thus focusing more than ever on the professional exchange of international professionals and sharpening its brand essence as the largest European trade fair for the music industry. For the first time since 2015, Musikmesse will be held at the same time as Prolight + Sound, the 'Global Entertainment Technology Show'.

Even after the trade fair, the music continues in Frankfurt. For the fourth time, the "Musikmesse Festival" presents highlight concerts in 30 locations and on the exhibition grounds. Including: the talents of the International German Pianist Award and a big closing concert with soul legend Gregory Porter and the Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt.
 

Visitors to Musikmesse 2019 can look forward to shorter distances. Hall 3 brings together a wide range of products on two levels, from pianos and keyboards to drums + percussion, guitar and bass, woodwind and brass instruments, string instruments, harmonica instruments and sheet music. For the first time, the entire audio sector is concentrated on one hall level: visitors will find synthesizers and recording equipment as well as products for live sound reinforcement in Hall 8.0.

© Musikmesse Frankfurt

New in 2019 is the joint "Networking Area" for Musikmesse and Prolight + Sound in Hall 4.1, which is aimed specifically at dealers and decision-makers in the industry. With its elaborately designed lounge concept, it offers the ideal setting for business talks in a relaxed atmosphere.

The new "Music Education Center" at the Congress Center Messe Frankfurt creates a central platform for the promotion of young talent and further education. Highlights in this area include the Class Music Making Day (Friday, April 5), which will provide ideas for modern, practice-oriented teaching. On the same day, the European School Music Prize will be awarded to progressive projects in the field of methodical and creative work with musical instruments. There will also be workshops and seminars on music therapy and, for the first time, the award ceremony for the "New Therapy Instruments Competition".

© Musikmesse Frankfurt

The "Discover Music" project for young musical explorers offers a voyage of discovery into the world of tones and sounds. Under the pedagogical guidance of experienced musicians from the Frankfurt Music Academy, schoolchildren can try out instruments to their heart's content.

The "European Songwriting Award" is also entering a new round. At the award show with live finale (April 5), songwriters and producers can present their compositions to a top-class jury of international A&Rs. The winner will go straight into the studio: there will also be radio and online promo for the best songs.
 

In addition to workshops, master classes and tutorials (with a focus on keyboard instruments on Tuesday, April 2), the Musikmesse offers live music by national and international artists throughout the day.

In the evenings, the exhibition grounds become the epicentre of the Musikmesse Festival - for example, the Festhalle Frankfurt, the Congress Center Messe Frankfurt, the Festival Arena on the outdoor exhibition grounds and the new Circle Stages directly in the exhibition halls offer special musical experiences even after the fair has closed. The Musikmesse Festival also presents concerts and parties in Frankfurt's clubs and event locations. Visitors to Musikmesse receive a free festival wristband, with which they can attend Musikmesse Festival events at a reduced price or even free of charge.
 

© Musikmesse Frankfurt

The Grand Finale of the "International German Pianist Award" offers a treat for fans of top-class piano music (April 1, Alte Oper Frankfurt). Accompanied by the Baden-Baden Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of conductor Douglas Bostock, top young pianists will showcase their skills. The program includes Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 op. 18 in C minor and Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 1 op. 15 in D minor.

On the Saturday after Musikmesse (April 6), "Musikmesse Plaza" will present a completely new event concept aimed at music enthusiasts of all ages. Together with partners from the creative sector, Messe Frankfurt is realizing a pop-up market with a variety of themed worlds and direct sales: from vintage instruments to sound carriers and lifestyle products. As the highlight of a week full of music and entertainment, music fans can look forward to the closing concert by US soul artist Gregory Porter, who will be performing together with the Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt for the first time.

© Musikmesse Frankfurt

All further information about the Musikmesse at

The 10th YOUTH CLASSICS Swiss International Music Academy SIMA offers talented musicians from Switzerland and abroad an intensive, high-quality educational opportunity at the Musikinsel Rheinau from July 11 to 21, 2019. The Academy is aimed at talented young musicians aged between 10 and 25 who are aiming to study music in the near or distant future or are already doing so. It was founded in 2009 by violinist and conductor Philip A. Draganov. He is one of the most sought-after violin teachers for young talents in Switzerland and teaches at the Musikschule Konservatorium Zürich, the Konservatorium Winterthur and at the PreCollege Musik of the Zurich University of the Arts.

