Born in The Hague in 1951, Charles Toet studied trombone at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and began to specialize in early music and the baroque trombone. He taught historical trombone in The Hague, at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Trossingen.

The Christopher Monk Award was initiated by the Historic Brass Society (HBS). It is awarded annually to an individual for outstanding achievements in the field of historical brass instruments. The HBS organizes symposia and collaborates with other organizations on conferences. This year's Early Brass Festival was organized in collaboration with the Vintage Band Festival in Northfield (Minnesota, USA).

Oliver Schnyder

Vincent Micotti

"Musicians have to hear sounds in advance, perfumers first have to create a mental scent model. Pressing a piano key is not yet music, mixing essential oils is by no means a perfume." This is how the trained cellist and perfumer Vincent Micotti sums up the interface between professional music-making and fragrance creation.

The Museum Aargau and the Scent Festival will set the scene for scent and sound on August 12 and 14 at Königsfelden Abbey in Windisch: Aargau pianist Oliver Schnyder will interpret Bach's Goldberg Variations. His playing will be enveloped by three fragrances created especially for these performances. Rudolf Velhagen, Head Curator of Collections & Exhibitions at the Museum Aargau, talks to the two artists before the fragrance performance.
 

The CMA has not failed to notice that streaming has revolutionized the music industry. Sales in the UK rose to 1.1 billion pounds (approx. 1.3 billion Swiss francs) in 2021, and 80 percent of music is now consumed via streaming.

The availability of music from all eras and parts of the world means that older titles are receiving more attention. 86% of streams in 2021 contained music older than one year. The number of artists streaming their music also doubled between 2014 and 2020, from around 200,000 to 400,000, with a small group of superstars benefiting from the lion's share of sales. 

More info:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-shines-a-light-on-music-streaming

Irene González Roldán, Dmytro Kokoshynskyy, Louise Acabo and Cristiano Gaudio from the classes of Andrea Marcon and Francesco Corti won 2nd to 5th prize. Louise Acabo also received the Audience Award, Melanie Flores was awarded the concert at the Concentus Moravia International Music Festival 2023 and Irene González Roldán the concert at the Schlosskonzerte Bad Krozingen 2023.

The Johann Sebastian Bach Competition Leipzig is one of the most prestigious music competitions in the world. The competition is held every two years, alternating between violin/baroque violin, piano, harpsichord and voice, violoncello/baroque violoncello and organ.

Wiening and Hnatek succeed long-time percussion lecturers Andy Brugger and Tony Renold, who are leaving the ZHdK for reasons of age, and join the faculty with Pius Baschnagel, Nikolaus Looser and Ruven Ruppik (jazz, pop), Raphael Christen, Benjamin Forster and Klaus Schwärzler (classical).

The drummer and composer Mareike Wiening studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Mannheim, at the Rytmisk Music Conservatory in Copenhagen and at New York University. She works as a freelance jazz musician in various international projects and ensembles in New York and Europe and leads her own jazz quintet, which exclusively performs her compositions.

The 32-year-old drummer, composer and electronica artist Arthur Hnatek is an award-winning contemporary musician from Switzerland. He currently releases and performs electronic music, explores acoustic improvisations and experimental club tracks. He is the winner of the prestigious Swiss Music Prize 2022.

Photo: Maria Jarzyna

Arthur Hnatek

Born in Lausanne in 1928, Marie Leonhardt taught at the Rotterdam Conservatory from 1968. She also taught early music in a string class at the Geneva Conservatory. She was concertmaster in the Leonhardt Consort under the direction of her husband Gustav Leonhardt and in Ton Koopman's Ensemble Musica Antiqua Amsterdam.

In Portugal, she ran the Casa de Mateus Summer Academy from 1980 and was artistic director of the Vila Real Festival. Her students include Lucy van Dael, Alda Stuurop and Reinhard Goebel.

Born in Lausanne in 1928, Marie Leonhardt taught at the Rotterdam Conservatory from 1968. She also taught early music in a string class at the Geneva Conservatory. She was concertmaster in the Leonhardt Consort under the direction of her husband Gustav Leonhardt and in Ton Koopman's Ensemble Musica Antiqua Amsterdam.

