The reason for his resignation: the extended Senate bypassed the University Council when electing the new Rector of the University of Music and chose the previous Vice-Rector for Teaching and Studies, Judith Schinker. The Council's favorite was the then Rector Ekkehard Klemm.

According to the Council's open letter to State Minister Eva-Maria Stange, the clearly differing ideas on the further development of the school between the Senate and the Council made "a prosperous and unencumbered cooperation impossible". The University Council consisted of Werner Barlmeyer (Chairman), Olaf Bär, Wilfried Krätzschmar, Regine Lorenz and Jan Vogler. It was appointed for five years in the fall of 2014.

This means that a German conservatory is now also struggling with succession and strategy problems. Comparable turmoil could be observed at the conservatories in Vienna and Graz. At these universities, rectors who had already been elected did not take office.

How do swing solos differ from bebop solos and Charlie Parker's improvisations from those of John Coltrane? Is it the lines, the rhythmic structure - or perhaps the choice of notes and scales? How does it even work: improvising? The Jazzomat Research Project at the joint Institute of Musicology Weimar-Jena of the Franz Liszt University of Music Weimar and the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, headed by Martin Pfleiderer and funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), has been addressing these questions since October 2012.

Initially, the Weimar Jazz Database was set up, which now contains 299 jazz solos - exemplary improvisations from eight decades of jazz history that have been transcribed by students of the jazz and musicology courses. At the same time, project team members Jakob Abesser and Klaus Frieler have developed the freely available analysis software MeloSpyGUI 1.0, which can also be used to analyze other musical genres.

It can be used to generate information about the notes, intervals and rhythms used in the solos and much more at the touch of a button or to search for specific patterns in certain jazz solos. This in turn enables detailed descriptions of the personal styles of jazz musicians and allows overarching conclusions to be drawn about improvisational creative processes.

The MeloSpyGUI 1.0 analysis software and the Weimar Jazz Database can be downloaded free of charge from the project website. Extensive documentation and tutorials on the software and its possible uses can also be found there. In addition, information and initial analysis results are presented for each jazz solo in the Weimar Jazz Database; the transcriptions can also be listened to and downloaded as midi versions.

Website: jazzomat.hfm-weimar.de
 

Pascal Viglino studied classical and contemporary percussion, composition and music theater at the universities of Geneva, London, Barcelona, Berlin and Bern. He was a member of the Verbier Festival Orchestra from 2000 to 2006. He regularly works with symphony orchestras and contemporary music ensembles in Geneva, Zurich Opera House, Barcelona, Brazil, Bern, Lisbon and Basel.

For the fifth time in a row, the canton of Valais is also awarding a special prize for the promotion of culture, namely to the Bretz-Héritier Foundation in Savièse. The cultural prizewinners were selected by the State Council on the recommendation of the Cultural Council.

The Valais Culture Prize dates back to 1980. At that time, the State Council decided to award the Valais Culture Prize each year to an artist from Valais or an artist residing in Valais. The award recognizes the career of an artist.

Established in 1982, the sponsorship awards are aimed at talented young artists who are at a turning point in their career. On the one hand, this creative contribution is intended as recognition for their work, but on the other hand also as an incentive to continue on their chosen path. The special prize, which has been awarded since 2011, is intended for a person or a group that is mainly involved behind the scenes in the development and promotion of culture in Valais.

Born in Zurich in 1983, performer Fatima Dunn studied contemporary singing at the Winterthur Institute for Contemporary Music WIAM. She then completed a master's degree in composition for film, theater and media at the Zurich University of the Arts. Since graduating in summer 2013, she has appeared on various occasions as a freelance performer and singer as well as a theater musician and film composer.

Together with video artist Mirjam von Ow, Fatima Dunn has created a cinematic live performance entitled "Landfall", in which vocals, cello, electronics and the large-scale projection of images create a poetic journey. The "artistic versatility paired with a highly professional realization" persuaded the jury of the Nico Kaufmann Foundation to award Dunn the scholarship.

The Nico Kaufmann Foundation, which is administered by the Presidential Department of the City of Zurich, awards an annual scholarship to musicians who have not yet reached the age of 35 and are domiciled in Switzerland in the year of the call for applications. The president of the foundation is the mayor. Michael Eidenbenz, Director of the Department of Music at Zurich University of the Arts, singer-songwriter Véronique Müller and cabaret artist Joachim Rittmeyer sat on the jury for the current scholarship award.
 