During ten days of solo lessons, chamber music lessons and workshops, participants benefit from the experience of internationally renowned lecturers from renowned music academies in Switzerland and abroad. In intensive individual lessons, participants receive excellent musical support and first-class training on their instrument. They are also prepared for competitions, auditions and examinations.

Participants and lecturers live in the same place during the Academy on the Rheinau Music Island. This also encourages encounters with important music teachers and exchanges with like-minded people of different ages.

Concerts during the Academy and final concerts on July 20 and September 14, 2019 in Zurich are special highlights.

Registration until May 11, 2019 at www.youth-classics.ch
 

Thomas Grossenbacher, lecturer at the Zurich University of the Arts, solo cellist in the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich and lecturer at SIMA for many years.

Mr. Grossenbacher, as a busy musician, what motivates you to become involved as a lecturer at SIMA?
I particularly enjoy the community of students and lecturers, but the incomparable atmosphere on the music island of Rheinau is also a great source of motivation.

What makes this Academy particularly valuable?
I see great value in the versatility of the program (from violin making workshops to baroque dance to audition training and much more), but also in the excellent organization, the mix of students from small to large and the many opportunities for participants to perform in front of an audience.

What advice would you give young talents?
Relax!
 

For almost a quarter of a century, Richard Irniger has made his villa available to musicians of various styles, from classical to jazz and folk music, according to the city's press release. Over a thousand concerts have already taken place in the premises on Schneckenmannstrasse, where musicians can also practice and rehearse regularly.

After each concert, the patron, who celebrated his eightieth birthday on January 27, offers an aperitif riche and brings the audience into conversation with the artists in a relaxed atmosphere. According to the tribute, Richard Irniger has "created a cultural gem on the Zürichberg with which he has tirelessly enriched Zurich's musical life".
 

At the beginning of 2018, the Winterthur Civil Defence Organization parted ways with its figurehead, the ZS Big Band Winterthur. The Reto Parolari Orchestra (ORP) wrote this in a letter. It has worked with the ZS Big Band for 25 years, whether as part of the U-Musik festival or in joint concerts.

The ORP would like to preserve the ex-ZS Big Band in its current form under the new name ORP Big Band. However, it cannot do this with its own funds. It has therefore launched a fundraising campaign and is hoping for a lot of goodwill and support.
The next performance is planned for November 2019 under the title "An Evening at the Circus".

Further information and contact via www.orchester-retoparolari.ch
 

Download payment slip (PDF)
 

Listening to classical music is often accompanied by information about the pieces: Program booklets are distributed at concerts and operas, every good classical CD comes with a booklet and classical pieces are introduced on the radio. A study at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics has now investigated the influence of various types of information on the evaluation of the music listened to.

The researchers were concerned with two questions: Does the composer's fame have an influence on the liking of the pieces? How do stylistically different introductory texts influence the appreciation of the music? All participants listened to a Sinfonia by Josef Mysliveček (1737-1781) as part of the study. While half of the participants were given the correct information about the author of the piece, the other half were told that it was a piece by Wolfgang Amadé Mozart (1756-1791). Before listening, the participants in both groups also read a short introduction: one group received a text that described the expressive significance of the Sinfonia in a lively, sometimes flowery way, while the text of the second group explained the formal characteristics of the Sinfonia. After listening, all participants rated the Sinfonia according to how much they liked the music, among other things.

The results, recently published in the journal Psychology of Music, confirm the obvious assumption that prior information has a lasting influence on the listening experience of music. The research team was able to observe an age effect with regard to prestige: In contrast to older participants, younger ones liked the piece better when it was attributed to Mozart. This result confirms observations from previous studies. In contrast to previous studies, however, older listeners also took part in this study, for whom the attribution to Mozart had no effect on how well they liked the piece. The apparent immunity of the older participants - the majority of whom were experienced music lovers - indicates that musical-stylistic experiences can protect against external influences on the evaluation of music.

