Guide to German foundation archives

With the book "Archive in Stiftungen. A Guide", the Association of German Foundations sheds light on the landscape of German foundation archives for the first time. The publication presents a total of 342 archives, many of which were not previously recorded.

Photo: PeterFranz/pixelio.de

In addition, 35 foundation archives are portrayed in more detail, including the extensive collection on the history of dance in the archive of the John Neumeier Foundation and the music archive of Horst Lippmann and Fritz Rau with works by Benny Goodman and the Rolling Stones.

As an independent umbrella organization, the Association of German Foundations represents the interests of foundations in Germany. The largest foundation association in Europe has over 4000 members; more than 7000 foundations are affiliated to it via foundation administrations. The umbrella organization thus represents around three quarters of German foundation assets amounting to more than 100 billion euros.

Info:
Federal Association of German Foundations (ed.): Archives in Foundations. A guide. Berlin 2015. 280 pages. ISBN 978-3-941368-73-6. The publication is available in print and digitally free of charge.

First Basel organ walk

In mid-August, the tour organized by concert organists drew attention to the spiritual and artistic wealth of four churches.

Organ case in Basel Minster. Photo: Eric Schmidt

The first Basel organ walk on August 15, 2015 brought together between 110 and 260 interested people in four churches in Basel's old town. It was organized by the KVOB association: This abbreviation stands for "Organists organizing concerts in Basel"who formed an association in 2013 to organize a two-week Basel Organ Festival in 2014. The Basel organ walk is not just an imitation of the Bernese or Zurich model, but an attempt to build on the great success of the organ festival on a smaller scale. Both forms of event - festival and walk - are to be held regularly in future.

The organ walk not only aims to allow visitors to experience Basel's diverse organ landscape, but also to draw attention to the spiritual and artistic wealth of the churches, thus offering a combination of architecture, art, music and city history. Art historian Helene Liebendörfer gave a competent and entertaining explanation of the history and significance of the four churches selected for the first edition of the walk.

Four fundamentally different and highly characteristic organs can be admired in the Predigerkirche, where the services of the Christkatholische Gemeinde and many events of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis take place. Jörg-Andreas Bötticher, musical host and professor at the SCB, presented three of them: The Schwalbennest organ above the rood screen, the historic Italian organ, for which the participants walked into the choir room, so that a short organ walk already took place inside the church, and the Silbermann organ, reconstructed by the Metzler company in 1978, on which Bötticher improvised in the style of French classical music.

In addition to works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Max Reger and Charles-Marie Widor, cathedral organist Andreas Liebig also played two contemporary compositions on the four-manual Mathis organ in the cathedral: A meditative own chorale arrangement on a melody from Norway and - for the composer's 80th birthday - the Chaconne by Aulis Sallinen, a piece rich in contrast, in which the expanse of the late Romanesque or Gothic space was experienced in a particularly impressive way through concise gestures and extended general pauses.

In the afternoon, two former monastery churches were on the program, both of which have been considerably reduced in size over the course of their long history. Today, the Serbian Orthodox community celebrates its services in St. Alban's Church. The Metzler organ, built in 1966, is therefore rarely played in public, but is available to the Basel music school for teaching purposes. The instrument was overhauled this year by the Basel organ builder Michael Klahre, whereby the very direct sound character remained untouched at the request of the client. Nicoleta Paraschivescu played the well-known Toccata and Fugue BWV 565, the Vivaldi-inspired Voluntary in D minor op. 5/8 by John Stanley and the Symphonie Concertante by Guillaume Lasceux, a contemporary of the French Revolution.

Since 1994, the Basel Orphanage and Carthusian Church has been home to a faithful copy of an organ built exactly 300 years earlier by Arp Schnitger for the Hamburg Orphanage Church, which was later moved to Grasberg near Bremen. Works by Samuel Scheidt, Andreas Kneller, Peter Mohrhart, Matthias Weckmann and Dietrich Buxtehude, performed by Stefan Beltinger, were played here in true style and very colorful.

