The Musicians' Union fears that touring in the EU could become significantly more difficult for British artists after Brexit. In particular, it fears that normal visas will be expensive, restricted to individual countries and associated with bureaucracy.

The British music scene already has similar experiences with engagements in the USA. The country charges groups thousands of dollars for tour visas and recently increased the fees for express visas by 15 percent. The MU fears similar effects in exchange with the EU.

The fact that European tours involve constant border crossings would drastically exacerbate the problem. Visas that cover the whole of Europe are therefore essential. The MU is already seeing artists leaving the UK and settling in the EU to avoid such travel problems.  
 

Born in 1902 in Zurich-Altstetten, Albert Hagen grew up in poor circumstances. His father was a musician and piano tuner, and Albert had inherited his talent from him. At the age of sixteen, he was already working on the electrification of bells. His patented counter-current brake system, which interrupts the swinging of the bell, proves that he was particularly inventive in this field.

As a musician, he initially played in amateur orchestras. In 1928, he was one of the founders of the Orchesterverein Dübendorf. In 1930, he had a groundbreaking encounter with accordionist Walter Wild. Over the next five years, the duo, who quickly became well-known, traveled to Berlin every June to make recordings. From 1936 to 1942, Albert Hagen then played with the already well-known Jost Ribary senior in his band in Zurich's Niederdorf pub Konkordia. In 1962, Hagen died in an accident while installing a bell in the church tower in Heimenschwand above Thun.

His estate includes many handwritten sketches of compositions, as well as construction drawings from his work as a bell fitter. The Hagen collection was donated to the House of Folk Music in Altdorf in 2011, processed in 2018, partially digitized and handed over to the Uri State Archives for definitive archiving. A large amount of handwritten sheet music, including many previously unidentified compositions without titles, is freely available on the digital platform www.volksmusik.ch.

A group of researchers from the Department of Biomedical Research (DBMR) at the University of Bern and the University Clinic for Ear, Nose and Throat Diseases (ENT), Head and Neck Surgery at Inselspital in Bern have taken a major step towards treating the causes of hearing loss in collaboration with other members of the international "OTOSTEM" consortium. For the first time, they have succeeded in mimicking the development of human hair cells, which are responsible for sound reception in the inner ear, in the laboratory. This will make it possible in future to test new treatment methods for hearing impairment directly on human cells.

Hair cells and spiral ganglion cells are formed very early in fetal development, around the tenth to eleventh week of pregnancy. They reach their final number at this stage. Loud noises, infections, ageing processes or exposure to toxins such as various antibiotics affect the sensory cells from then on. As the cells cannot yet be replaced, their loss leads to permanent hearing damage.

Original article:
Roccio, M., Perny, M., Ealy, M., Widmer, H. R., Heller, S., Senn, P., 2018. Molecular characterization and prospective isolation of human fetal cochlear hair cell progenitors, Nature Communications, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-06334-7.

On September 29, 2016, National Councillor Martina Munz submitted an interpellation on the implementation of constitutional article 67a "Music education", which was adopted on September 23, 2012, and on which the Federal Council issued a statement on November 16, 2016. The National Council was due to discuss the interpellation on December 16, 2016. However, the discussion was postponed - and not taken up again. On September 28, 2018, the matter was declared closed.

Link to the interpellation and the Federal Council's statement
 

The newly created Harald Kaufmann Prize, initiated by the University of Graz and Graz University of the Arts, honors outstanding publications in the humanities, social sciences and cultural studies as well as artistic publications. Two works by established researchers and artists as well as two works by up-and-coming artists will be awarded. The award ceremony will take place for the first time on October 12, 2018 at the University of Art and Design Graz.

Claudia Döffinger, who graduated from the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz with a degree in jazz composition and arranging at the beginning of the year, is among the award winners. She completed her master's degree in jazz piano/pedagogy at the Lucerne University of Music. Her musical work includes arrangements for various orchestras and her own compositions. With her composition "White Note Exorcist", she won the American Downbeat Student Music Award in the category Original Composition for Large Ensemble in 2017.