In contrast, the style in which the text was written had a strong effect across all age groups: the participants in the group who had read the expressive text liked the same music better than those whose text presented sober, music-analytical information

Original publication: Fischinger, T., Kaufmann, M., & Schlotz, W. (2018). If it's Mozart, it must be good? The influence of textual information and age on musical appreciation. Psychology of Music. Advance online publication. DOI:10.1177/0305735618812216
 

The Zurich Center for Creative Economies (ZCCE) is to become an internationally leading center of excellence in research, teaching and consulting. The ZHdK has been successfully positioning itself in this field for around 15 years. The ZKB is funding the initiative with a total of CHF 1.9 million over the next six years. This will enable existing ZHdK initiatives to be linked and a professorship, a senior fellowship program and support programs for start-ups and spin-offs at the interface between studies and the job market to be established.

If the ZCCE establishes itself successfully, the ZKB will support the university with further contributions of CHF 1 million until 2024. A prerequisite for this is that further partners and funding are acquired. The ZHdK asserts that the partnership between the ZKB and ZHdK "in no way impairs the freedom of teaching and research". Academic freedom has been contractually confirmed. The Zurich University of Applied Sciences Council has approved the collaboration.

The creative industries combine future-oriented sectors and form an important part of the labor market for ZHdK graduates. It is therefore of strategic importance to the university. With innovative companies and a dynamic start-up scene, Zurich is a national and international hotspot for the creative industries. Around a third of Swiss added value is created in the canton of Zurich.

The Rhön-Klinikum Campus Bad Neustadt and the Swiss University Center for Music Physiology SHZM invite you to a first joint training event for musicians on May 24 and 25, 2019 in Bad Neustadt. The main focus of the event will be practical workshops on group-specific bodywork and stress management in everyday musical life. New strategies for the prevention and treatment of profession-specific problems will also be presented and discussed. The new cooperation model "Health at the Meiningen Theater" will be presented as a learning interdisciplinary model project. The flyer for the event can be downloaded at

https://www.campus-nes.de/presse-aktuelles/veranstaltungen/fort-und-weiterbildungen.html

62 percent of those who responded to the survey use professional music reviews regularly. Four out of five music lovers believe that reviews should be constructive, respectful, open-minded and impartial. A well-founded assessment is also expected. Around two thirds of classical music fans like to read comparisons with other recordings, and just as many are persuaded by a clear and gripping description.

The online survey conducted by the research team from Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and the University of Sheffield, which was published on German and English-language web platforms between January 2017 and March 2018, was answered by 1,200 people from 62 different countries who listen to classical music regularly or occasionally, ranging in age from 17 to 85.

More info: https://www.hslu.ch/de-ch/hochschule-luzern/ueber-uns/medien/medienmitteilungen/2019/01/28/rezensionen-spielen-grosse-rolle-fuer-liebhaber-klassischer-musik/

The Basel composer Ernst Levy (1895-1981) first became widely known as a pianistic child prodigy. In the first half of the 20th century, he was even regarded as one of the most important pianists. He also received recognition as a music theorist, but his compositional output, which includes 15 symphonies as well as numerous pieces of chamber music and piano works, was hardly appreciated. In the USA, he pursued a university career as a professor of piano, which meant that he was not forced to compose in a particularly market-oriented manner and to take care of the performances of his works. The Sonata for flute and piano was created by Levy in 1932, but it was not premiered until 1939 at a concert in Carnegie Hall in New York with the composer himself at the piano.

The sonata, which consists of one movement and lasts just under 17 minutes, contains the classic three-movement structure in the order fast-slow-fast and is typical of Levy's compositional style, which he describes as follows: "The main characteristic of a sonata, which is inherent in its concept, is that of becoming, of development. We are not, so to speak, the same at the end of a work as we were at the beginning."