At the end of the organ walk, Tobias Lindner, President of the KVOB association, was right to point out that the event had been a great success and to thank the numerous participants, some of whom had traveled from Alsace, Baden and Bavaria, for their interest. Preparations are already underway for the second Basel Organ Walk, which will take place on August 13, 2016, once again on the last Saturday of the summer vacations. In addition, the KVOB association will once again be organizing a Basel Organ Festival in August and September 2016, with a thematic focus on the organ works of Max Reger (1873-1916), who had close ties to Basel.

Winterthur Youth Symphony Orchestra on Mauritius

On their three-week tour, the members of the Winterthur Youth Symphony Orchestra gained a practical insight into the everyday life of a professional musician. In addition to an operetta, they performed symphony concerts and played music with children and young people from local music schools.

The whole "Orphée" troupe. Photos: zVg

Like every summer, the Winterthur Youth Symphony Orchestra (WJSO) of the conservatory set off on its traditional orchestra tour. However, few could have dreamed that this time it would be to the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean and that the tour would last three weeks. As part of a local project to revitalize music and opera culture, the WJSO under the direction of Simon Wenger was invited to Mauritius in mid-July to perform the orchestral part in the operetta Orphée aux Enfers by Jacques Offenbach. Anyone thinking that the orchestra had made themselves comfortable on the breathtaking beaches was far from the truth. Six performances of the operetta were on the program, as well as an additional symphonic program with three concerts and daily rehearsals.

The staging of the Orphée - whose best-known piece is undoubtedly Can-Can in the Underworld - was multicultural in character. The choir was made up of local singers, the soloists came from New Zealand, Germany and Mauritius, the conductor Martin Wettges traveled from Germany and the Swiss orchestra made the journey to Mauritius, 9,000 kilometers away. Such projects offer young musicians an excellent opportunity to gain an insight into the future everyday life of a professional musician, as they sometimes played for more than seven hours a day. The turbulent opera business - from the first meeting with the choir, rehearsing the soloist parts, integrating them into the dramaturgy to the performances themselves - was both challenging and impressive.

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The Winterthur Youth Symphony Orchestra plays Beethoven in Mauritius

Since classical symphony concerts are a rarity in Mauritius, the WJSO decided to travel with a symphony program in addition to the operetta music. On the theater-free evenings, Beethoven's Symphony No. 1, the Gypsy ways by Pablo de Sarasate with the virtuoso young Bernese violinist Danilo Oliviera as soloist, and the Suite on six Swiss folk songs by the Swiss composer Rolf Liebermann. These performances were a special highlight for the people of Mauritius, the concerts were well attended and the reviews afterwards were enthusiastic.

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At the music school Vent d'un rêve

The exchange with the local music schools in Mauritius was an extraordinary experience. For a one-off concert, for example, the youth orchestra of the Conservatoire François Mitterand was merged with the WJSO, resulting in an 80-piece orchestra. This line-up performed a piece by a young composer from Mauritius as well as the crowning finale, the Polovtsian Dances by the Russian composer Alexander Borodin. Some orchestra members from Winterthur were also able to visit the private music school Vent d'un rêve for children from poor backgrounds, where the musicians presented their instruments and played a few pieces. For the children, who only knew many instruments from pictures and had never seen an oboe in real life, for example, this visit was something out of the ordinary. But the members of the WJSO also realized on this impressive afternoon how lucky they were to be able to live and study in a country like Switzerland that promotes and cultivates classical music.

Despite the strict program, there was also time to enjoy the beautiful beaches and the impressive landscape of the island. Various excursions were offered - be it a trip on a catamaran to watch dolphins, snorkeling, swimming and barbecues, a visit to a botanical garden or a hike in one of the island's large national parks - to relieve the musicians' minds from the stress of rehearsals and performances. But it was the personal contact with the people of Mauritius itself that led to wonderful and lasting experiences. All the musicians were accommodated with local host families, and after getting to know the members of the operetta choir for the first time, they met up on the beach or in a bar and enjoyed the short time they were able to spend together. There is no doubt that everyone, be it the musicians from Switzerland or the participants from Mauritius themselves, gained indescribable experiences and adventures. We can only hope that this time - "the Mauritian experience" - will resonate with everyone for a long time to come.