Themis, an inter-company confidentiality office, offers employees from the film, television and theater industry who have experienced sexual harassment and violence in connection with their work a protected space in which they can confide in a lawyer and a psychologist.

Themis is backed by seventeen industry organizations from the film, television and theater industry. These include ARD, ZDF, the federal associations for casting, directing, acting and make-up as well as the trade union Ver.di. It is named after the Greek goddess Themis, who stands for justice and social cohesion.

The Trust Office is financed by contributions from public and private television broadcasters, the Alliance of German Producers, the Collecting Society of Commissioned Producers and the German Stage Association. Themis receives public funding from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Monika Grütters.

Further information on: themis-trust.com

In Hall 1.1 on the Bernexpo site, the smallest professions from coopers to cable car mechatronics technicians are presented. And also musical instrument makers: in the area of workbenches and improvised showcases with organ pipes, bells and measuring instruments, apprentices are busy planing, gluing, drilling and tuning. They use mechanical piano and organ models to explain how the instruments work. Of the incalculable number of young people streaming past - over 115,000 people have visited Swiss Skills - quite a few stop to watch and ask questions. Who knows, maybe one or two of them will decide to take up one of the six professions that can be learned in Switzerland in musical instrument making in a four-year apprenticeship and graduate with a federal certificate of proficiency: Organ builder, organ pipe maker, piano maker, wind instrument maker, wind instrument repairer and violin maker.

Training to become a violin maker - which involves making the entire string family up to the double bass - is organized as a training workshop at the Brienz Violin Making School. It offers both craft and vocational instruction on site and has just moved into a new building. "By building new instruments with a traditional touch, the young people can learn everything they will need later in their careers, including for service work," explains Hans Rudolf Hösli, head of the violin making school. "We have no worries about recruiting new talent. We can choose from among the applicants and have no problem placing the young people in the free market after their apprenticeship. Over the year, between 20 and 40 people come by on a visit day or in between to get an impression. Those who apply with a complete dossier are invited to a two-day aptitude test. We fill two to three places there each year. We currently have a total of ten apprentices. We remain small and are geared towards the size of Switzerland, although it is also easy to find a job abroad in this profession."

The five other professions are learned in a training company, as is customary in the Swiss dual vocational training system, and attend trade school and various subject-specific inter-company courses. For apprentices from all over Switzerland, these take place at the Arenenberg Education and Advisory Center on Lake Constance. They attend the vocational school there for around 9 weeks a year in bilingual block courses. There are currently 41 young people, spread over 4 years of training and 5 specializations. This corresponds to the average of the last 10 years since these professions merged to form a joint training program, with around 80 % of lessons being taught jointly in the first year of training and 20 % in the last, with the rest being subject-specific. Jörg Gobeli, former head of the musical instrument making department at Arenenberg, admits, however, that a few more interested students could not hurt, so that the training companies would have more choice. And there are still some apprenticeship vacancies.

"There's plenty of work," confirms Oliver Zanella, who trained in both organ and piano making and has just started his own business. "Trained musical instrument makers have no problem finding a job, because there will be a kind of generational change in the next few years. The training you receive here is also highly respected worldwide and you have good opportunities to work abroad." The four-year apprenticeship in Switzerland is unparalleled internationally. In most countries there is no regulated training at all, but even in Germany the apprenticeship only lasts three and a half years. It is more difficult to find a training company, at least in the desired region. But that remains the first step. Zanella also strongly recommends getting a taste of potential training companies.

The musical instrument makers' interest group IGMIB provides information for prospective apprentices and maintains a list of companies that have already trained apprentices.

www.musikinstrumentenbauer.ch

www.geigenbauschule.ch

Anika Batt, future violin maker in her 3rd year of apprenticeship, pricks the scroll of a viola. Jana Zurkinden, future 4th-year wind instrument repairer, removes a worn pad from a saxophone key and replaces it with a new one. Corina Baumann, future violin maker in her 3rd year of training, planes the arching of a soundboard.