In Portugal, she ran the Casa de Mateus Summer Academy from 1980 and was artistic director of the Vila Real Festival. Her students include Lucy van Dael, Alda Stuurop and Reinhard Goebel.

Alice Harnoncourt was born in Vienna in 1930 and studied piano and violin there.
In 1949 she founded the Vienna Viola da Gamba Quartet together with Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Eduard Melkus and Alfred Altenburger, and in 1953 the Concentus Musicus Wien. She was concertmaster of this ensemble until 1981.

After Nikolaus Harnoncourt's death, Alice Harnoncourt took over the Concentus Musicus archives in 2016. She published books and previously unpublished texts, notes and memoirs. This year, she also produced a podcast with unpublished material for the radio station Ö1.

Link:
https://radiothek.orf.at/podcasts/oe1/harnoncourts-klang-reden

Alice Harnoncourt was born in Vienna in 1930 and studied piano and violin there.
In 1949 she founded the Vienna Viola da Gamba Quartet together with Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Eduard Melkus and Alfred Altenburger, and in 1953 the Concentus Musicus Wien. She was concertmaster of this ensemble until 1981.

After Nikolaus Harnoncourt's death, Alice Harnoncourt took over the Concentus Musicus archives in 2016. She published books and previously unpublished texts, notes and memoirs. This year, she also produced a podcast with unpublished material for the radio station Ö1.

Link:
https://radiothek.orf.at/podcasts/oe1/harnoncourts-klang-reden

As announced by the ZHdK, the university management has, on the recommendation of the responsible search committee Christoph-Mathias Mueller has been appointed Principal Lecturer in Orchestral Conducting. He will take up his post on August 1, 2022. Christoph-Mathias Mueller succeeds Johannes Schlaefliwho has built up and continuously optimized conducting training since 1999. He will retire in August 2023.

Christoph-Mathias Mueller studied violin in Basel and obtained a Master of Music from the University of Cincinnati. He has many years of experience as chief conductor and general music director of renowned orchestras. Some of his recordings have won the Echo Award and the Opus Award. He has been Artistic Director of the Murten Classics Festival since 2021. He is characterized by his professional and didactic competence as well as his understanding of the Conductors Studio ZHdK, which has enabled numerous young conducting personalities to successfully launch their careers.
 

Photo: Rolf Mäder

Johannes Schlaefli set up the Conductors Studio ZHdK.

ZHdK - The ZHdK's conducting program enjoys an excellent international reputation. Numerous ZHdK students and alumni - including a striking number of women - are extremely successful in the highly competitive market. Johannes Schlaefli and the "Conductors Studio ZHdK", which he has developed and continuously optimized over many years at the university, are behind the ZHdK's conducting expertise.

Conducting class

• Size: 8-10 students
• Composition: all degree programmes - Bachelor, Master Performance, Master Specialized Performance. Contrary to expectations, experience has shown that peer learning favors the individual development and profiling of students.
• Gender distribution: strikingly egalitarian

Curricular activities

• Lessons with ensemble instead of piano: Conducting students (and aspiring students) do not need any specific piano skills. They practise with project-based ensembles
• Rehearsals: regularly with the Tonhalle Orchestra, occasionally with the Philharmonia Zurich
• Course weeks: Courses and concerts abroad with professional orchestras
• Networking: contacts with directors, agents, guest lecturers (master classes)
• Reflecting: Analyzing and processing the diverse inputs

Learning vessels

• Ensemble lessons: Instrumental ensemble (1111-0000-2Klav-1/1/1/1/1/1) consisting of professional musicians, instrumental students, conducting students on the piano
• Class lessons: analytical and practice-oriented examination of all aspects and tasks of contemporary orchestral conducting based on the current repertoire; exchange on further aspects (market access, programming, presentation, etc.)
• Private lessons: Individual coaching. Self-awareness as a conducting personality, guidance towards musical and professional independence
• Orchestra workshops: Conducting with various orchestras (MKW, University Orchestra, Festival Strings Lucerne etc.)
• Practice weeks: 3-4 times a year with 5 to 6 students; mainly abroad Rehearsals and final concert with partner orchestras
• ZHdK-internal collaborations: partial for ensemble, opera and orchestra projects