According to the ORF Audience Council, an existing agreement with the Austrian music industry is to be voluntarily extended. ORF Director General Alexander Wrabetz is committed to 30 percent Austrian music throughout Austria and 15 percent on Ö3. In addition, ORF wants to return to the Austrian Music Fund with 100,000 euros annually, take over the national music prize Amadeus again and broadcast a weekly scout program of Austrian talent on Ö3.

In Switzerland, the SRG and music representatives have signed a Swiss Music Charter. In it, SRG undertakes to broadcast a certain proportion of Swiss productions (for example, productions by new talent) in its programs. This proportion is a dynamic benchmark that is redefined each year.

The Direction de l'enseignement obligatoire (DGO), which apparently wants to take strict action against activities that presumably violate the city's secular basic principles, is thus preventing a project by the Geneva Chamber Orchestra.

The decision has provoked international head-shaking. For example, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitungnow "Geneva is suddenly getting the reputation of being even more fussy and fanatical about secularism than the French". And the Wiener Zeitung speaks of a "missionary atheism". Especially as the flood story is "a mythical legacy of humanity" and is not tied to a single religion.

Paul Phoenix is a well-known British tenor. Until four years ago, he was a member of the King's Singers from Cambridge. The six singers of this vocal ensemble have not only toured all over the world, they have also won several Grammy Awards with their original crossover programs. Phoenix has made two guest appearances in Boswil with the famous ensemble. Since he stopped singing with the ensemble, he has concentrated on his teaching activities and even appears as a sought-after performance coach in China. He developed his choir master class four years ago especially for Boswil, preferring to call it Performance Coaching. At the same time, he founded Purple Vocals, a vocal coaching service that also offers online coaching via Skype: www.purplevocals.com

On the weekend of May 8-10, Phoenix was in Boswil for a master class for the fourth time. The chamber choir C21 under the direction of Michael Schraner and the vocal ensemble Cantemus under the direction of Judith Flury were given advice, an exciting learning process that led to an inspired final concert. "I think the Künstlerhaus, with its family atmosphere, is an ideal place for a choir course," says Phoenix in conversation, "here you can work together, eat together, spend time together, and you don't need any special instruments, it's actually quite simple, we sing together. That means: breathing together, paying attention to details, working dynamically."

Understand, tell, shine

The special thing about this master class is that it is not given by a choral conductor, but by a singer. What do you have to imagine under Performance Coaching imagine? Does that mean more show, smart clothes, special choir set-ups? Paul Phoenix is not interested in showmanship, as I discovered during a course visit on Saturday morning, he is interested in better communication with the audience. In most cases, everything happens between the choir members and the conductor, the audience is forgotten.

Judith Flury's vocal ensemble Cantemus will be performing an original Shakespeare-The choir is well prepared, this course is about the final, masterly polish. The English language is not easy to sing, especially the "th" must not become a "t". Three words is the name of a ballad by Juhani Komulainen: a very calm, tonally dazzling piece of music. "You sing it like a madrigal in church. I miss your passion," Phoenix intervenes, "do you understand what you're singing? This is a love song that oscillates between passion and resignation."

Phoenix reads the text aloud, recites it almost as if he were singing it, the three words are: I love you. And indeed, the 24 singers begin to tell the story. They detach themselves from the musical text, become freer, the soft choral sound gains meaning and contour. "Why are you all looking so serious?" says Phoenix in his likeable, humorous manner and grimaces. "Smile, your eyes must shine, feel good, have confidence!"

Speed, communication

It is very difficult to sing calm sounds in a choir without intuitively slowing down. "You lose tension that way, the expression becomes blurred. Make sure you stay in tempo." And lo and behold, despite the piano and flat sound, the singers are suddenly eagerly listened to. Phoenix then asks the conductor Flury to stand at the very back of the hall and conduct the choir from there. It works, they sing out into the hall with a clearly perceptible effect.

Not only the singers, but also the two conductors get some tips: "You usually stand with your back to the audience. Turn around, talk to the audience, greet them and say a few sentences about the pieces rather than writing program texts. That has a huge impact." And then the voicing: from a tuning fork and singing in front of the audience, or would you prefer to do it on the piano? Phoenix advises using a small harmonica or whistle, which is safer than singing and doesn't make you look bad.

