The composer, violinist and music school director Emil Himmelsbach (1914-1984) from Basel, who died 29 years ago, left behind an oeuvre of around 140 songs and instrumental compositions (see Swiss Music Newspaper 12/2008, S. 37).

By avoiding thirds and sixths wherever possible in his mostly short compositions, twelve-tone melodies emerged almost automatically. When he once submitted some works to a competition where Paul Sacher was on the jury, he was refused recognition on the grounds that it was not possible to hear and experience such music inwardly, that it was merely constructed. Emil Himmelsbach was not deterred by such judgments and said that the younger generation would "acquire a taste" for it.

To this end, Adolf Zinsstag founded the Emil Himmelsbach Foundation based in Basel five years ago, digitally recorded all the works and deposited the estate with the Basel University Library. For the coming anniversary year, he is planning to publish a biographical outline and his lecture Geistfeindlichkeit und Suche nach dem Geist im Kunstschaffen des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts (1977).

Himmelsbach has written his works so beautifully by hand that they can be performed and are not considered a priority task for the Foundation. On the other hand, it is in the fortunate position of being able to provide support or deficit guarantees for performances of Himmelsbach's works. Inquiries to: Adolf Zinsstag, 4059 Basel, Bruderholzallee 253; or zinsstag@hotmail.com

Migros Culture Percentage wants to use the grants to help professionalize structures. According to Philipp Schnyder von Wartensee from Migros Culture Percentage, this is the only way labels and agencies can build up and support the Swiss pop scene more effectively. The supported labels and managements receive contributions of between 20,000 and 50,000 Swiss francs.

Independent labels that have released at least four albums by artists based in Switzerland within the last 24 months or have provided a comparable service are eligible. Artist agencies must perform comprehensive management tasks. In addition, they must support at least two Swiss musicians who have already released a CD.

Applications can be submitted to Migros Culture Percentage until December 6, 2013. The winners will be announced on March 28, 2014 in Zurich as part of the m4music festival.

More info: www.migros-kulturprozent.ch/foerderung

The festival management decided to take this step because it was not possible to secure funding for Solothurn Classics 2014. In 2015, the festival will once again take place in its usual setting.

For the past three years, the Solothurn Classics association has continued the twenty-year tradition of open-air opera performances on Solothurn's St. Ursen Bastion, which was established by the former Classic Openair.

Swiss composers and composers of other nationalities who have been living and working in Switzerland for at least three years are eligible to apply. The prerequisite for an application is "an outstanding achievement".

Conditions of participation and competition documents will be available from December 2013. The application deadline is January 15, 2014.

More info: www.lg-stiftung.ch

Lucerne native Judith Brügger completed a Master's degree in Cultural Management at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and worked for Lucerne Festival as Assistant to the Commercial Director and later as Assistant to the Director of Finance, Human Resources and IT.

During this time, she was involved in various projects such as the Lucerne Festival Ark Nova, the Lucerne Festival Academy, the Salle Modulable and the Young Think Tank.

Following the change of directorship of the Davos Festival from Graziella Contratto to Reto Bieri, the management has also changed. However, Dolores Mark will remain part of the local cultural landscape: She will take over the administrative management of the Kirchner Museum Davos in January 2014. Graziella Contratto is the new head of the music department at Bern University of the Arts.

In contrast to the city's population, however, not all regional municipalities want to participate in the renovation of the building, which is over a hundred years old. The total credit of 45 million francs will therefore not be realized. According to a statement from the City of Bern, at least CHF 1.5 million will be missing.

According to the city, this means that some compromises will have to be made according to the project optimization. For example, there is room for maneuver when it comes to the windows (renovation instead of replacement) or the implementation of acoustic measures.

The aim is not to exceed the cost ceiling, which is made up of contributions from the canton and city of Bern as well as the regional municipalities. In addition to this amount, the voters of the Burgergemeinde Bern will decide on a loan of CHF 5 million in December. This money will be used in particular to extend the attic.

Renovations will be carried out in two phases. The first phase will last from the end of May 2014 to the end of August 2014, the second from the end of March 2015 to the end of September 2015. This means that alternative venues will have to be used in the second half of the season. These include the Great Hall of the Reitschule Bern and the Schlachthaus.