A music concept for Haus Sonnenberg

A jury has selected the "Cantaleum Zurich" concept by Maja Coradi and Konrad von Aarburg for the future use of Haus Sonnenberg in Zurich. From July 2017, the municipal property in Hottingen will be used as a bilingual day school with a focus on music for 4 to 16-year-olds.

Photo: City of Zurich

The jury ─ consisting of three internal and two external jury members ─ was most impressed by the concept, according to a press release from the city. The jury was particularly impressed by the uniqueness of the offer and the fact that the house is once again being used by children.

It is planned that concerts by the Zurich Boys' Choir as well as school concerts by the girls' choir or instrumental ensembles will be held in Haus Sonnenberg. This will also make the building accessible to a wider public. "Cantaleum Zurich" also fits in well with the listed building; the new use requires only a few structural adjustments.

The aim of the privately run school is "to provide high-quality, child-oriented educational and musical support for 4 to 16-year-olds". It is based on the curriculum of the Canton of Zurich. The school will be bilingual (German and English) and organized as an all-day school. It is designed for 50 to 120 pupils.

Haus Sonnenberg was built in 1911 as an orphanage and was used by the Zurich Children's and Youth Homes Foundation (zkj) until 2015. The city put the new use and operation out to tender in November 2014. Five applications were submitted by March 2015. The aim of the tender was to find a self-sustaining, long-term use including an operator for the entire Sonnenberg building.
 

Rihm becomes director of the Lucerne Festival Academy

From summer 2016, composer Wolfgang Rihm will succeed Pierre Boulez as Artistic Director of the Lucerne Festival Academy. Matthias Pintscher will serve as Principal Conductor.

Matthias Pintscher and Wolfgang Rihm in Lucerne 2015 Photo ©: felixbroede, Lucerne Festival

Both contracts are for five years, writes Lucerne Festival. Pierre Boulez, the Academy's founder, will remain in close contact with Wolfgang Rihm, Matthias Pintscher and the Festival team as Honorary President. The Lucerne Festival Academy has served as a training campus in the field of 20th and 21st century music for twelve years. It offers further training for around 120 instrumentalists aged between 18 and 32 as well as for young conductors and composers. Matthias Pintscher helped shape the academy this summer for the third time as a lecturer and conductor, including on the "Day for Pierre Boulez".

The change in management will also be accompanied by modifications to the program: from 2016, a new composition seminar is to be introduced as a workshop in which young composers can work directly on their works with young international musicians. In this way, the promotion of composers will be given an additional focus at the academy in future.

Wolfgang Rihm had already taken over the artistic direction of the Roche Young Commissions this year: Two young composers will receive commissions for works that will be developed over a period of two years as part of the academy and premiered during the summer festival. In addition, master classes for conductors and ensembles are still planned as an integral part of the academy.

In summer 2016, Principal Conductor Matthias Pintscher and the Academy Orchestra will rehearse Stravinsky's Firebird, Mark Andre's "hij 1" and György Ligeti's "San Francisco Polyphony" and present the works in a concluding concert.

Pintscher will also conduct the Ensemble intercontemporain in the academy's opening concert. Finnish conductor Susanna Mälkki and American conductor Alan Gilbert will also be conducting the Academy Orchestra. Percussionist Martin Grubinger and violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter will also perform as soloists with the Academy Orchestra.

Milano Malpensa as a stage for a Donizetti opera

What was right in Switzerland is cheap in Milan: for one evening, Malpensa Airport will become an opera stage - for Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore. On September 17, the Scala ensemble led by conductor Fabio Luisi will perform Donizetti's opera in the midst of airport operations.