Selection of alumnae and alumni and current main activity

• Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, Principal Conductor City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
• Philippe Bach, General Music Director Meiningen
• Corinna Niemeyer, Directrice Artistique and Chief Conductor Orchestre de Chambre du Luxembourg
• Patrick Lange, General Music Director Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden
• - Johanna Malangré, Principal Conductor Orchestre de Picardie
• Leo McFall, Principal Conductor of the Vorarlberg Symphony Orchestra
• Zoi Tsokanou, Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Thessaloniki State Orchestra
• Kerem Hasan, Principal Conductor Tiroler Symphonieorchester Innsbruck
• Delyana Lazarova, 1st prize Siemens Hallé International Conductors Competition and assistant Hallé Orchestra Manchester
• Chin-Chao Lin, General Music Director Theater Regensburg
• Holly Hyun Choe, Assistant Conductor Tonhalle-Orchestra Zurich
• Dominic Limburg, Kapellmeister Deutsche Oper Berlin
• Katharina Wincor, Assistant Dallas Symphony Orchestra
• Johannes Zahn, Kapellmeister Staatstheater Darmstadt
   

Leibovitz was born in Tel Aviv in 1997 and began his musical training with Eva Wasserman. He then studied with Yevgeny Yehudin at the Buchmann Mehta School of Music in Tel Aviv, where he won numerous prizes, including 1st prize at the AICF Aviv Competition (2020) and the Israeli Wind Competition (2016 and 2018). In the 2019/20 season he was a member of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

The award is presented to Jonathan Leibovitz by the Arthur Waser Foundation and the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra and includes prize money of CHF 25,000 as well as a debut at the KKL Lucerne with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra. On November 9 and 10, the Israeli musician will perform Aaron Copland's Clarinet Concerto, while other works on the program include Antonín Dvořák's "Slavonic Dances" and Leoš Janáček's "Sinfonietta", conducted by Juanjo Mena.

The Arthur Waser Foundation was established in 2000 by Lucerne entrepreneur Arthur Waser and is active in Switzerland and several African countries. Previous prizewinners include the organist Sebastian Küchler-Blessing from Germany (2013), the French cellist Edgar Moreau (2015), the Chinese-American pianist George Li (2017) and the trumpeter Lucienne Renaudin Vary from France (2019).

Pure emotion in the mountains: The alpine concert hall experiences its first year-round season with Andermatt Music as the main organizer. Intendant Lena-Lisa Wüstendörfer continues its proven three-pillar program. In addition to internationally renowned stars and orchestras, home-grown sounds from local artists from Central Switzerland are also on the agenda. And the Swiss Orchestra plays classical music trouvailles by Swiss composers who have long been forgotten. The highest concert hall in Europe with a unique view of the mountains directly from the hall is establishing itself as a classical music lighthouse. The hall has just been voted the world's best concert hall by the renowned Architizer competition. Winner of the Cultural Halls/Theater 2022 category chosen.

Rolando Villazón performs a gala evening of French and Italian opera arias. He will be accompanied by the Swiss Orchestra. The Brass Ensemble of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra from Holland will perform a festive and rousing Christmas concert with a best-of program. From the south, the Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid will come to Andermatt and intoxicate with Spanish classical music and great symphonies. The Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival Ensemble, a top orchestra from the Orient, will be performing on Andermatt's stage. Pianist Elena Bashkirova presents works by Rossini and Brahms with the ensemble she founded.

At the suggestion of the Swiss Orchestra, Michael Barenboim will play the violin concerto by Hermann Suter (1870-1926), one of the most important Swiss composers. And Stephan Eicher receives a carte blanche: together with the Swiss Orchestra, he will create a special program in which the orchestra and the exceptional artist will fulfil each other's musical wishes.

In addition to top-class local folk music, Camille Saint-Saëns Carnival of the animals a special concert experience. In cooperation with the Uri Music School and the Lucerne Cantonal Music Talent Promotion Program, an intergenerational family concert with selected up-and-coming artists is scheduled. "Alongside international greats and the Swiss symphony, the artists from Central Switzerland are particularly close to my heart. Andermatt is the hub of the north-south axis and therefore the ideal place to bring local musical tradition and classical music stars to the same stage," affirms artistic director Lena-Lisa Wüstendörfer. Following the great public success of "Peter and the Wolf" at Easter, Bernhard Russi has once again been recruited as the narrator. The stage seems to have become his second passion alongside the ski slopes of this world.

