The view of Untersee from Arenenberg is simply fantastic. Napoleon III thought so when he built a castle in Salenstein in Thurgau. Anna Gassner was also convinced that it was the right place to spend an enjoyable vacation when she and her fellow musicians set up a music camp for adults five years ago. Right from the start, the organizing committee received support from the Thurgau Cantonal Music Association and the Thurgau Music Schools Association.

Relaxation, culinary delights and making music together - this was also the motto of this year's active vacation, which took place in the last week of July, as in previous years. Over 40 participants registered and enthusiastically made music under the expert guidance of conductors Bruno Uhr and Roland A. Huber. Four additional music teachers were brought in for rehearsals, workshops and ensembles.

The feedback was extremely positive. One participant wrote: "I was simply happy as can be." In a first meeting, the OC has now taken stock and discussed how participants' wishes can be taken into account and in which direction the music vacations should continue to develop in the coming years. After the past five years, one thing is clear: the increasing number of participants shows that there is a need for active music vacations. In order to ensure the continuation of the program, a supporting association is to be founded in the near future.

The hotel and training rooms have already been booked again for the Arenenberg Music Holidays 2018 from Tuesday, July 24 to Friday, July 27, and registration is now open:

www.musikferien-arenenberg.ch
 

The SCV is recognized by Suisa as an industry association, and the SCV, its sub-associations and choirs receive the association discount provided for in the tariff. The joint tariff K (concerts, concert-like performances, shows, ballet, theater) is now also applicable to them.

In tariff group Hb (music performances for dance and entertainment), the conditions under which performance and license rights are compensated have been improved: all events of this type are now covered. Tariff B (music associations and orchestral societies) continues to apply unchanged.

The contract was signed on August 28, 2017 in Aarau in the presence of the Deputy Director of Suisa, Vincent Salvadé, and the Central President of the SCV, Claude-André Mani. Vincent Salvadé will present the contract in detail at the semi-annual meeting of the SCV Central Board in Martigny VS in November.

The prize of 5,000 Swiss francs has been awarded annually since 2011 in memory of the Swiss composer and pioneer of electroacoustic music Giuseppe Englert (1927-2007). This year, it was awarded to the joint project "Phonotopie du sol: Dynamique de la topographie sur l'acoustique du lieu" by Nicole Graber (Hintermann & Weber Lausanne) and Frank Pecquet (Sorbonne Paris) at the start of the Rencontres Architecture Musique Ecologie (R.A.M.E.) at Leuk Castle.

The jury was made up of Jean-Marie Rapin, Guillaume Billaux, Sara Maino, all three for the R.A.M.E., and Javier Hagen for the IGNM-VS, the Valais chapter of the International Society for New Music, which hosted the award ceremony and the R.A.M.E. in Leuk.

The Rencontres Architecture Musique Ecologie R.A.M.E. bring together an international group of architects, urbanists, acousticians, philosophers, composers, musicologists and musicians for lectures, discussions, performances and excursions on current issues in environmental acoustics.
 

"I take one step to the right and one step diagonally forward. I now stand six steps vertically away from my starting position. I breathe - and play a trill." In Brigitta Muntendorf's Screen Sharing. Come into my inhabitable world Rümlingen 2017 comes to the fore in condensed form. On the one hand, the saxophonist moving to the words underlines the motto "17 läuft. Music in motion". On the other hand, his isolated solo trills point to a thinning out of the program. The budget was obviously much smaller than in previous years. The result: only two major productions in the form of Muntendorf's Screen Sharing and Penelope Wehrli's Eadweard's rafta kind of performance that goes by the name of "Interface for dancers, composers and musicians".

You have to know: The play's namesake, Eadweard Muybridge, caused a sensation in the late 19th century with his chronophotographic studies of movement. In the style of a flip-book, he lined up photographs in such a way that it was possible to analyze a horse's gallop, for example. Penelope Wehrli, the Zurich-born stage designer and performance artist, is now updating Muybridge's ideas in Rümlingen: She is equipping dancers with movement sensors. Their reduced shrugs and snake-like undulations are fed into a computer, which instantly calculates a graphic and traditional notation for two accordion players.

The concept is obvious. Here, the dancers do not react to the music, but the music reacts to the dancers, who in turn - in a kind of perpetual motion machine - respond to the accordion notes. What is fascinating in the first few minutes soon reveals its weaknesses. Time delays are not the main problem. But in the long run, both the fragmentary interjections of the musicians and the dance movements become all too monotonous. A differentiation of the computer algorithms could perhaps solve the problem. A more multi-layered structure for this dance performance might also be conceivable. In Rümlingen, it remains a somewhat bland performance, but one that could, perhaps should, motivate us to think further.
 