After an elegiac flute solo at the beginning, a gripping triplet motif is heard, which is accompanied by pulsating triplets from the piano. This is followed by cantilenas in both instruments, which are interwoven and imitate each other. It is interesting that the 4/4 meter written at the beginning is constantly changed so that, as the editor Timon Altwegg describes it, it soon seems like an ironic joke and a "constantly changing, quasi inhaling and exhaling musical organism" emerges from it. In the middle of the sonata follows a slow section with delicate piano passages and a cantilena by the flute, which is only sporadically accompanied by chords. It leads into a bold final section entitled "Vivo e leggiero", in which the opening motif is heard again in the flute shortly before the end of the piece.

With this sonata, Ernst Levy has created a multi-layered and interesting work that deserves a place in today's concerts.

Ernst Levy: Sonata for flute and piano, edited by Timon Altwegg, first edition, BP 2803, € 14.00, Amadeus-Verlag, Winterthur 2017

Especially if we don't have much experience with improvisation ourselves, we find it difficult to integrate this enormously enriching field of learning into our lessons. However, Thomas Silvestri's series Piano-Vamps for Improvising (Vol. 1-3) has provided me with wonderful material that has given me many new impulses and ideas for my lessons. The pieces are all based entirely on his teaching practice and only offer as much explicit theory as is necessary to get into playing quickly. Short ostinato bass figures (vamps) are presented in the booklets, which can be improvised on. The corresponding scales (major, minor, blues scale, pentablues scale etc.) are deliberately listed separately in the last part of the booklets with the intention of memorizing them first and making them your own. There are also many typical "patterns", which should be practiced as building blocks and can later be incorporated into improvisations. The aim is to build up a repertoire of good-sounding phrases and to get a feel for the different keys over time. Also highly recommended are the suggestions on how individual keys can be practiced not only as a so-called "scale", but also how, using the keyboard pattern as a guide, you can start on any note in order to diatonically transpose small motifs, intervals or chords of the scale, for example. As a result, the scales are increasingly viewed as a "tone reservoir" that starts somewhere and ends somewhere, as is naturally the case when improvising.

Also with www.silvestrimusic.ch have appeared Jazzy Tunes for Piano-Soloin versions for beginners to advanced players. These are collections of "jazzy" piano pieces, many with an improvisation section. The booklet in the intermediate difficulty range (Intermediate Vol.1), for example, offers numerous tips on scales and patterns in addition to the pieces. The author also shows how to create an improvisation sketch with notated and free passages. The individual pieces can be listened to as audio samples using a QR code.

Thomas Silvestri: Piano-Vamps for Improvising Vol. 1, Blues, Funk, Jazz, Valse, Tango, Pop, Bossa, Classic, Choro, Flamenco ... and more; booklet Fr. 20.00; PDF Fr. 10.00; self-published by Thomas Silvestri, www.silvestrimusic.ch

Guitarists Raoul Morat and Christian Fergo studied with Frank Bungarten at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, where they also joined forces to form a guitar duo. The duo formation can open up much more piano literature to the instrument than the solo guitar, for one obvious reason: as the guitar soloist only has one hand to produce the sound - he has to shorten the strings with the other - he lacks the harmonic and contrapuntal richness of the two-handed piano literature. However, two guitars ensure lossless reproduction of the piano part. The two have already ventured into Schubert's works in 2016, when they performed a Winter journey-cycle. So now Impromptus, Moments musicaux and Valses sentimentales, which will have appealed to many a guitarist. One of the Moments musicaux was already arranged by the important guitarist Francisco Tarrega in the 19th century. Now Morat and Fergo are presenting an entire collection of these character pieces, probably not entirely coincidentally on an Austrian label called Challenge Records.

At first you are a little startled: the first Impromptu from Schubert's Opus 90 begins in the original with a quadruple octave G in fortissimo. This sounds rather pathetic on two guitars. However, the further the guitar duo Morat-Fergo work their way through the musical text, the more you get caught up in the maelstrom of the music and the more and more you are fascinated. The guitars have a wealth of sound techniques at their disposal, harmonics, vibratos, pizzicati, the sounds of different positions of the plucking fingers and so on. The Lucerne duo uses them wisely and extremely tastefully to make Schubert's music iridescent in all its colors. The result is a filigree, transparent sound that makes the selected pieces appear delicate, but also modern.