Stefano Kunz, a trained singer, singing teacher and graduate of an MBA in Integral Management, took over the management of the SMR in 2012. He has also been a city councillor in Schlieren (ZH) since 2014. As his city council mandate is very time-consuming and he was also appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors around a year ago, he has decided to hand over the management of the SMR. In future, he will devote himself exclusively to political work at the Music Council.

Nina Rindlisbacher is a qualified nurse and lawyer. She initially worked in the healthcare sector and then worked as a lawyer for several years, including at the Faculty of Law at the University of Fribourg. She has always been involved in the cultural sector as a sideline. She has worked for film and music festivals and for ten years for a concert organizer in Bern. She plays the flute and piano and has been involved in several music projects as an instrumentalist and singer over the years. She has been working for the SMR as an assistant since December 2017 and took over the management of the office on September 1, 2018.

The decision to close the school was made despite a petition for a referendum entitled "For the preservation of professional music education in the canton of Neuchâtel" and is supported by the canton's Grand Council. The initiative, which still has to be decided on, writes the canton, does not demand that any future vocational training must take place within the existing structures. 

The closure of the HEM-NE has no impact on the canton's conservatory, writes the State Council. It will continue to take on the task of preparing any professional music students for their training. 

With the new version of the cultural concept, the canton is setting three development goals in the promotion of culture that address important cultural impulses for Thurgau and enable sustainable cultural promotion. These are the implementation of the museum strategy for the cantonal museums, the stronger networking of event organizers in the cultural sector and new impulses for the Thurgau music scene. These development goals are intended to promote stronger networking and encourage cooperation.

A large number of active ensembles and organizations organize concerts, music series and festivals in the canton. However, innovative projects are rather rare and cross-genre projects or those that create new synergies are few and far between, writes the canton. The focus is therefore intended to encourage more exchange and cooperation across genre boundaries and give new impetus to the Thurgau music landscape.

The desire for stronger networking in the decentralized canton is of particular concern to cultural professionals and organizations. Discussion rounds were held with them in advance in order to gather suggestions and ideas and to clarify concerns regarding cantonal cultural promotion.

With the new cultural concept, over one million francs more is expected to flow from the lottery fund each year. Overall, the planned contributions for the years 2019 to 2022 will increase from CHF 9,746,000 per year to CHF 10,791,000. The annual contributions for performance agreements will increase from CHF 2,646,000 to CHF 3,091,000 due to numerous increases.

The new cultural concept will apply from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2022, and all service agreements with cultural sponsors will also be concluded for this period. To simplify matters for applicants, all criteria for the granting of subsidies can now be accessed directly online at www.kulturamt.tg.ch.
 

In 1967, the song "Lesotho, Land of our Fathers" became the national anthem of the constitutional monarchy of Lesotho. The melody was written by Ferdinand Samuel Laur (1791-1854), the founder of the Basler Gesangsverein. Around 1870, it can be found as a song with Sesothic lyrics in a schoolbook of the British crown colony of Basutoland.

"Our country"? - Lesotho's Swiss national anthem, an exhibition in the Basel University Library and a richly illustrated book, now trace the unusual history of this melody.

Basel University Library, September 28 to December 1, 2018
 

Joachim Raff (1822-1882) has long been an insider tip among admirers of late Romantic German music. His complete symphonies, concertos, chamber music and piano works have long been recorded on CD, and new editions of his works have been appearing for twenty years, for example in Edition Nordstern, Stuttgart. Indeed, the composer fills many a gap in the repertoire where there are few contemporary comparative pieces - especially in chamber and concert music. As a composer supported by Mendelssohn and in the 1850s as a member of the Liszt circle, and later as a composer associated with Hans von Bülow and Clara Schumann, he was close to both the conservative (Brahms) and neo-German (Liszt, Wagner) movements of the time. In addition to his compositional activities, Raff was also active as a music writer and teacher, most recently as director of the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt am Main.