Brigitta Muntendorf's audiovisual piece, premiered in this form, is more entertaining Screen Sharing. Come into my inhabitable world. In the attic of the Rümlingen church, she stages, as she writes, an "interface between the real, uninhabitable and an artificial, virtual world". For the composer, everyday life and virtuality interpenetrate - they become indistinguishable, for example, where people satisfy their real sexual needs on platforms such as Youporn. Sex is in Screen Sharing little talk of it. However, YouTube snippets play a major role, overlapping with the musicians' actions on site.

Muntendorf designs the attic with instrument stations, large video screens and beautiful lighting effects in a sensitive yet highly professional manner. It all works harmoniously, developing a pull with all its additions. Pop rhythms can be heard, sterile synthesizer sounds, then wind instruments in solo or even a voice that speaks fragmentary English or German sentences. Similarities with Manos Tsangaris' station theater cannot be overlooked. Muntendorf also has individual actors sitting at their tables, with one or the other taking center stage.

Such a rich narrative is probably, among other things, a response to a complex contemporary world. In the midst of this "collage-like and rhizomatic" (Muntendorf) aesthetic of representation, however, questions also arise: Youtube could also be seen from an ideology-critical point of view. Simply quoting is too easy. At the moment when digital distraction is becoming an acute social problem, artists (and concept lovers!) should perhaps lift a finger. Or at least look for ways to create something binding again. So it is primarily the fragmentary that sticks to Rümlingen. - Unfortunately, this usually doesn't have a long half-life.

Born in Frankfurt, Marc Lewon specializes in medieval and Renaissance music and is an expert in the field of early music. He studied lute with Crawford Young with a minor in voice and fiddle in his postgraduate studies at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and graduated with distinction. He had previously received his Magister Artium cum laude for his studies in musicology and ancient German studies at the University of Heidelberg.

The medieval department of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis was founded in the early 1970s by Wulf Arlt, then director of the Basel Schola Cantorum, and was initially staffed by members of Thomas Binkley's early music studio. In the 1980s, the central professorships for lute and fiddle were awarded to the musicians who are retiring this year: the lutenist Crawford Young and the fiddle player Randall Cook.

Friends Marc Lewon (lute) and Baptiste Romain (fiddle) were able to assert themselves in the application process. Both play together in their own ensembles and are often asked to play individually or as a team in other ensembles. They both teach master classes and ensemble courses for medieval music.

Born in Courtételle, Beuchat completed his Master of Arts in Performance with Barbara Locher at the Lucerne School of Music in summer 2016. Preliminary studies as a violonist, lessons with Wicus Slabbert and Edith Lienbacher and masterclasses with Margreet Honig, Klaus Mertens and Ton Koopman rounded off his musical training to date. In the 2015/16 season, he was a permanent member of the Lucerne Theater ensemble.

The Bertelsmann Stiftung's international singing competition Neue Stimmen was initiated in 1987 by the patron Liz Mohn. It is regarded as one of the most important international platforms for young opera singers. Young opera singers can use the competition to establish contacts with jury members, artistic directors and agents.

The internship includes administrative help and management assistance, editing the monthly SME newsletter, updating the homepage and other online platforms as well as working on projects (festivals and trade fairs).

We are looking for a person who enjoys Swiss pop music, is interested in the market mechanisms in the music business, has a talent for organization and good language skills for six months starting in October 2017.

Swiss Music Export (SME) supports Swiss artists and bands that correspond to the concept of pop in the broadest sense and are seeking their way abroad. To this end, it is constantly developing its structures and resources as well as its positioning.

More info:
http://swiss-music-export.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/SME_Praktikum_Ausschreibung_Aug17.pdf

Stefan Keller's music left no one indifferent: Some people's ears hurt at first, while others were almost put into a trance by the overwhelming sounds - superbly produced by Rafael Rütti, piano, Mateusz Szczepkowski, violin, and David Schnee, viola. The conversation between the composer, musicians and audience opened up further spaces: on the second listen Swing (2015) for viola, violin and piano and the Piece for piano (2009) is then easier to grasp. And they are looking forward to the music that will now be created over the course of a month in the artist's villa high above the lake. It will be a song that could perhaps - if the International Othmar Schoeck Competition for Lied Duos is held again - be a compulsory piece. Lydia Opilik and Anna Bertogna, the winners of the competition as part of the Othmar Schoeck Festival 2016 (the Schweizer Musikzeitung reported), will present the status of the commissioned work on September 17 as the final point of the residency. Before that, Stefan Keller will show other aspects of his work on September 2: he has been involved with Indian music for several years and has learned to play the tabla. Phoenix for tabla and live electronics, which he composed in 2017 and premiered in Milan in May.

