Unlike many comparable opera houses around the world, the opera house has no storage facilities in the main building. The Kügeliloo storage building at Binzmühlestrasse 210 in Zurich-Oerlikon, which was built in 1964 and has been owned by the opera house since 2000, is used for this purpose.

According to the notification from the Canton of Zurich, the roof structure of the warehouse building is contaminated with sprayed asbestos and there are also other harmful substances in the building. The asbestos removal is unavoidable because no changes may be made to these components in contact with sprayed asbestos until professional removal has been carried out.

Raising the height of the hall in the Kügeliloo storage building saves the construction of a temporary emergency roof for the asbestos removal and creates the space required to add a level to the existing shelving system. This means that the wooden shelving can be dispensed with and the overall storage capacity can be doubled. This means that the rented storage space is no longer required.

This building project was developed by Meletta Strebel Architekten AG, Zurich, who were selected in summer 2015 in a planning selection process carried out by the Canton of Zurich's Building Department.
 

Do we hear the same music differently in the Berlin Philharmonie than in the Leipzig Gewandhaus? Does seeing influence hearing - and vice versa? The State Institute for Music Research has set up a virtual concert hall to measure the sensations of hearing and seeing music in different environments.

In addition, a homepage with an interactive map goes online, on which Berlin concert life between 1880 and 1945 can be traced.

The Berlin State Institute for Music Research (SIM) is a musicological research institution. Its main areas of research are historically oriented music theory, instrumentology and musicological bibliography. The SIM also includes a musical instrument museum with a forum for events - from scientific symposia to discussion concerts with early music on historical instruments from the collection to interactive sound installations.

SIM is also in the early stages of a project entitled "Music Theory in the 20th Century", a presentation of the music theory of the last century, which is primarily related to Western art music. The project is headed by Felix Wörner (University of Basel) and Simone Hohmaier (State Institute for Music Research), who will be responsible for editing the multi-volume publication. Through the collaboration of numerous experts from Switzerland and abroad, the project is intended to contribute to sustainable international exchange within the discipline.

More info: www.sim.spk-berlin.de
 

The list of signatories is long and varied. They include Mark Andre, Helmut Lachenmann, Moritz Eggert, Siegfried Matthus, Enno Poppe, Enjott Schneider, Charlotte Seither and Ralf Weigand, among many others.

Composers and lyricists criticize online platforms that either do not pay authors at all or pay them significantly less than they deserve. They are appealing to the European Commission to "close legal loopholes that operators have been able to hide behind".

GESAC, the umbrella organization of European collecting societies, has launched an online petition that authors and other supporters can sign. GEMA welcomes the Europe-wide protest campaign and calls on the composers and lyricists it represents, as well as all other cultural and creative professionals, to support the appeal to the European Commission.

More info: www.makeinternetfair.eu

As the Cultural Commission writes, the work grant is "primarily intended for the personal artistic development of artists. The application can, but does not have to be tied to a project. Above all, it requires a convincing artistic statement of intent.

Eligible to participate are artists with a convincing track record in the fields of visual arts, music, dance and theater as well as short film/video and animated film who have been resident in the Canton of Schwyz for at least three years or have a close connection to the canton (origin, focus of artistic work). Groups can participate if their work and production has been based mainly in the canton of Schwyz for at least three years.
The applications are assessed by external specialist juries. At their request, the Cultural Commission will make the final decision on the work grants. A maximum total amount of CHF 100,000 is available."

Further documents under www.sz.ch/kultur (Cultural Promotion section); Cultural Commission Canton Schwyz, Office, P.O. Box 2202, 6431 Schwyz; kulturfoerderung.afk@sz.chTel. 041 819 20 88.

Closing date: September 9, 2016 (date of postmark)
 

Works for symphony orchestra, women's choir a capella, ensembles (1 to 9 instruments) or solo singing are in demand. Individual composers can submit up to two compositions (written in the last three years) in several categories: the deadline for submissions is October 20, 2016.

More info: composers.rs/en/?p=2449

For the seventh time, Youth Classics, the association for the promotion of young, highly talented classical music artists, is holding its International Music Festival and Masterclasses through. From July 16 to 26, around 80 students from Switzerland and all over the world are expected to come to the music island of Rheinau. New lecturers Philip A. Draganov, the artistic director of Youth Classics, has been able to recruit two representatives of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, concertmaster Andreas Janke and principal cellist Thomas Grossenbacher, as well as viola lecturer Matthias Buchholz. As in the previous year, they will be joined by Louise Hopkins, Rebecca Firth, Dora Schwarzberg, Jose J. Flores and Tim Kliphuis.

The masterclasses are always a highlight of the annual Youth Classics program. These include public concerts in which the young talents prepare for examinations and competitions. They will be heard on July 23 at the Rathauslaube in Schaffhausen, on July 25 with the final concert at the Musikschule Konservatorium Zürich and finally on September 16 in the gala concert at the Toni-Areal in Zurich.