The fact that Raff was born in Lachen on Lake Zurich has long aroused the interest of local music lovers, above all Res Marty, who co-founded the Raff Society in Lachen 46 years ago on the composer's 150th birthday. Two years ago, these activities were intensified, and with Severin Kolb and Stefan König, a scientific team was formed that has now laid the foundation for purposeful research with cleverly constructed databases. Manuscripts and early prints of all works (at least in reproductions) were collected, over 3000 letters (with detailed registers) were recorded, pictures and biographical material were collected. Lachen was to become a "competence center" for Raff research along the lines of the Carl Maria von Weber Complete Edition or the Max Reger and Martinů Institutes.

Now, thanks to the intervention of a foundation, it has even become possible at short notice to move into dignified rooms in the house that stands on the site of Raff's birthplace. At last, Swiss musicologists looking for dissertation topics have also taken up this rather coincidental local reference, as Raff's birth on the upper part of Lake Zurich was only due to the fact that his father had to flee to Switzerland to avoid being drafted into the army in his Swabian homeland. It should not be overlooked that Raff left Switzerland for good at the age of 23 and from then on devoted his entire interest to musical life north of the Rhine.

On September 7, 2018, the Raff Archive was opened in a festive, culinary ceremony in Lachen, with musical accompaniment by Ingolf Turban (violin), Dmitri Demiashkin (piano) and the duo Sibylle Diethelm (vocals) and Fabienne Romer (piano). In some witty speeches, the rosy future of Lachen as a place of musical research was conjured up in front of a large and illustrious audience. The following evening in Lachen church, local musicians performed a concert that provided an overview of Raff's oeuvre, from the organ works to the second cello concerto.

To mark the opening of the archive, an international academic symposium was held over two days (September 7 and 8) under the title "Syntheses" to re-establish Joachim Raff's work as a subject of music research. Musicologists and a musicologist from Germany who had studied Raff and three doctoral students from the Institute of Musicology at the University of Zurich were invited to attend.

It would be asking too much to expect comprehensive research results from the work that has just begun. Thus, the long series of lectures remained limited to proclamations, overviews of Raff's achievements in the various genres (piano music, symphonic music, chamber music, song, choral music) and insights into initial detailed studies of individual works: the String Quartet op. 77 and the opera "Samson", which was never performed in its entirety. More interesting were observations on the context: on the one hand, Raff's failures as an opera composer were made understandable on the basis of his contacts to the politically influential "Theater Duke" Ernst II of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; on the other hand, it became clear that Raff was a special case: a composer who hardly ever played his own works himself and very rarely conducted them, and was therefore dependent on a network of performers from Breslau to Boston.

The rapid and abundant reception of Raff's orchestral music in the USA was the subject of another lecture, which also provided evidence of how rapidly the popularity of Raff's music waned after the turn of the century in both the New and the Old World. The most illuminating contribution showed how directly the idealistic philosophy of that era was reflected in Raff's compositional thinking and in his pedagogy. A symposium report is due to be published next year.

As enlightening as some of his statements were, the question remains as to whether Raff's time in the concert hall will ever come again or whether he will remain a field of research for a few music historians. After all, his output of works of varying scope and weight is huge in two senses of the word: on the one hand, he romped about in almost all genres, while on the other, his works are characterized by remarkable prolixity. However, it will be interesting to see whether the basic research in the new Lachen archive will lead to findings by the 200th anniversary of Raff's death in four years' time, which will then allow a fundamental reassessment of the music written by this musical gourmand.

ks. In spring 2018, the Cultural History Society of March published a richly illustrated brochure. It traces Raff's connections to the world and back to Lachen. Archive manager Severin Kolb has compiled the various texts, around 80 photos, numerous quotes and three appendices into a rich documentation. Contributions were made by