Stefan Keller in dialog with musicians and audience

The residency scholarship is awarded by the Stiftung Auslandschweizerplatz with the support of the Organization of the Swiss Abroad. In 2017, the scholarship was awarded in cooperation with the Board of Trustees of the Othmar Schoeck Festival.

Born in Moscow in 1989, Tonkonogov studied at the Gnesin Institute of Music in the class of Natalia Suslova and with Mikhail Voskresensky at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory. In 2009, he took part in Van Cliburn's master class in Moscow in honor of the cellist Mstislav L. Rostropovich.

In 2015, 21-year-old Daria Korotkova from St. Petersburg won the first prize in the Valiant Soloist Competition for young pianists at the Murten Classics Festival.

After 20 years as overall director of the "Alpentöne" International Music Festival, Felber took over responsibility for his tenth and final festival in August 2017 at his own request. In Pius Knüsel, the Altdorf municipal council has found a successor for the festival presidency from the 2019 edition, according to the press release. His experience in the cultural sector promises a successful continuation of the established festival. Johannes Rühl will remain artistic director.

Knüsel is currently Director of the Zurich Adult Education Center. From 2002 to 2012, he was Director of the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia. During this time, he opened up access to national cultural funding for popular culture with the "Echos" impulse program. Before his departure, he caused a great deal of controversy with the book "Der Kulturinfarkt", which he co-authored with two German co-authors.

The glass door of the concert hall opens. The pianist stands up and greets me personally. From the cards he holds out to me, I pull out George Gershwin's Embraceble You in an arrangement by Earl Wild. Then I take a seat in the only armchair. No one rustles with the program booklet, no one coughs. I am all alone with Benjamin Engeli, who plays the first delicate notes on the grand piano. The world outside the glass is far away.

The undulating chord breaks combine with the milled waves on the wooden wall to form an ocean on which I am happy to drift. The sound of the grand piano, which is just a meter away from me, embraces me until I am released back into everyday life, completely filled with music. A handshake, a few words, then it's the next concertgoer's turn. The so-called Spielbox, which is being used for the first time at the Davos Festival (Young Artists in Concert), has long been a dream of artistic director Reto Bieri - now it has been realized by a local carpentry firm. The glass, soundproofed container with its beautiful wooden floor can be placed anywhere. "Concert halls are getting bigger and bigger, the programs more interchangeable. As a result, the individual musical experience is often lost. In Davos, we now offer the greatest exclusivity with the smallest concert hall in the world," says Bieri. A musician meets an audience member: a personal encounter instead of a mass event. The Spielbox ensures intimacy, directness and often great emotions. Tears have also been shed at these five-minute, free concerts, which can be enjoyed every day between 11 a.m. and 12 noon during the festival on the lively Bubenbrunnenplatz. A total of 32 pieces were composed for the 18 square meter space - from Rico Gubler's dissolving waltz to Fake news by Reto Bieri himself, in which the listener has to act out strong emotions. On Sunday morning, all kinds of appointments are already booked. Nine-year-old Jon Arvid also drops by the Spielbox with his family before a mountain bike tour. "I was a bit nervous, but then the pianist was very nice and told me something about the piece. It was about birds that whistle less at lunchtime." Maurice Ravel's Oiseaux tristes becomes a personal experience of nature for Jon Arvid. The one-to-one situation in the Spielbox is also unusual for pianist Benjamin Engeli. "The listener's reaction is extremely direct - you never get such honest feedback in a concert hall."
 

More thought is given to music in Davos than at other festivals. Listening habits are questioned, new concert venues are tried out - whether by the lake, on the alp or in the train station. The annual motto is taken from everyday life. After "Roundabout" and "Family Zone", Reto Bieri has chosen "Playground" as the guiding theme for the third year of his directorship. The name says it all. In the morning concert "Chess moves" in St. Paul's Church, Alexander Boeschoten plays with Wilhelm Zobls Chess Waltz No. 1 a game between Karpov and Kasparov on the piano - the bars of the Strauss waltz are combined according to chess squares. During the long "Homo-Ludens-Night" at the Hotel Schweizerhof, Mozart's composition while bowling meets Kegelstatt trio to Gilles Grimaître's vibrant jazz sonata for solo piano by George Antheil. The Polish ensemble Małe Instrumenty's Chopin performance on detuned toy pianos is somewhat reminiscent of Hape Kerkeling's legendary Hurz performance in its absurdity. But there is also room for nonsense on Reto Bieri's playground, which is always a field for experimentation.