The airport as a backdrop for a love story. Photo: Luca Volpi, wikimedia commons

In Malpensa, Adina and Nemorino (sung by Vittorio Grigolo) flirt in the airport restaurant Rossopomodoro. For one evening, Adina is the owner and Nemorino is the waiter. Dulcamara is flown in and, with a bit of luck, we see him land in his own plane. The chorus moves between restaurant, sky lounge and security gate. Presenters Annette Gerlach and Neri Marcorè will accompany the performance.

The performance can be seen on the cultural channel Arte Concert on the same day. In addition, the new 360° technology will be available from the beginning of September, inviting viewers to take a panoramic view of Milan, La Scala and the airport. A very elaborately produced 360° video will show viewers a best of the opera event a good two weeks after the performances.

A few years ago, Swiss television (including with Vittorio Grigolo) realized similar productions in Zurich's main railway station, in a suburb of Bern and in the center of Basel.
 

Concert with prizewinners from four decades

The Swiss Youth Music Competition celebrates its 40th anniversary on September 13 with a matinee at the Tonhalle Zurich.

SJMW

Forty years ago, Gerd Albrecht, then chief conductor of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, called the Swiss Youth Music Competition (SJMW) into life. This event will be celebrated on September 13 with a matinee at 11 a.m. in the small hall of the Tonhalle Zurich. Prizewinners from four decades will be performing. Fabio di Càsola, Thomas Grossenbacher, Benjamin Engeli, Anne-Laure Pantillon, Salomo Schweizer, Nathalie Blaser, Florian Abächerli, the Bazar Quartet and Jean-Sélim Abdelmoula will bring classical music to life. There will be jazz with Tapiwa Svosve and Leandro Irarragorri and, finally, rock & pop with the band "The Pixel" in the foyer.

In between, Andreas Wegelin, President of the SJMW Foundation, André Helfenstein, representing the main partner Credit Suisse, and Bobby Keller, Honorary President of the SJMW Foundation, will speak. And at the end, at 1 p.m., there will be an aperitif to toast the anniversary.

Radio SRF 2 Kultur will broadcast Andreas Müller-Crepon's report on this anniversary matinee on October 22nd between 8pm and 10pm.

Concert matinee

Sunday, September 13, 2015, 11 a.m.
Tonhalle Zurich, Small Hall

Ticket sales: Ticket office of the Tonhalle Society Zurich
www.tonhalle-orchester.ch

Free admission for listeners aged 20 and under

More event days for the Basel Tattoo

The Basel Tattoo military music festival continues to enjoy unbroken popularity. The cantonal government has also taken this into account: it has approved two additional event days for each of the next two years for the gathering of brass players and drummers from all over the world.

Basel Tattoo 2012 Photo: zvg

In recent years, the canton of Basel-Stadt has found that public demand for the six afternoon performances of the Basel Tattoo has been decreasing, as these are seen as less attractive than the evening performances. Now the event concept is to be optimized without placing an additional burden on the neighbourhood or local residents, as the canton asserts.

The Government Council has complied with the organizers' request for two additional event days each in 2016 and 2017. In return, the number of afternoon performances was reduced from six to three, resulting in a program reduced by one performance in total. A maximum of eleven evening performances are planned (previously nine). The previous six afternoon performances will be reduced by three. One of the remaining three performances on a Sunday afternoon will be specially geared towards children.

With around 120,000 visitors and a total of 1000 participants from all five continents, the Basel Tattoo is the most important open-air festival in Basel. It is now the second largest tattoo in the world.
 

Dmitry Smirnov wins Varga competition 2015

Russian violinist Dmitry Smirnov has won this year's Concours international de violon Tibor Varga 2015 in Sion. The Korean Ji Won Song came second and the German Yuliia Van third.

Photo: Céline Ribordy/agencedeconcerts.ch.

Smirnov was also awarded the audience prize. The Russian won over the jury and audience with his renditions of the tricky composition "Le mani del violonista" by Hugues Dufourt and the second violin concerto by Dimitri Shostakovitch.