Anaïs Gaudemard studied harp and piano at the Marseille Conservatory with Fabrice Pierre in Lyon. In 2012, she won the special prize for the best interpretation of "The Crown of Ariadne" by Murray Schafer at the international harp competition in Israel. She received first prizes at the Torneo Internazionale die Musica in Rome in 2012, at the Festival Musical d'Automne des Jeunes Interprètes and at the Franz Josef Reinl Competition in Munich.

Coline Jaget was initially taught by her mother Helvia Briggen, solo harpist with the Nice Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2003, she joined Michèle Vuillaume's class at the Nice Conservatory. She graduated with top marks and distinction in 2009. She then joined Isabelle Moretti's class at the Paris Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse. She is currently in the final year of her master's degree.

The Prix Thierry Scherz honors the co-founder and former artistic director of the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad festival. It enables the prizewinner to make a first CD recording with orchestra and guarantees its distribution. Anaïs Gaudemard thus has the opportunity to record a CD of works by Nicolai von Wilm, Alberto Ginastera and Einojuhani Rautavaara alongside the Orchestre de l'Opéra de Rouen Haute Normandie under the direction of Léo Hussain.

The Prix André Hoffmann, endowed with 5000 francs, rewards the best interpretation of a contemporary work. This year it was a work by the composer in residence at the Sommets Musicaux, Ivan Fedele, performed by Coline Jaget.

Including ancillary income of CHF 10.3 million, total sales amounted to CHF 151.6 million. (previous year: 144.9 million francs). Administrative expenses amounted to CHF 28.1 million in 2014, meaning that the average cost deduction was reduced slightly to 12.3% (previous year: 12.47%).

According to the cooperative's official press release, developments in the digital sector also contributed to the increase: additional income from the tariff for remuneration on smartphones, rising income from the online sector and the widespread use of digital and time-shifted television. However, there is still a need for action, particularly in the online sector, to ensure that music rights holders are remunerated fairly.

Thanks to an agreement reached in July 2014 for the use of privately copied music on smartphones, artists received remuneration for several years. The retroactive payments from smartphone manufacturers and importers for the years 2010 to 2014 led to additional income of around CHF 3.6 million. The online sector has also grown strongly. In 2014, copyright revenue from downloads and streaming grew by 32% and amounted to CHF 6.1 million (previous year: 4.6 million francs).

However, the increase in downloads is only partly due to increased demand for download offers. As Suisa issues online licenses for the whole of Europe, the increase is mainly due to the increase in licensing territories. In the streaming sector, copyright revenue has increased almost fivefold from CHF 315,000 to CHF 1.5 million.

"You can do anything but damage the instrument". This was Palm's motto in his lessons, recalls Werner Schmitt, who had studied with him. The gripping way in which Siegfried Palm (1927-2005) approached new music was passed on to his students. He took every single note of a new work as seriously as others only did with classical and romantic music.
Heinz von Loesch assesses Palm's significance as follows: "Palm's importance for the rise of the cello in the history of composition in the age of sound composition and action art can hardly be overestimated". He possessed the rare gift of "grasping and realizing as far as possible what was meant compositionally in the actually unplayable parts" (Music in the past and present, Personenteil, Volume 13, Column 55, Stuttgart 2005).

As Schmitt reports, chamber music courses lasting one to two weeks were held at the conservatory in Bern six times a year for many years with Siegfried Palm, who was brought to Bern by the then director Urs Frauchiger. Jean-Luc Darbellay, who himself often took part in these courses as a conductor or later as a composer, dates the courses to the years 1983 to 2001. The courses were always concluded with a small concert at which the newly rehearsed pieces, only contemporary and modern classical repertoire, were presented and commented on by Siegfried Palm. Darbellay considers this work to be exciting, "especially as the rehearsals also took place in the presence of the composition teachers (Cristóbal Halffter and Dimitri Terzakis). In February 1990, Radio France produced a portrait of our work together and WDR made a film Palm in Bernon the occasion of his 60th birthday." From this period, Darbellay composed seven cello pieces (solo, with ensemble or with orchestra) for Siegfried Palm, which he performed in Switzerland and Germany.

Julius Berger and Thomas Demenga, not direct students of Palm, but inspired by him, will play on June 6 at the Bern Yehudi Menhuin Forum great works of cello literature: Max Reger's fourth cello sonata is in need of an aesthetic rediscovery in the 21st century, while Bernd Alois Zimmermann's Sonata for violoncello solo Palm in 1960 was an enormous challenge. In addition to the pianist Oliver Kern, cellists of the younger generation can also be heard: Gunta Abele opens the concert with Jean-Luc Darbellay's S for Siegfried Palm from 2003 for violoncello solo, while Alessio Pianelli, Moritz Kolb, Clara Rada Gomez , Gaëlle Lefebvre and Alicia Rieckhoff in the ensemble together with Thomas Demenga performed Samuel Barber's Adagio for strings op. 11 in the version for six cellos.