With the 13-member Davos Festival Chamber Choir under the direction of Andreas Felber, a first-class vocal ensemble is available to perform Paul Alpenzellers folk piece The daughter of the Arvenhof (1920; directed by Inge Krichau Sadowsky) with Schubert songs. A guest house was specially built into the Kirchner Museum Davos for this purpose. The painted backdrops are by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner himself, who first came to Davos a hundred years ago and was repeatedly engaged as a theater painter for the local amateur dramatics. The daily, well-attended open singing of the chamber choir has become an integral part of the festival program.
 

A total of 80 young instrumentalists from 20 countries will be on site for the entire two-week festival with a rather modest budget by Swiss standards of 750,000 francs and will perform in various formations, from duets to chamber orchestras. The Frankfurt Aris Quartet will present a highly dramatic, finely branched interpretation of Felix Mendelssohn's F minor Quartet op. 80, while Swiss cellist Chiara Enderle will captivate audiences with her clarity and great expressiveness, and not only in Olli Mustonen's Sonata for Cello and Piano. Mustonen takes center stage as composer in residence with his tonally bound, spiritually tinged, thoroughly playful music and can also be experienced as pianist and conductor.
Bieri's attempts to find a new audience are successful, at least in the ticket hall of Davos station. All the seats are taken before the start. The announcement is made over the station loudspeaker. Even the children sitting on the floor listen attentively to Paul Taffanel's wind quintet. Only one local, who walks past the audience, scowls and mutters "So ä Schissdreck". When the young percussionist Fabian Ziegler on the marimba plays Astor Piazzolla's Libertango comes to life, there is undivided enthusiasm. Even the regular slamming of the toilet door cannot jeopardize this.
 

Photo: Georg Rudiger

Fabian Ziegler in the Davos ticket hall

As the results of Expo 2015 in Milan show, world exhibitions are of interest to Swiss foreign policy in political, economic, scientific and cultural terms, writes the WBK-N (National Council Committee for Science, Education and Culture) in its communication.

The first world exhibition to be organized in the Arab world will take place in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates from October 2020 to April 2021 under the motto "Connecting minds, building the future". The budget for the Swiss pavilion is around CHF 15 million, half of which will be covered by sponsors. With 16 votes in favor, 2 against and 5 abstentions, the committee requested approval of the credit commitment.

It first took note of the details of Switzerland's participation and then discussed how an exchange of values between Switzerland and the host country could be promoted. The Commission also noted that it would like to follow the development of international relations in the region.

The German Record Critics' Award is an independent association of currently 156 music critics and journalists from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Once a year, they award the German Record Critics' Prize, up to 14 annual prizes from various musical genres for the best productions of the past year, which are selected by a jury-wide committee. The current longlist includes the new CD by Les Passions de l'Ame in the chamber music category.

The members of Les Passions de l'Ame are internationally active specialists in early music and work as soloists, chamber musicians and orchestral musicians as well as lecturers for institutions such as the Fribourg Baroque Orchestra, the Belgian Baroque Orchestra Ghent B'Rock, the Antwerp Conservatory and the Bern University of the Arts. The conductor and concertmaster is Meret Lüthi, who was born in Bern.

According to the Lucerne School of Music's press release, Robinson was able to impress in Monk's "Rhythm A Ning" and with a solo performance of his own composition. He showed "an extremely cultivated touch and a clear and mature musical language". The interplay with the rhythm section - consisting of Hans Ärmel (bass) and Pius Baschnagel (drums) - was outstanding.

The trio breathed naturally and captivated the audience. Compositionally, Robinson also amazed the audience with a virtuoso contrapuntal composition of his own, which seemed like an invention by Bach and was exceptional in its convincing performance, according to the statement.

Focal dystonia in instrumental musicians only affects professional musicians, for example orchestral musicians or music teachers. The number of affected musicians is growing, and younger musicians are also affected. Because muscles and blood vessels are no longer in their normal state of tension, those affected suffer from neurological movement disorders. In extreme cases, musicians can no longer play their instrument at all.

The illness is caused by too little rest, exhaustion, competition and pressure to perform, but also permanent overload in the private sphere. The healing process is usually lengthy.

The German Orchestra Association (DOV) has long campaigned for the recognition of focal dystonia as an occupational disease. It is now one of five diseases to be recognized with the amendment to the German Occupational Diseases Ordinance.