Yuliia Van also received the Young Jurors Award. Dmitry Smirnov also received the Best Compulsory Piece Award. The jury was made up of Enzo Restagno (President), Hugues Dufourt, Dong-Suk Kang, Tsugio Tokunaga, Raimund Trenkler (replacing Natalia Gutman, who had to cancel for health reasons), Pavel Vernikov and Milan Vitek.

Born in St. Petersburg in 1994, Dmitry Smirnov is a student of Elena Zajtseva at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in his native city. He has been studying at the Lausanne Academy of Music since September 2011. He made his debut at New York's Carnegie Hall in 2007.

 

Daria Korotkova honored

The Valiant Forum has been an integral part of the Murten Classics festival for many years. This year, for the first time, it was held as a soloist competition for young pianists. The winner of this premiere is the Russian Daria Korotkova.

Photo: Valiant Bank AG

Daria Korotkova, a student at the Bern University of the Arts, qualified for the final concert in the courtyard of Murten Castle in an internal preliminary round and two public competition rounds and impressed the jury. At the subsequent award ceremony, she was awarded first prize, a soloist concert at the Murten Classics 2016 festival and a prize of CHF 2,000. Second prize went to Nataliia Shaposhnyk from Ukraine and third prize to Shintaro Kawahara from Japan.

According to the organizers, 29 pianists took part in the Valiant Forum Piano 2015. Swiss citizens or foreigners enrolled at a Swiss university were eligible to take part. Promoting young musicians is an important goal of the Murten Classics festival. In collaboration with Valiant Bank, youth orchestras and youth choirs have performed at the Valiant Forum in the past. This year, a competition for young pianists took place for the first time.

www.murtenclassics.ch

Boswil artists' house to be expanded

The Künstlerhaus Boswil Foundation is planning to add a foyer to the old church and convert the former Sigristenhaus into a contemporary course center. The cantonal government is providing CHF 3 million from the Swisslos fund for this purpose.

Photo: Voyager, wikimedia commons

After 45 years, the Künstlerhaus Boswil requires structural adaptations, writes the Canton of Aargau. The foundation is also planning to build a church foyer in order to offer the public contemporary visitor facilities (including sanitary facilities) in bad weather. The conversion of the historic Boswil Sigristenhaus, which dates back to 1675, envisages the creation of two rehearsal rooms and music studios, offices, storage and archive rooms as well as five guest rooms. 

With the contribution from the Swisslos fund, the cantonal government of Aargau is supporting the commitment of private individuals and foundations who are helping to finance the modernization: Around 2.5 million has already been raised through personal funds, foundations and private individuals. The previously used studio building is being sold to the local community of Boswil for the establishment of a village museum.
 

Impulse contributions to Bernese cultural institutions

At the Canton of Bern's 1st Culture Day in the Volkshaus Biel, the focus was on "Cultural Participation". In this context, "impulse contributions" were also presented, which are intended to provide selective support to cultural institutions in the regions as a funding accent in 2015.

People's house in Biel. Photo: kaf1, wikimedia commons

The need for selective support in structural development was expressed by various parties in the cultural dialogs of the Canton of Bern in 2013/14. With the launch of the 2015 "Impulse Contributions" funding accent, the Bern Office for Culture is responding to this need. Cultural institutions have until December 14, 2015 to submit their structural or strategic projects.

The selection of the winning projects and the amount of the respective impulse contributions are determined by a jury with a broad range of expertise. In order to strengthen cultural diversity in the canton, preference is given to impulse projects from cultural institutions outside the urban centers.

With the Canton of Bern Culture Day, the Department of Education has continued the cultural dialog that has been held in all regions in recent years. The regular exchange between politicians and the administration with cultural professionals, cultural institutions and those interested in culture follows "the conviction that the right priorities can only be set in cultural policy in a joint process", writes the canton. Over 200 people from the entire cultural spectrum accepted the invitation and discussed the further development of cultural policy in the Volkshaus Biel.
 