The northern Bernese association of municipalities serves as a decision-making platform for the municipalities to conclude service contracts with cultural institutions of regional importance. According to the canton, the organizational regulations "take into account the special circumstances of this part of the canton and its bilingualism" and specifically provide for sub-regions.

As the regulations were not issued by the municipalities within the statutory period, the canton has taken over in accordance with the Cultural Promotion Act. The regulations will come into force on June 20, 2015 and the constituent meeting of the municipal association for the promotion of culture will take place on June 23, 2015.

As a musician and mediator, Gerhard Pawlica has shaped cultural life in Lucerne through his sustained and tireless commitment to chamber music, writes the city. He pursues his artistic activities as a solo cellist in various formations (21st Century Orchestra, Lucerne Chamber Musicians etc.), as a music mediator and also as a music teacher with passion and in many different ways. Pawlica is considered a pioneer of chamber music concerts in Lucerne. In 1996, he founded the Society for Chamber Music, which has since organized an annual concert cycle of ten concerts.

Pink Spider (aka Valerie Koloszar) has been dedicating herself to her musical career for years and released her second album in 2014. According to the city, the young multi-instrumentalist's songs "captivate with their unheard depth and perfect arrangements".

Further recognition prizes for 2015 go to filmmaker Ursula Brunner and performing artist Nina Langensand. The Art and Culture Prize is endowed with CHF 25,000 and the recognition prizes with CHF 10,000 each.

Rölli, co-owner of the advertising agency c & h konzepte and President of the Solothurn City and Trade Association, is familiar with Solothurn's culture as co-organizer of the Solothurn Culture Night, organizer of the "Acoustic Nights" in the Old Hospital and co-author of the "LiteraturPanorama".

The Board of Trustees for the Promotion of Culture of the Canton of Solothurn acts as an expert advisory body on behalf of the Government Council. It supports artists and cultural practitioners by advising the cantonal government on cultural policy and helping to fulfill the tasks and objectives of the cultural articles formulated in the Solothurn Constitution and the Cultural Promotion Act. The position of president of the committee was advertised publicly for the first time in March.

According to a Bertelsmann Stiftung press release, 95 percent of teachers and 93 percent of parents at the 90 or so schools participating in the project said that learning with music improves the quality of teaching and has a positive effect on children's development.

96% of teachers and 76% of parents stated that musical elementary school support children individually according to their interests, abilities and strengths. As early as 2011, a study of musical elementary school in Hesse found that cooperation between teachers and interaction between pupils improved significantly after the start of the project.

Around 60,000 pupils currently take part in the music education programs at 350 primary music schools (an average of 175 pupils per school): In Lower Saxony and Hesse at around 100 schools each, in Bavaria at 60 schools, in Thuringia and Berlin at 35 and 37 schools respectively and in North Rhine-Westphalia at 20 schools.

The project started in 2005 in Hesse in cooperation with the local Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs. Over the years, five other federal states have joined as partners. As an important part of school development, the project also supports inclusion and the design of all-day schools.

For the second time, the Institute of Financial Services Zug IFZ at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts has taken a close look at the crowdfunding market in Switzerland. The research team analyzed the data of all platforms active in Switzerland last year - 15 in total. However, numerous market participants have been added in recent months. At the end of April 2015, 30 platforms were active with a branch in Switzerland, including the Basellandschaftliche Kantonalbank, the first traditional bank since the end of 2014.

15.8 million francs were raised through crowdfunding in Switzerland in 2014 - 36% more than in the previous year and a fivefold increase compared to 2011. The money raised is attributable to 1078 campaigns, as the fundraising phase is known. However, the absolute amounts are still very low in an international comparison. The crowdfunding market in Switzerland is still in its infancy compared to the USA or the UK, explains finance professor Andreas Dietrich, who wrote the study together with Simon Amrein and with the support of Swisscom.

Crowdfunding is increasingly establishing itself as an alternative form of financing, particularly in the cultural sector. Almost 1.5 million francs were raised for 216 music, concert and festival campaigns in 2014, an average of around 6,850 francs.

On www.hslu.ch/crowdfunding the current study can be downloaded free of charge.