Res Marty: "Raff renaissance" in the March. 45 years of the Joachim Raff Society (1972-2017)
Severin Kolb: On the trail of a "thinking musician". A Joachim Raff archive for Lachen
Walter Labhart: Raff as an inspiration for Tchaikovsky, Mahler and Debussy (Lecture in the 2012/2013 concert season)
Rainer Bayreuther: Joachim Raff's "King Alfred" and the national movement in Germany (Lecture in the 2012/2013 concert season)
Hans-Joachim Hinrichsen: Hans von Bülow and Joachim Raff. The story of a friendship (Lecture in the 2012/2013 concert season)
Lion Gallusser, Dominik Kreuzer, Severin Kolb: From grand opera to music drama, from music drama to comic opera - Raff's "Samson" in the context of his operatic oeuvre
(Excerpt from the "Samson" brochure of the Joachim Raff Society [2017)]

Joachim Raff
From March to the world - and back
Marchring issue no. 61/2018, published by Marchring, Kunsthistorische Gesellschaft der March, ed. Severin Kolb, Zurich, Head of the Joachim Raff Archive, 132 pages, Fr. 20.-, available from www.marchring.ch

With two striking orchestral works from the 1980s and a premiere by a Swiss composer, the Basel Sinfonietta under its Principal Conductor Baldur Brönnimann ambitious into the new season. To the upbeat internet presence of the orchestra the "world premiere" of the App Onstage. The concert was captured by four stage cameras and transmitted to cell phones via an app. Many audience members tested the various functions. One successful idea was to display the scores of the works performed - although you would have needed at least one tablet to decipher the small print. The attraction quickly wore off, especially as there was enough to hear and see in real life. As the concert progressed, more and more phones disappeared and the program booklets were opened.

In any case, the main event of the evening was the highly ambitious program with the moderately original title "Earth" Crumb dances with Beat. The work of the British artist George Crumb, A Haunted Landscape (1985), and Earth Dances by Harrison Birtwistle, composed in 1985/86, formed the framework for the Swiss premiere of Beat Furrer's piece Nero su Nero The two Anglo-Saxons realize the theme in a pictorial, colorful, even romantic way, while Furrer's music manages without any colored pencils at all.
 

Crumb's mostly calm but imaginative music relies on numerous, sometimes exotic percussion instruments. Together with the fearsome wind instruments, they create a spooky atmosphere. The strings are used relatively little. Where they do, they exude calm and transfiguration. In the work commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, performed at the time under the direction of Zubin Metha, among others, Crumb wanted to set the mysteriousness of familiar landscapes to music.

Beat Furrer's Nero su NeroThe piece, premiered in June 2018 by the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra under Cornelius Meister, is dominated by gloom. The program text speaks of "gradations of darkness". The conductor began by pointing out the three-part structure of the work, in which winds and strings play with and against each other in two layers. The winds repeatedly push themselves glaringly and crosswise between the strings. The middle section, peppered with microtones and glissandi, brings temporary calm, which is soon recharged with energy and once again leads to conflict.

Earth Dances is considered one of the contemporary masterpieces for orchestra that is as rich as it is difficult to perform. Birtwistle wrote this 40-minute piece for the BBC Symphony Orchestra and dedicated it to Pierre Boulez, who first performed it with the Ensemble Modern Orchestra in Frankfurt in 2001. The listener is taken on a mysterious journey through a tangled musical landscape with sudden, overwhelming climaxes. The composer has created six instrumental layers, each with different functions, which interlock or connect, collide or break apart. With this powerful musical material, he wanted to recreate the movements of tectonic plates with their eruptions and convulsions.
The score is characterized by a complex rhythm which later intensifies into a throbbing, continuous and almost jazzy pulse. The rapid solo by the viola section deserves praise. Occasionally, rhythmic patterns emerge only to disappear again shortly afterwards. Melodic islands in various instrumental groups briefly spread a sense of well-being and then disappear again.