Rehabilitation of an era

The third Festival of Early Music in Basel painted a differentiated picture of the decades between the Baroque and Classical eras.

"The Creation" - final point under René Jacobs. Photo: Susanna Drescher

With Joseph Haydn's Creation The third season of the opera went down in a rousing performance under René Jacobs at the end of August. Early Music Festival in Basel to an end. It had begun eight days earlier with J. S. Bach's First Brandenburg Concerto with the ensembles Café Zimmermann and Ripieni Festivi. Bach and Haydn were also the cornerstones of the festival, which was dedicated to the decades between the Baroque and Viennese Classical periods in numerous concerts, lectures and city tours.

Peter Reidemeister, the former, long-standing director of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (SCB), had organized the festival for the third time as artistic director together with the energetic entrepreneur Renato Pessi and cleverly and knowledgeably put together a programme of outstanding quality. It was supported by the Association for the Promotion of Basel Graduates in the Field of Early Music. Around a third of the funding came from the public purse and two thirds from foundations and private sponsors.

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Opening concert with Café Zimmermann and Ripieni Festivi. Photo: Susanna Drescher

Reidemeister conceived the three editions of the festival as a trilogy of musical transitional periods, always with reference to Basel. For example, the first festival in 2011 focused on the music of the Basel Council and the transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. Two years later, he showed the juxtaposition of traditional polyphony and "modern" monody around 1600. From Baroque to Classical he now shed light on a long-neglected era. It is only in recent decades that scholars and musicians have turned their attention to this exciting period, rich in inner contradictions, in which the bold harmonic and formal experiments of Bach's sons and other stormy and turbulent composers and the simpler, more intimate tones of Empfindsamkeit stood alongside the "gallant" style of Rococo, in which existing genres, such as opera, were reformed and new ones, such as the string quartet and melodrama, emerged.

Reidemeister emphasized in conversation that this change was not a break, that the old lived on alongside the new. This could be experienced in a concert by the Quatuor Mosaïques with string quartets by Matthias Georg Monn, Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven, which contain fugues and thus integrate the baroque form par excellence into the new genre. The four musicians played in a highly differentiated manner and with great intensity; the subtle interpretation of the Capriccio from Haydn's C major quartet 20/2 was particularly gripping.

Another highlight was provided by the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and harpsichordist Andreas Staier with luminous performances of suites and concerti; juxtaposed works by father Johann Sebastian and son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach made the change in style immediately clear. A concert with the freely improvising keyboard musician Dirk Börner and recitalist Roswitha Schilling was dedicated to the clavichord, a favorite instrument of the era.

Even opera was not missing from the varied program: under the direction of Daniela Dolci, the Basel baroque ensemble Musica fiorita performed Domenico Cimarosa's Buffa L'Impresario in angustie light-footed and with a lot of humor. The performance of the melodrama was a journey through time Ariadne on Naxos by Georg Benda, a theatrical hit of its time. Sigrid T'Hooft, a specialist in historical stage practice, had staged it in the style of the era, with more musical than psychological-realistic declamation and rampant baroque gestures. Franziska Ernst as Ariadne and Meinhardt Möbius as Theseus were not only excellent speakers, but had also internalized the sign language to such an extent that there was nothing unnatural about their elegant interpretation.

Talented graduates of the Schola Cantorum presented themselves in a series of lunchtime concerts. The violinist Plamena Nikitassova excelled in highly virtuoso sonatas by Gaspard Fritz from Geneva and the harpist Giovanna Pessi played soft and soulful music by the Bohemian Johann Baptist Krumpholtz, which already points far ahead into the Romantic period.

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"Ariadne auf Naxos" with Franziska Ernst and Meinhardt Möbius. Photo: Susanna Drescher

Special attention was paid to Basel's musical life in the 18th century. The focus was on the music collection of the merchant Lucas Sarasin (1730-1802), unfortunately only a third of which has been preserved, in whose baroque city palace, the "Blue House" on Rheinsprung, concerts were regularly held in which he himself took part. Some of these could be heard in the concert. And this year's festival CD released by the ARS Produktionen label A guest at the Blue House with the young ensemble Der musikalische Garten, which was formed at the Schola Cantorum, brings music from Sarasin's collection.