To kick off the program, Andermatt Music follows in the footsteps of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Goethe discovered the material for "William Tell" in Stäfa on Lake Zurich. He recommended the subject matter to his friend Friedrich Schiller, who turned it into a worldwide hit. Goethe, visibly fascinated by Switzerland, was subsequently drawn to the Gotthard region three times. As a tribute to the great poet, Franz Schubert's Goethe settings will be performed in Andermatt, which are celebrated as great song art. The tenor part will be sung by the well-known Lucerne opera and lieder singer Mauro Peter.

Photo: Valentin Luthiger

Director Lena-Lisa Wüstendörfer

Director Lena-Lisa Wüstendörfer wants to make the trip to the mountains of Uri a cultural experience for all the senses. In a unique setting and atmosphere, the audience is offered cultural experiences with supporting programs tailored to the respective concert program. The hall is easily accessible from all over Switzerland.

A total of 606,825 test subjects (VP) provided information on whether they can clap in time to a musical beat. To test the reliability of this self-report, the teams led by Nori Jacoby from the MPIEA conducted a series of online experiments.

To do this, they used a new technology to measure tapping responses online in real time ("REPP") in a smaller, separate group of VPs: While the VPs listened to music on their computers at home, the team recorded their tapping responses with the computer microphone and determined exactly when they tapped in relation to the musical beat.

The research dataset gave the team the opportunity to record even small genetic traits. They were able to identify 69 independent genetic variants associated with beat synchronization. The sense of rhythm is obviously not only influenced by a single gene, but by many different genes.

Teams from ten research institutes in six countries, including the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics (MPIEA) in Frankfurt am Main, were involved in the study. The interdisciplinary team consisted of experts in complex genetics, music cognition, evolutionary biology, evolution, musicology and neuroscience.

More info:
https://www.aesthetics.mpg.de/institut/news/news-artikel/article/klopfen-klatschen-tanzen-die-genetische-architektur-des-taktgefuehls.html

Leibovitz was born in Tel Aviv in 1997 and began his musical training with Eva Wasserman. He then studied with Yevgeny Yehudin at the Buchmann Mehta School of Music in Tel Aviv, where he won numerous prizes, including 1st prize at the AICF Aviv Competition (2020) and the Israeli Wind Competition (2016 and 2018). In the 2019/20 season he was a member of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

The award is presented to Jonathan Leibovitz by the Arthur Waser Foundation and the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra and includes prize money of CHF 25,000 as well as a debut at the KKL Lucerne with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra. On November 9 and 10, the Israeli musician will perform Aaron Copland's Clarinet Concerto, while other works on the program include Antonín Dvořák's "Slavonic Dances" and Leoš Janáček's "Sinfonietta", conducted by Juanjo Mena.

The Arthur Waser Foundation was established in 2000 by Lucerne entrepreneur Arthur Waser and is active in Switzerland and several African countries. Previous prizewinners include the organist Sebastian Küchler-Blessing from Germany (2013), the French cellist Edgar Moreau (2015), the Chinese-American pianist George Li (2017) and the trumpeter Lucienne Renaudin Vary from France (2019).

The city of Zurich is launching a temporary funding instrument to support artists who have fled their homes due to the war against Ukraine. The municipal council has approved a supplementary credit of CHF 400,000 for this purpose. The funds will be used to make special contributions to cultural organizations that create offers to support these cultural workers who have fled.

Thanks to the special contributions, cultural workers who have fled their home country should be given quick and easy access to work and production opportunities and be able to network with the local cultural scene. Cultural organizations that are based in the city of Zurich or produce an offering in the city of Zurich are eligible for funding.

The possible contribution amount per application is CHF 5,000 to 70,000 - depending on the size of the project or offer. Applications can be submitted until September 30, 2022.

More info:
https://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/kultur/de/index/foerderung/ukraine-sonderbeitraege-an-kulturorganisationen.html