Andreas Häberlin studied composition at the Zurich University of the Arts and music at Beatle Paul McCartney's Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. Andrea Wiesli studied with Konstantin Scherbakov at the Zurich University of Music. In 2015, she completed her doctorate in musicology at the University of Zurich on Liszt's Schubert transcriptions.

This year, a total of six grants will be awarded to artists from the fields of theater, music and visual arts in the canton of Thurgau. The grants are specifically intended to facilitate personal and artistic development.

In addition to Häberlin and Wiesli, the expert jury selected the following artists from 54 applications: Ray Hegelbach, visual artist, Oslo; Isabelle Kaiser, theater maker, Rickenbach b. Wil; Daniel V. Keller, visual artist, Zurich; Rachel Lumsden, visual artist, Arbon and St.Gallen.

The call is aimed at composers who have completed their studies and are Swiss nationals or residents born in 1981 or later. Ensemble Recherche describes the collaboration as follows: "Spread over a year, starting in December 2016, there will be three meetings lasting several days with ensemble recherche in Fribourg. All working meetings take place in a mixed team of four Swiss composers and up to six composers from all over Europe. During this time, new pieces are created with the support of the team of musicians and composers. The focus is on trying things out and sharing experiences and new ideas. At the end of the joint year, after an intensive final phase, all compositions are premiered in front of the press and audience, who are included in the final discussion." 
Applications will be accepted until June 1, 2016.

Further information:
http://ensemble-recherche.de/lernen/next-to-recherche

The German Music Industry Association (BVMI) represents the interests of around 250 record producers and music companies, which account for more than 80 percent of the German music market. The association advocates the concerns of the music industry in German and European politics and serves as a central point of contact for the music industry for the public. In addition to determining and publishing market statistics, the BVMI's portfolio also includes industry-related services.

More info: www.musikindustrie.de/branchendaten

The competition "Impulse contributions for cultural institutions" was announced in the third quarter of 2015. According to the Canton of Bern, these contributions should "offer existing and established cultural providers the opportunity to realize extraordinary structural or strategic projects". A total of 52 organizations applied and seven were selected to receive a total of CHF 321,500 over the next three years for their further development or repositioning measures.

The baroque orchestra Les Passions de lʼÂme was the only institution from the city of Bern to be selected. It has been awarded a contribution of 60,000 francs with the following justification: "The Bernese Orchestra for Early Music has achieved a great deal since it was founded in 2008 and is recognized not only in Bern and the surrounding region, but also internationally. The impulse contribution will enable the internal structures to be revised and the areas of acquisition and fundraising to be set up professionally."
 

Transactions" brings together around 15 artistic projects with just as many scientific projects that deal with various aspects of the Manifesta theme "What people do for money". Sound artist Fritz Hauser traces the sounds and rhythms of laboratories and lecture halls and will condense them into a sound installation. The artist Simon Heusser, on the other hand, is building a walk-in sound installation on the roof of the canteen, in which he will present a performance together with the music pioneer Bruno Spoerri.

A video work by the Zurich artist duo Baltensperger + Siepert on Chinese migrant workers contrasts traditional Chinese pottery, which is being researched at the Ethnographic Museum of the UZH, with research by political geographer Stephan Hochleithner on the situation of displaced persons in the Congo. Stephan Leins' ethnological research on economic analysts is reflected in the artistic approach to the rituals of financial managers by Los Angeles-based Julika Rudelius.

The Institute of Banking and Finance is participating with a live experiment in which visitors can answer the question: "And what do YOU do for money?". And the Canadian artist duo Richard Ibghy and Marilou Lemmens make statistics on work efficiency tangible as three-dimensional sculptures.

The Swiss Institute for Art Research (SIK-ISEA) is holding its event series "Cash and the canon" at Künstlergasse 12 and the Übersetzerhaus Looren is presenting a live translation session with Irma Wehrli-Rudin.
 

As the foundation announced on April 4, the 2016-2018 prize of the Erna and Curt Burgauer Foundation goes to percussionist and sound researcher Julian Sartorius. The prize, worth 30,000 Swiss francs, will go towards research into new forms of percussion. Following the prizewinners Peter Regli, Ian Anüll, Gianni Motti and Sabian Baumann, this is the first time that the Zurich-based foundation's fifth sponsorship award has gone to a musician.