Youth Classics was founded as a non-profit organization in 2011. The founders Philip A. Draganov and Remo Schällibaum, President, want to provide long-term support for up-and-coming classical music artists. As the organization writes, they are "particularly concerned about those young artists who are sometimes unable to develop their talent and passion for real music as they would like due to a lack of financial resources."

www.youth-classics.com
 

The Landis & Gyr Foundation has announced the scholarship holders for the studio scholarships London, Zug and Budapest 2016 to 2018. At the request of its experts, the Board of Trustees has awarded a total of 25 studio scholarships in the fields of visual arts, literature, composition, cultural criticism and translation. The scholarships include the free use of an apartment, a contribution towards travel expenses and a monthly living allowance. The following people from the field of music were selected for London: Jacques Demierre, Marie-Cécile Reber, Charlotte Hug Raschèr and Mela Meierhans (composition) as well as Peter Fischer, Tobias Gerber Susanne Neubauer Laurence Schmidlin Hilar Stadler and Luzia Stettler (art/literary criticism); for Budapest: Thomas K.J. Mejer (composition)

The Aargau Board of Trustees awarded grants totaling almost 520,000 francs at its meeting on June 29. This will support 65 applications from all specialist areas. They are distributed as follows:
Visual arts and performance: 40,000 francs
Jazz and rock/pop: 192 190 francs
Classic: 75 250 francs
Literature: 12,000 francs
Regional cultural organizers: 49,500 francs
Theater and dance: CHF 151,000

The detailed list of supported projects can be found here:
www.aargauerkuratorium.ch/aktuell/aktuell-detail/news/beitragssprechung-vom-29-juni-2016

After several rounds of competition with the Symphonic Wind Orchestra of the Leopold Mozart Center of the University of Augsburg, the Concert Band of the Bavarian Brass Band Academy (3BA) and the Augsburg Philharmonic Orchestra, three conductors qualified for the final from a total of 48 participants: Adrian Sit from Hong Kong and Laurent Zufferey and Stefan Roth, both from Switzerland.

In the first part of the final evening, they had to demonstrate their skills again in front of the audience in Augsburg's Kongress am Park and the three-member jury (alongside Scheibling, Atso Almila, Helsinki, and Domonkos Héja, Augsburg), each conducting for around fifteen minutes. Percussion technique, interpretation, charisma and the ability to engage in dialog with the orchestra were the four central assessment criteria.

The 22-year-old Swiss Laurent Zufferey took third place with the one-movement work "Traveler" by David Maslanka, while Stefan Roth came second with James Barnes' "Fantasy Variations" on a theme by Paganini. The jury placed Adrian Sit at the top of the podium for his interpretation of "Entornos" by Amando Blanquer Ponsoda in the final. The award ceremony was embedded in a gala concert with the Bundeswehr Music Corps under the direction of chief conductor Christoph Scheibling.
 

Among other things, more money will flow into film funding (15 million euros), the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation (6 million euros) and Deutsche Welle (7.5 million euros). For the first time, 4 million euros will support the reappraisal of the Nazi past, particularly in federal ministries.

According to the Federal Press Office, the draft budget provides for an additional 6 million euros to secure the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation. Funding for the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation will be increased by around 660,000 euros in 2017, and that of the Klassik Stiftung Weimar by just under 620,000 euros. The federal states must co-finance the increases here so that the federal funds can be paid out. An additional 500,000 euros are also available for the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin.

In 2017, the Minister of State increased funding for projects on German literary heritage, literary life in Germany and the German language to 1 million euros, almost doubling it.
 

As announced by the HKB, Andel is a musicologist with further training in theater and music management and most recently worked at the Career College of the Berlin University of the Arts. As of October 1, 2016, she will succeed Regula Stibi, who is leaving the HKB at the beginning of July to take over as Head of the Center for Continuing Education at Zurich University of the Arts. In the meantime, Andrea Ferretti, Head of Internal Continuing Education at the BUA, will head the department on an interim basis.

As project coordinator and deputy head of administration at the Career College of the Berlin University of the Arts, Verena Andel has gained broad experience in the development and management of continuing education programs in the arts, which will benefit her in her new position at the BUA, writes the BUA.

Continuing education at the BUA is organized as a cross-disciplinary area. 6 Master of Advanced Studies and 40 Certificates of Advanced Studies are offered on a rotating basis and are designed thematically along the lines of continuing education focuses. Continuing education works closely with the departments and HKB research and cooperates with other departments at Bern University of Applied Sciences as well as with important partners and associations in the Canton of Bern.
 

According to DOV Managing Director Gerald Mertens, a particularly pleasing and surprising result of the study is that people in the 20 to 29 age group go to concerts even more often (78.7 percent) than people in the 50 to 59 age group (60.7 percent). It seems that the massive expansion of music education by orchestras and concert halls over the last 15 years is now beginning to bear fruit.

The music schools' decades of broad-based work is obviously also reflected here. According to Mertens, there can no longer be any serious talk of the much-publicized ageing of the classical music audience or even the death of classical music. 