The Sinfonietta played under high tension. It was obvious that the performers were still struggling with the pitfalls of the score. Not all the pizzicati arrived on time. Baldur Brönnimann proved to be a safe organizer who always remained prudent, reliable and consistent in his precise markings, a certainty that helped the orchestra to get by. Despite everything, the musicians are to be congratulated for having the courage to perform this monumental and demanding work.
 

Felix Heri, Managing Director of the Basel Sinfonietta, explained to the Swiss Music Newspaper the use of the app: "It is crucial for us to think about how we communicate our work to the audience. The question of the concert experience in the 21st century is a top priority.
This app offers us the opportunity to digitally expand the concert space and gain new experiences in this regard. Over 200 people actively used the app during the concert and many gave feedback, which we are currently evaluating. The individual verbal feedback after the concert was mixed. It ranged from 'a real benefit' to 'cell phones don't belong in the concert'. The topic was also discussed controversially in the orchestra and there were certain reservations. However, the orchestra board did not hesitate to implement this project. The audience and the orchestra got involved and we were able to encourage discussion and try out new approaches. The app will be used again on October 21 at our 2nd subscription concert, for example to observe the soloist's performance more closely in Michel Roth's new percussion work for Christian Dierstein. No further assignments are currently planned. But we will certainly continue to experiment."
 

Basel musicians, whether professional or not, can present their ideas and music in unusual spaces or open air on the three days of the festival: in churches, in private homes, on walks or in elevators, to name but a few. Sunday was designed as a "family day", with the motto being "join in, try out, listen, learn".

Photo: Benno Hunziker / Klang Basel

The Millenials of the Basel Music School under the direction of Petra Vogel

It was a packed network festival that impressively demonstrated what Basel has to offer in terms of music and musical styles. Something that Anne Brugnoni, Head of the Basel Music School, particularly appreciates: "At Klang Basel, we can present our diversity and versatility in styles and concert formats to the public." The music school is represented by up to ten different groups. "For the music school ensembles, this is an opportunity to bring a performance to a high level with intensive practice and to try out unusual formats in unfamiliar spaces." This time, the Millenials, a group of twelve young people from the Jazz Basel music school under the direction of Petra Vogel, also took part. They performed gospels and songs in front of around 60 visitors in the Kreuzkirche.

At Klang Basel, however, there was also the possibility of violent changes of scene, as the example of Chez Soif on Riehenring shows. Once you had made it up the steep cellar stairs in one piece, you found yourself in a vaulted cellar with seating for around 40 people. "Bass drop in - no fun without bass!" was the title of the invitation. Basses in all variations could be experienced every hour, from jazz bass to pop & rock and blues bass. During our visit, Henry Imboden on electric bass, Robi Schweizer on fretless electric bass and Felix Handschin on drums kicked things off.

Photo: Benno Hunziker / Klang Basel

"From the House of Bach" with Jermaine Sprosse

Jazz, rock and baroque were followed by yodeling - an unexpectedly inspiring event with the Trio Jüützigs on a walk along the banks of the Rhine. Seraina Clark-Wüthrich, Lars Handschin and Renate Schwank presented a tour through the yodeling landscape, with the audience of over a hundred people singing along to the Muotathal and Toggenburg natural yodels.

Photo: Benno Hunziker / Klang Basel

Paul Hanmer & Derek Gripper with Hopkinson Smith brought desert blues and baroque

The interdisciplinary concerts were exciting, such as the performance at the Center for African Studies by Paul Hanmer & Derek Gripper together with Hopkinson Smith, who combined desert blues and baroque. Hanmer on the clavichord and Gripper on the classical guitar played music inspired by Mali in an incredibly subtle, soft-toned manner. Hopkinson Smith also interpreted several pieces on his lute, for example by Johann Kapsberger. It was very harmonious house music. In general, there were many small, fine concerts lasting no more than an hour, the range was huge.