Julian Sartorius was born in Thun in 1981 and lives in Bern. He has been researching sounds and preparing his drum set with collector's items from all over the world for years. In collaboration with drum makers, locksmiths and craftsmen, he uses various systems to change the pitch of the drums, for example, or uses new materials to try out new ways of altering the sound.

The Erna and Curt Burgauer Foundation Prize is awarded over three years and is linked to the realization of a work in the third year. The prize is awarded periodically and in addition to the annual grants awarded to visual artists and musicians. The Foundation Board decides on the award. Its members are Cathérine Hug, Sascha Renner, Lukas Heuss and Peter Uhlmann. It is not possible to apply for the prize.
 

The study by Ernst Basler + Partner clearly shows that the "Inseli" is the most suitable location. This is the area of the parking lot and park by the lake directly behind the KKL Luzern. According to the study, the Theaterplatz and the gravel area near the motorboat harbor are unsuitable locations.

The Theaterplatz is too small, the motorboat harbour is too remote, less well developed and the surrounding area is not very attractive. A second, independent study by Arup, a leading international consultancy for projects in the cultural sector, comes to the same conclusion and confirms the recommendation by Ernst Basler + Partner.

An innovative house for the performing arts is to be created with a large performance space (large stage) that can be altered in a variety of ways. The intended users are: Lucerne Theater, Lucerne Festival, the independent theater and dance scene, the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra and Südpol.

The investment costs for the construction measures as part of the overall Theater Werk Luzern project amount to around CHF 208 million. The estimated costs for theater operations and maintenance for the New Theater Lucerne / Salle Modulable amount to CHF 31 million per year. Today, the Lucerne Theater effectively costs the public purse around CHF 24 million a year.

From June to September 2016, political decisions on the project will be made by the city council and the cantonal government, as well as being discussed in the city and cantonal parliaments. The vote in the city of Lucerne will take place on November 27, 2016. The political process is scheduled for the 3rd and 4th quarters of 2018, followed by a referendum on the construction loan and amendment of the city's building and zoning regulations (BZO).

The ISCM World Music Days 2016 (WMD) at the Tongyeong International Music Festival in Tongyeong, South Korea, are history. From March 27 to April 1, 11 concerts and 2 installations took place in front of packed crowds. A total of 72 symphonic, choral and chamber music works with and without electronics as well as works for a young audience were performed, without exception with excellent interpretations.

Swiss plants at the WMD
The works by the two Swiss composers Claude Berset (La Ménagerie de Tristana semi-staged chamber suite for children based on poems by the surrealist Robert Desnos) and by Iris Szeghy (Gratia gratiam parit for choir a cappella), which were submitted by the Swiss and Slovakian ISCM sections respectively and selected by the WMD festival jury.

ISCM Board confirmed
At the General Assembly of the ISCM (International Society for Contemporary Music, IGNM), which took place at the same time, the Belgian Peter Swinnen was confirmed as ISCM President for a further term of office together with the rest of the Board. New Zealander Glenda Kean will replace the retiring Vice President Henk Heuvelmans (ISCM Holland, Gaudeamus). Frank J. Oteri (New Music USA) was newly elected to the ISCM Board.

ISCM Young Composers Award
The 12th ISCM Young Composers Award 2016 went to the South Korean Yejune Synn for the work Zoetrope. The winner will receive a cash prize donated by Music on Main Canada as well as a composition commission for the upcoming World Music Days 2017 in Vancouver, Canada.

Trends
For the first time in the history of the ISCM, a black member, S'fisokuhle Xulu from South Africa, attended the ISCM General Assembly and announced his intention to invite the ISCM World Music Days to Africa on its 100th anniversary in 2022 - Austria and Germany, the ISCM founding countries, have so far been cautious as potential hosts for the centenary celebrations. Europe's lack of interest in and growing global enthusiasm for the ISCM can of course be seen in the future WMD venues: 2016 Korea, 2017 Canada, 2018 China (Beijing), 2019 New Zealand, 2020 Estonia, 2021 China (Nanning), 2022 South Africa.