Ursula Jones-Strebi has rendered outstanding services as a friend and patron of Lucerne Festival for decades, writes the City of Lucerne, "by being able to connect artists like hardly anyone else". As the daughter of the co-founder of the Lucerne International Music Festival (IMF), Walter Strebi, Ursula Jones-Strebi has built up and expanded a musical network practically throughout her life; she has generously made this network available to the Lucerne Festival.

Michael Haefliger has been director of the Lucerne Festival for 14 years. During this time, he has "modernized the festival, which until then had been perceived as elitist and at times conventional", the city writes further. Under his directorship, the Lucerne Festival has opened up musically and appealed to a wider audience. In doing so, it has been able to further expand its artistic aspirations as a leading festival.

The City Council will honor the achievements of the two honorees at the meeting of the Lucerne City Council on Thursday, January 30, 2014, and present them with the badge of honor at this ceremony.

According to a media release from the Association of German Concert Directors (VDKD), measures taken by customs authorities when entering and leaving the country with valuable instruments have recently caused annoyance. Artists criticized that colleagues had been detained at customs and some of their musical instruments had been confiscated because they had not complied with customs regulations.

They also criticized the fact that the ATA Carnet customs document, which allows holders to import, export or transit professionally used instruments without customs barriers, represents a considerable burden for musicians, as guarantees amounting to 30 percent of the value of the instrument have to be deposited for its issue.

As part of the Canton of Lucerne's guest appearance in Moscow, authorities, institutions and networkers in the fields of culture, education, tourism, health and business met in the Russian capital.

At the same time as the Lucerne delegations met, Russian President Vladimir Putin signaled that the Russian Federation is interested in acquiring the Rachmaninoff archive and the villa in Hertenstein. Both are currently owned by the heirs and the Rachmaninoff Foundation.

The canton of Lucerne writes that the next steps are now to be discussed between the Swiss and Russian authorities.

The project, initiated by musician Nicole Johänntgen, takes up an idea from the American Sisters in Jazz support program. Six young women from Switzerland, France and Germany are selected and nominated by a jury of experts.

In March 2014, concerts and workshops, business courses and workshops on topics such as booking, moderation, label work, copyrights, media training, PR and music physiology will take place in Paris, Cologne and Zurich. The selected participants will rehearse their own compositions in a SOFIA Band 2014 under the guidance of international jazz musicians, which they will perform in concerts in the three countries in March 2014.

The highlight of the program is a SOFIA festival at the Moods jazz club in Zurich from 17 to 19 March 2014. In addition to the concerts, a silent film soundtrack will be performed in cooperation with the Swiss silent film institute IOIC (Institute of Incoherent Cinematography). The festival will close in collaboration with JazzBaragge.

SOFIA is made possible and supported by the Canton of Zurich, Department for Gender Equality and the Department of Culture, the ZHdK Zurich University of the Arts, Migros Culture Percentage and the C. and A. Kupper Foundation (for the support of talented artists residing in Switzerland).

More info: www.sofia-musicnetwork.com
 

Stork takes over from Hans-Herwig Geyer, who, together with his management team, is initiating a generational change after three board periods. Under his leadership, the association has been professionalized in terms of content and structure over the past nine years, writes JMD.

Since 2007, young people have been active in the JMD initiative "mu:v-Musik verbindet" (mu:v-Music connects), developing projects according to their own ideas and actively implementing them themselves. According to the JMD press release, the movement offers ideal starting conditions for the newly elected board.

Together with President Daniela Stork, Johannes Freyer (Karlsruhe), Claudia Klemkow-Lubda (Hamburg) and Toni Rack (Jena) will in future be responsible for the management of the association. The following were elected as assessors: Martin Lentz (Bremen), Christoph Schaller (Berlin), Anke Steinbeck (Bonn), Lisa Unterberg (Erlangen), Philipp Vandré (Heidelberg).

Picture of the Executive Committee (from left to right): Christoph Schaller, Claudia Klemkow-Lubda, Philipp Vandré, Daniela Stork, Toni Rack, Lisa Unterberg, Johannes Freyer, Anke Steinbeck, Martin Lentz. Photo: JMD

Young people from the canton of Aargau between the ages of 12 and 23 are eligible to take part. The bands must be able to play a repertoire of 20 minutes. Both covers and original compositions are possible. Places are limited, registrations will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis.