The duo thus expands the repertoire of the instrument, which is truly not blessed with high-quality works from the late classical and early romantic periods, in an extremely convincing way. They strive for additional historical rootedness by recording the pieces on copies of guitars from Schubert's time. However, this hardly guarantees that the pieces are contemporary, even if the sound of the historical instruments can point to the time when the originals were written. However, it can be assumed that these piano works would have sounded strange if played on guitars at that time. The appeal of the arrangements lies in general interpretative and creative principles, rather than in efforts to make historically-informed music. The result is convincing because it illuminates the music in a timeless and intelligent way. The two recorded the CD in a concert hall at Marienmüster Abbey, partly financed by crowdfunding.

The productivity of violinist Sebastian Bohren is almost unstoppable. By his own admission, he strives to approach a piece interpretatively in such a way that it ideally "sounds as it is". In the case of Dmitri Shostakovich's Sonata op. 134 (1968) also extends the framework for this.

Originally set for violin and piano and written for the violinist Igor Oistrakh, the piano part was later transferred to a large string orchestra plus percussion. A legitimate trick. Above all, however, it was an undertaking to which Sebastian Bohren and the Camerata Zürich under the direction of Igor Karsko devoted themselves with delightful playfulness at a concert in Brugg's Stadtkirche. This live recording for Sony Classical bears witness to this.

Shostakovich's Opus 134 is both a psychogram and a tonal document of the times. In 1968, the composer was also living in a climate of fear and oppression, and was also under the influence of the violent suppression of the Prague Spring. Conducted in a sparse twelve-tone sequence, the first movement no longer provides any emotional refuge due to the lack of a basic key. The second, fast movement unleashes a ghostly dance of death. The final movement then seems like a reduced conclusion - with idiosyncratic variations on a stoic passacaglia and cleverly adapted baroque borrowings.

The performers of this new recording are united by an audible desire for objectifying clarity: Sebastian Boren's playing stands at every moment as a shining fixed star at the center of the brilliantly captured sonic events. His tone radiates all the more forcefully from an inner calm and testifies to deep spiritual concentration. Often cool and lacking in vibrato, he condenses a laconic gesture in the exposed solo parts, but also claims an unshakeable sovereignty in the most heated, virtuosic outbursts. The Camerata Zürich, with its cuttingly precise and at the same time sensually breathing interplay, creates the best conceivable sound environment for the commendable undertaking of bathing Shostakovich's stirring late work in a "rejuvenated" interpretative light.

Kaos Protokoll's second album with the tongue-twisting title Questclamationmarks was just three years ago, but a lot has changed in the band since then: Mark Stucki has been replaced on saxophone by Simon Spiess and keyboardist Luzius Schuler is also new. As a result, the trio has grown into a quartet. According to press material, the new album, Everyone Nowhere, between "post-future beats" and "modern spiritual jazz". The line-up changes have not completely overturned the sound of Kaos Protokoll, but have left an audible mark: The music seems more meditative and spherical. The first track is already a sign of this, Flash Frame, which combines muscular rhythms with drawn-out sounds of the bass clarinet and frenetic keyboard playing - and seems as cool as it is bold.

Kaos Protokoll repeatedly show their preference for electronic music. This lends the songs penned by bassist Benedikt Wieland a certain aloofness. However, melancholy moments constantly break through it. The formation particularly appreciates dealing with contrasts: While Waiting room oscillates between quiet melancholy and noise elements, works its way The Cosmos In My Backyard sometimes free jazz, sometimes elegiac art rock. As the four musicians are able to contrast abstract soundscapes almost incessantly with gentle melodies, the record gains both sharpness and tension. On the eight new songs, Kaos Protokoll constantly give free rein to their ideas. This is wild and curious, but not entirely coherent. The experiment of ending the album with a kind of rap called SunRaColtraneSolar is a daring decision, but the only non-instrumental number turns out to be a charming foreign body.