The major institutions were also involved, such as the Basel Symphony Orchestra, which performed across all genres with the Noti Wümié duo. Or Alberto Garcia Tribal, whose world music project featured percussionists, bassists, wind players, singers and dancers. But even if you would have liked to attend more events, your ears were overflowing!
 

700,619,896 hours of volunteer work were carried out in Switzerland in 2014, both inside and outside of associations, of which around 48,000,000 hours were spent in cultural organizations. If they were remunerated at an hourly rate of CHF 50, this would amount to 5.5 % of gross domestic product and would correspond to the amount spent annually on education by the federal government, cantons and municipalities. Markus Freitag, Professor of Political Science at the University of Bern, opened his presentation with these impressive figures. Around a quarter of the Swiss population is involved in some form of unpaid voluntary work in associations. A basic distinction is made between voluntary work (outside the home) and domestic and family work (at home).

The meeting was opened by the President of the Parliamentary Group for Music, National Councillor Stefan Müller-Altermatt, with a pessimistic example: In his home canton of Solothurn, where he himself is active as a brass musician, no cantonal music festival will take place next year because no association felt able to shoulder the costs of such a festival. Problems of this kind seem to be becoming more frequent. Freitag also confirmed that voluntary commitment is declining in all areas.

There are obvious reasons for this in today's lifestyle. It is not only the traditional roles within the family that are changing, but also the socio-cultural composition of the population. The demands placed on individuals in their daily lives have increased, meaning that they have less time at their disposal, while at the same time individualization - driven by prosperity, mobility and the Internet - is advancing. Instead of joining a local club, everyone can travel to wherever they find the leisure activities they want. People often do not limit their activities to their place of residence, so that no basis for community volunteering can form there.

Now, you could argue that activities are simply disappearing that younger generations no longer see the need for. But it's not that simple. In a country like Switzerland, where not only cultural and sporting structures, but also political work is based on the militia system, the decline in commitment to the community is highly worrying. Volunteering is an essential foundation of the community. It has also been proven to correlate with responsible voting behavior: People who volunteer also go to the ballot box. It is therefore all the more surprising that volunteering is barely present in political discussions. One symptom of this, according to Markus Freitag, could be that the Parliamentary Group on Volunteering, which existed just a few years ago, has "disappeared".

Volunteer work is indispensable for music associations and clubs. Karin Niederberger, President of the Swiss Yodelling Association (EJV), explained how her association has tried to reorganize voluntary work in the almost ten years since she took over the presidency. It all began with a crisis at the office, which was overwhelmed with work far in excess of the paid workload. In a lengthy process, they then evaluated all the work of the committees and people involved and set them down in workloads. A target of 40 % of this work was set. This resulted in additional costs of CHF 120,000, which had to be raised internally within the association. However, Niederberger emphasized that it was by no means possible to pay for all activities, not only because there was not enough money, but also because otherwise you would probably get the wrong people who would no longer have any connection to the matter or any inner drive. However, compensation is important, a balanced mixture of recognition, thanks and financial compensation. So it is now okay for her to be absent from her family or her husband's business because of her association work.

Niederberger appealed to politicians not to keep putting new hurdles in the way of the associations. The EJV organizes large peaceful festivals for the population and it is offensive that it has to bear the high security costs itself, while these are charged to the taxpayer for major sporting events. She also pleaded for higher structural contributions from the Federal Office of Culture to the associations, with strong support from other association representatives. Freitag underpinned her vote: "Event volunteering will not be the problem in the future either, but regular commitment that is not in the limelight."

"Someone always pays," interjected Daniel Schranz, former President of the Swiss Federal Orchestra Association, towards the end of the event, "the partner, the family or the income if you only work part-time because of a time-intensive voluntary position." He therefore spoke out in favor of the tax deductibility of volunteer work. This is also a recurring postulate, Freitag replied. What is needed is political will and visibility!

A glance around revealed that this is far from the case at the moment: apart from Müller-Altermatt, no one from parliament was present - and that cannot completely excuse the AHV and tax debate in the councils.