The ISCM in Switzerland
The ISCM is the oldest international umbrella organization for the promotion of New Music. It is considered one of the most important music-cultural societies in the world and has its address at Unesco in Paris. It was founded in Salzburg in 1922. The Swiss ISCM section was founded in October 1922 as one of the first national sections by the Winterthur patron Werner Reinhart, who was also the first ISCM Secretary General and co-founder of the ISCM. Its current president is Javier Hagen. The World Music Days have been held six times in Switzerland to date: 1926 (Zurich), 1929 (Geneva), 1957 (Zurich), 1970 (Basel), 1991 (Zurich), 2004 (all of Switzerland).

From April 10, visitors to the Legionary Trail will be acoustically guided into the world of the legionaries. From April 19, medieval sounds and tones can be heard on the forecourt of the Habsburg, emitted from the old walls by means of sophisticated installations. The public can also follow the ascent of the Habsburgs on the Habsburg Royal Route at six audio stations from the ruins to the top of the castle tower.

The silence in the choir of the monastery church in Königsfelden is accompanied by soft, delicate sounds. The sounds of the bell that called the nuns and monks to prayer in the Middle Ages echo in the cloister. The sound installation by artist Andreas Oldörp is one of the interventions used to create a sensory experience during the theme year. 

The barge in the exhibition near the mill at Hallwyl Castle is acoustically set afloat. Another installation changes the words and sounds that visitors call into the prison into new, surprising shapes. Here you can experiment to your heart's content. These sound installations will be opened on April 19. Minnesang was a form of singing in the Middle Ages. What it sounded like can be heard in a concert with the Dragma ensemble on August 14.

The whole program: www.ag.ch

The opera house was able to purchase the carpet at an auction in 2015 thanks to a donation from Australian philanthropist and designer Peter Weiss. Utzon's original plans for the interior design of the opera house were changed when the Danish architect was ousted in 1966 during the construction of the building due to cost overruns.

The Le Corbusier carpet subsequently found a place in the dining room of Utzon's house in Hellebæk, Denmark, and later in his son Jan Utzon's studio. In recent years, the Sydney Opera House has endeavored to reconstruct some of Utzorn's original plans - with his help until his death in 2008.
 

In a three-year project, Christian Broecking, jazz journalist and researcher at the Lucerne School of Music, has systematically researched the life, artistic career and political activities of Irène Schweizer. The project was co-financed by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).

Christian Broecking interviewed the artist herself for the book, as well as more than sixty of her companions: from musicians such as George Lewis, Evan Parker and Louis Moholo to singer Maggie Nicols, composer Carla Bley, jazz festival founder Niklaus Troxler and politician Corine Mauch.

In addition, a selected solo recording by Irène Schweizer was described and transcribed for the publication by musicologist Olivier Senn from the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and jazz musician Toni Bechtold. "With this analysis, we want to explain the pianist's special style and make it accessible to a wide audience," explains Senn.

More info: www.hslu.ch/irene-schweizer

Megliodia, the association for the promotion of ambitious children's and youth music projects, as it is called, has been run by recorder player Annina Stahlberger and cellist Gerhard Oetiker since it was founded in 2009. Based on children's natural instinct to play, the association promotes extraordinary projects that encourage children and young people to play music together.

In the 2016/17 school year, a three-part project is now to be realized with the municipal elementary school Speltrini, which will enable 200 children to make music professionally accompanied during the school day for two months. The charitable Accentus Foundation is supporting this project with the Lily Waeckerlin Prize for Youth & Music in the amount of CHF 60,000. "In the first phase," writes the foundation in a press release, "the children attend joint choir rehearsals during school hours as well as variously oriented workshops, for example those for making music in an orchestra, for percussion or for design. The second phase is a special week in which the studio work is combined into a concert and choreography program. The final third part is a performance in front of an audience in the St. Gallen Tonhalle; a specially formed choir made up of fathers and grandfathers of Speltrini children will also take part."