The preliminary rounds will take place in March 2014 in Aarau (Flösserplatz), Baden (Merkker), Brugg (Piccadilly) and Aarburg (Moonwalker). A jury will evaluate the performance and give the bands constructive feedback after their concert. Six finalists will be chosen from four preliminary rounds.

The finalists receive coaching from a specialist from the music business. Arrangements and live performances are fine-tuned in their own practice room and the bands receive tips and tricks on topics such as CD recordings and applying for gigs. There is also a DVD recording of the performance.

The winning band will play a concert tour through the canton of Aargau. They will also each receive a studio/mastering day. The best school band wins a performance at Musig i de Altstadt Aarau. As a special prize, the organizers of Open Air Gränichen will award a performance at the festival to a band of their choice. In addition, an audience prize for the favorite band will be awarded each evening.

More info: www.bandxaargau.ch
 

Individual instruments:

• Christmas Favorites. Piano Repertoire, Level 2, edited by Mike Cornick, UE 21 565, € 14.95, Universal Edition, Vienna 2013
• Born at Bethlehem. A selection of well-known Advent and Christmas carols for piano solo or with 2 voices ad lib, arranged by Hilger Schallehn, ED 21288, € 12.99, Schott, Mainz 2013
• Christmas with the harmonica. The most beautiful Christmas carols and Christmas songs, edited by Perry Letsch, ED 21760, with CD, € 17.99, Schott, Mainz 2013
• My first Christmas songs for accordion, edited by Ralf Stock, VHR 1849, € 9.80, Holzschuh-Verlag 2013 

Short review

The expert jury decided in favor of the nominated band in a "very close election" shortly before the award ceremony. According to the official media release, jury spokesperson Jean Zuber from Swiss Music Export emphasized that in the end "the really good pop songs on the band's new CD decided Sheila She Loves You as the winner". The Audience Award, which was determined by online voting, was awarded to the rapper Black Tiger.

Before the Pop Prize, the BusinessSupport SME prize was awarded to the Basel record label Lux-Noise. The award is endowed with 12,000 Swiss francs and was presented by Bruno Marty, spokesman for the BusinessSupport jury and Managing Director of the Swiss Performers' Cooperative.

The Rockförderverein der Region Basel (RFV) has been in existence for 18 years. It works under a service contract with the cantons of Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft. It organizes competitions for bands (newcomers and professionals) and advises bands, companies, organizers and administrations.

With the Cantonal Cultural Promotion Ordinance (KKFV), the cantonal government has adopted the second part of the implementing legislation for the Cultural Promotion Act. The KKFV regulates the joint subsidization of cultural institutions by the canton and the municipalities more clearly. The list of cultural institutions to be jointly subsidized, separately for each region, will be added later as an annex to the ordinance.

The provisions on the organization of cantonal cultural promotion, which had already been enacted on 1 January 2013, were incorporated into the KKFV. This means that nothing has changed for the cultural commissions or for the canton's representation on the governing bodies of cultural institutions.

The ordinance names five cultural institutions of national importance, which only the canton, but not the municipalities, are legally obliged to co-finance. These are the Zentrum Paul Klee, the Bern Art Museum, the Alpine Museum in Bern, the Ballenberg Open-Air Museum and the Artists' Exchange in Thun. The Bern Historical Museum would also fall into this category. However, because the municipalities of the Bern-Mittelland region and the City of Bern in particular are to remain obliged to co-finance it, it has been placed in the category of cultural institutions "of at least regional importance".

The ordinance stipulates that in the case of jointly subsidized cultural institutions, the local municipalities are primarily responsible for drawing up the service contracts. However, the municipalities in a region decide for themselves how they want to divide their share of the subsidies among themselves.

The requirements for contributions to school and community libraries are specified in the ordinance. Libraries must be politically and denominationally neutral in order to be eligible for cantonal contributions. The other provisions basically continue the previous ordinance on the promotion of school and community libraries from 1988, which will be repealed at the same time.