With the end of his trilogy, Reidemeister stepped down as Artistic Director. The continued existence of the festival is therefore uncertain. Fortunately, Pessi is prepared to continue the series - probably on a smaller scale - and is in contact with possible successors.

Details about the festival
festtage-basel.ch

Exotica instead of love

"Seismographic Sounds - Visions of a New World" at Aarau's Forum Schlossplatz mixes trenchant and controversial music videos and sound art from 50 countries to create an exciting vision.

Audio and visual tubes. Photos: norient.com

"Seismographic Sounds - Visions of a New World" is the name of the exhibition at Aarau's Forum Schlossplatz. It lives up to its title from behind the first door: when you open it, you are confronted with an almost two-metre-wide LED wall on which scenes from Africa, surfboard sequences and kissing lips shake hands in rapid succession - and quite loudly. It is a first look behind the scenes of current global music creation.

Cover picture of the exhibition.

The idea for "Seismographic Sounds" came about a year and a half ago, at the suggestion of Anna Bürkli, co-curator of the Solothurn Künstlerhaus S11. The exhibition was originally supposed to celebrate its vernissage there, but: "The idea kept growing and soon needed more space than S11 could offer," says Thomas Burkhalter, who developed the show together with Theresa Beyer and Hannes Liechti - in collaboration with their international network Norient.

At the heart of the exhibition, which covers a good 200 square meters, are pointed, shrill and controversial music videos, tracks and sound art from over 50 countries. These are daring works that have been created outside of common social norms, explains Burkhalter. "The result is a mixture of our point of view and that of 250 journalists, bloggers and scientists." Gradually, more and more material from countries as diverse as Bolivia, Israel and Ghana was sent in, sometimes even unsolicited. The quality of the submissions was astonishingly high, says Burkhalter and Beyer adds: "The project confirmed our feeling that there are countless musicians all over the world who express themselves with a great deal of knowledge and urgency in new artistic formats."

In order for "Seismographic Sounds" to be created, it was necessary for the creators to go to their personal limits and combine their roles as project managers, curators, fundraisers and editors. "Up to 100 emails a day were the norm," recalls Beyer. Efforts that bore fruit and amounted to a collage that dug beneath the surface and revealed new trends in music. "For example, we need to get away from the image that African artists absolutely want to break into the Anglo-American market," emphasizes Burkhalter. Nowadays, it is sometimes more lucrative for many musicians to establish themselves at home.

Overall audiovisual composition

Based on the six themes of Money, Loneliness, Desire, Exotica, War and Belonging, visitors have the opportunity to experience the exhibition as an overall audiovisual composition. According to Beyer, these thematic highlights emerged when viewing the approximately 2000 clips. However, the fact that the motif of romantic love appeared less frequently than those mentioned surprised the two curators themselves.

If you were to take in every snippet of "Seismographic Sounds", it would take around eight hours to see and hear everything. A wealth that allows the visitor to immerse themselves in detail. Videos such as the one by Bad Copy can be watched in several cinema boxes that offer space for a handful of viewers. The Serbs fuse hard rap with images of children plagued by civil war with big guns and hard faces. La Bala" by Los Tigres Del Norte from Mexico is not quite so obviously about gun battles. Their clip begins in a familiar way, but ends in the death of a band. South African Simiso Zwane's "Allblackblackkat" offers something lighter, with mystical images emerging from a swimming pool.

While you can listen to various audio collages and mixtapes such as "Aarau in the 80s" in the lounge, numerous podcasts offer in-depth insights into the everyday lives of musicians outside the mainstream. For example, Israeli sound artist Meira Asher talks about her musical confrontation with the militarization of her country. One listening station next door, the Indonesian hard rock band Burgerkill complains: "It's difficult for artists to make a living here." A statement that crops up again and again in various forms. Even more frequently, however, one is confronted with the attitude that everything is being done to maintain a public presence with one's songs.