Make music yourself
With the annual Lily Waeckerlin Prize, the Accentus Foundation aims to "motivate children and young people not just to consume music, but to actively engage with it. The mediation and introduction to the musical work therefore play a special role in the awarding of the prize."

www.accentus.ch

www.megliodia.ch

Suisseculture believes that protected works should continue to be freely downloadable from the Internet for private use. The association therefore supports the protective measures currently being proposed in the political debate regarding the uploading and illegal distribution of protected content.

However, in order to restrict or prevent access to illegal sources, it should be ensured that the rights holders are adequately compensated for their protected works and performances. To this end, Suisseculture is making a proposal for compensation for the use of works within a certain group of people on the Internet, which is to be paid by the providers.

Susseculture considers the current supervision of collecting societies to be sufficient. However, extending this supervision to the appropriateness of management and the voluntary areas, as envisaged by the Federal Council's draft, is bureaucratic nonsense.

Suisseculture supports the proposed lending right, a due adjustment that has long been introduced in neighboring countries, but calls for it to be extended to the digital sector (so-called "e-lending"). Suisseculture is also calling for the long overdue resale right to be introduced. This guarantees compensation to authors when works of visual art are resold by the professional art trade.

The complete statement: www.suisseculture.ch
 

Local associations, national partners and international experts are all involved. In this way, a wide range of interest groups are addressed, from residents of Brunnen to Schoeck lovers scattered around the world. The festival board of trustees would like to make the work of Othmar Schoeck (1886-1957) "more widely known again" and "popularize it", as it writes in the press release of 4 March. The exhibition in the Galerie am Leewasser shows works by landscape painter Alfred Schoeck (1841-1931) and opens the doors to the studio in Villa Ruhheim, the Schoeck family home, which provided Alfred's four sons with a "creative nest" where they could explore their artistic inclinations.

With regard to the composer Schoeck, the festival aims to "document the composer's lifelong connection with Central Switzerland on the one hand, but also present the internationally renowned composer on the other". Brunner Musikvereine and professional musicians from all over Switzerland will perform works by the composer in an opening concert, a chamber music concert and a symphony concert, "while the Bern University of the Arts is organizing an international symposium on Schoeck's last opera, Dürande Castleorganized. Various events, including a performance series and an international Othmar Schoeck competition for song duos, will take place in the rooms of the Villa Schoeck. (...) Also in the series Schwyz booklets Schoeck's correspondence with Hermann Hesse will be published in full for the first time at the festival."

www.schoeckfestival.ch

The 10th International Festival for New Music Forum Valais will take place at Leuk Castle from May 12 to 16, 2016: The two productions by the Décosterd brothers (CodAct) from Neuchatel that have won several international awards: Nyloïd and Pendulum Choir stand out in particular. Pendulum Choir is currently one of the most spectacular and metaphorically rich choral productions: a 9-voice male choir attached to a ghostly hydraulic construction, whose live voices are blended with electronic music to create a fascinating hybrid amidst abstract robotics.

Emphasizes international anniversary edition
The 10th edition of the festival brings together several programs with political connotations: Ensemble Zafraan from Berlin presents music by composers from current and former crisis regions, Nicolas Vérins and video art pioneer Robert Cahens Opera Ushba et Tetnuld reworks the Georgian legend of Mount Ushba, once the most difficult peak in the world, and builds surprising bridges between Georgia and Valais. The festival closes with a performance by the newly founded political pop group Porok Karpo, led by charismatic Tibet activist Loten Namling - Namling received the 2015 Human Rights Prize from the International Society for Human Rights in Switzerland. Manuel Mengis unites several generations of international jazz legends with Flo Stoffner, Barry Guy and Lucas Niggli, Christophe Fellay performs with the South African pianist Jill Richards, and UMS 'n JIP with the Japanese composer Keitaro Takahashi. In total, the festival presents over 50 contemporary works and composers from 25 countries, ranging from classical chamber music formations and orchestral concerts to pure electronic music, for which an international competition has been announced this year for the second time since 2015. The concerts will be flanked by installations, performances and an art exhibition bringing together some of Valais' most popular artists.