Mertens states: "Young classical music audiences are different to older audiences. This presents new challenges for orchestras and concert halls to exploit the development potential of the younger generation through innovative concert offerings, a targeted break with traditional formats and contemporary marketing." 

Info: The concerti Classical Music Study 2016 "Typically Classical!" was conducted by the Hamburg Media School in cooperation with concerti and is available at www.klassikstudie.de available.

Eva Inversini has been Artistic Director at the Kunsthaus Grenchen since 2008. She originally trained as an elementary school teacher and obtained her teaching certificate in 1996. She then studied art history with a minor in business administration at the Faculty of Philosophy and History at the University of Bern, graduating in 2006.

In addition to her current role as artistic director at the Kunsthaus Grenchen, she is also a member of the board of trustees of the Rosmarie and Armin Däster-Schild Foundation Grenchen, a guest lecturer at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and a member of various juries.

Before coming to Grenchen, Eva Inversini worked as a specialist in the Visual Arts department at the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia and as a research assistant at the Federal Art Collection, as well as interim director of Kunsthaus Langenthal.

The money will be used to clarify open questions, optimize costs and finalize the plans for the building. According to the press release, the total project costs amount to around CHF 12 million, with the Salle Modulable Foundation contributing CHF 2 million in addition to the canton and city of Lucerne.

At the same time, work is continuing on the operating concept and various sub-projects with the involvement of the cultural institutions involved. The city's voters are expected to vote on their share of the project planning loan and the Inseli location on November 27, 2016. By the end of 2018, the parliaments and by the end of June 2019, the voters of the canton and city should be able to decide on the loans for the realization of the new building.

The costs for construction measures are currently estimated at CHF 208 million (including land costs: estimated value of the building right CHF 20 million). The Salle Modulable Foundation will provide CHF 80 million to finance the building on the Inseli. This is the amount that will be available from the conditional donation (CHF 120 million from Butterfield Trust (Bermuda) Ltd.) after deduction of the legal, planning and other administrative costs incurred for the project.

A further 35 million francs in donations are to be collected by the participating cultural partners, the Salle Modulable Foundation and private third parties. The city and canton of Lucerne will thus assume 93 million francs (including building rights, estimated value: 20 million francs). Operation and maintenance are currently estimated at around CHF 31 million per year.

According to the German Music Council, the strategy could have worrying consequences for European cultural policy. The free trade agreement CETA between the EU and Canada is seen as a model for TTIP, the planned free trade agreement between the EU and the USA. According to Martin Maria Krüger, President of the German Music Council, the involvement of national parliaments is essential for the decision on CETA, especially in view of the ongoing negotiations on TTIP.

According to Krüger, the European Union must grant national parliaments their democratic participation rights in order to find acceptance among citizens. The vote should not ignore the fact that the diversity of musical life would be fundamentally endangered by CETA in its current form.

The USA and Canada have different systems of cultural funding than European countries. Cultural policy-makers fear that the typical European state subsidy systems for culture could come under pressure with the free trade agreements because they are seen by the Americans as barriers to free trade.
 

Over the course of her career, the Swiss violinist Ursula Bagdasarjanz (*1934 in Winterthur) has performed the complete violin works of Othmar Schoeck in numerous concerts and on radio stations in Switzerland and abroad. The three sonatas that Ursula Bagdasarjanz has always performed with Gisela Schoeck, the composer's daughter, at the piano are a particular rarity. On the CD recordings below and in the following video with the Allegretto from Schoeck's Violin Concerto in B flat major op. 21, the outstanding interpretations are still vivid and tangible today. 

In 2013, Ursula Bagdasarjanz was honored with a "Special Tribute Treasury Show" from Stanford University in California for her renditions of her own and others' works, including her interpretation of Othmar Schoeck's Violin Concerto.

www.ursula-bagdasarjanz.com
 

Othmar Schoeck: Variations Sonata for Violin & Piano
in D Major WoO 22 - Sonata No. 1 for Violin & Piano
in D Major op. 16 - Sonata No. 2 for Violin & Piano
in E Major op. 46.
Ursula Bagdasarjanz, violin - Gisela Schoeck, piano.
VDE-Gallo 1249

At the suggestion of Christian Busslinger (see comment below), we are pleased to publish here a photo showing the two performers Gisela Schoeck (left) and Ursula Bagdasarjanz in Berlin. The picture was taken in 1961 on the occasion of radio recordings. It comes from the archive of Ursula Bagdasarjanz. The SMZ editorial team would like to thank her for her permission to publish this photo.

Photo: Provided by Ursula Bagdasarjanz

Gisela Schoeck (left) and Ursula Bagdasarjanz in Berlin in 1961

Othmar Schoeck: Violin Concerto "Quasi Una Fantasia"
for Violin & Orchestra in B-Flat Major op. 21
Francesco d'Avalos, dir.

Alexander Glasunov: Violin Concerto in A Minor op. 82
Ursula Bagdasarjanz, Violin - Lugano Radio Orchestra,
Leopoldo Casella, dir.