The show, which is accompanied by a book of the same name, illustrates how different and yet similar the various music scenes around the world are. Seismographic Sounds" particularly encourages visitors to embark on a journey of discovery in search of new sounds and impressions - both inside and outside the exhibition.

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Indonesian hard rock band Burgerkill

"Seismographic Sounds - Visions of a new world", Forum Schlossplatz, Aarau.
Until September 20.

www.forumschlossplatz.ch
www.norient.com

Further data
October 1 to December 29, 2015
Center for Art and Media (ZKM) Karlsruhe (Germany)

January 29, 2016 until February 28, 2016
Club Transmediale Festival (CTM) Berlin (Germany)

January 2017
Kornhausforum Bern (Switzerland)

A festival for the transverse flute

The Falaut International Flute Camp attracted 250 flautists and other musicians to Salerno this summer. It is an important meeting place for artists and teachers from all over the world.

Photo: zVg

Travel guides rightly rave about the Amalfi Coast as one of the most beautiful coasts in the world. Nowhere else will you find more breathtaking views. Artists have always traveled there to find inspiration for their works. The Italian Flute Society, under the artistic direction of Salvatore Lombardi, organized the major musical event on the campus of the University of Salerno from 2 to 8 August. The whimsical word invention "falaut" is a playful combination of flute and some syllables of solmization, which goes back to Guido of Arezzo.

Stimulate conversations
One of the core ideas of the festival is to invite renowned artists in the field to perform in varied programs with the course participants and also to involve the next generation. This year, pupils, students, teachers and lecturers came from countries including Russia, China, Korea, Japan, the USA, Spain, Italy, Poland, Denmark, Norway and Switzerland. The program shows how flexible the instrument is and how extensive the repertoire is. There is jazz and contemporary music, music from the Baroque to the Romantic period. There were also courses for guitar, harp, violin and double bass. There were suggestions for everyone, from amateur flutists to semi-professionals and professionals. One of the main aims of the Flute Society is to bring as many interested people together as possible.

Personal lecturers
This summer camp has an interesting concept: a personal instructor is selected when you register. He or she is the first point of contact throughout the week. He or she will give you lessons that are organized very differently by the instructors. Some teachers are available to the students all day, others have individual and class lessons spread throughout the day or concentrated lessons. Participants have the opportunity to attend and listen to all classes. Individual lessons with other teachers are also possible on request.
There are also three public master classes per day. The lecturers teach in a large lecture hall in front of an interested audience. The topics are usually freely chosen. Sometimes, however, special subjects are covered, such as piccolo, Alexander technique, orchestration, etc. So you circulate around all day and choose what interests you most. In addition, the numerous lecturers present their impressive skills in concerts at lunchtime and in the evening. The standard was usually dizzyingly high.

Passion as the key to success
As you can imagine, there is a concentrated load of knowledge, experience and expertise. The atmosphere is relaxed and friendly. On the first day of the course, there was still general confusion as to who was where. It was also easy to get lost on the university's large campus. So you joined a group of people and almost by magic, students and teachers appeared in the right place. Before you knew it, there were flutes, violins and plucks coming from every room. A program booklet with all the necessary information about the festival was distributed in the afternoon of the first day. From then on there was order and clarity. An organizational masterpiece.

The summer camp as it is today has grown slowly. It all started 10 years ago with a normal summer course. The location has always changed, but it has always taken place in the Salerno area. Slowly, the event grew to its current size. Last year it was held at the University of Salerno for the first time. 70 flautists traveled there. This year there were already 200 flautists and 50 other instrumental musicians. Of these, 40% were foreigners. A worldwide network is thus maintained and expanded. The feedback was consistently positive. Festival organizer Salvatore Lombardi is convinced: "The key to success in flute playing is passion.

www.falaut.it

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