If you want to make a career in the world of blockbusters, musicals and stadium concerts, you are best advised to acquire your skills at Berklee College of Music. It has the closest connections to the scene and the highest reputation. Another good address in Los Angeles is the Thornton School at USC (University of Southern California). The Herb Alpert School at UCLA (University of California Los Angeles) is in fourth place.

In third and fifth to eighth place, however, are the most important schools on the East Coast: the Juilliard School in New York, the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, the Steinhardt Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions at New York University, the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston.

In ninth place is the California Institute of the Arts and in tenth place is the only European training center, the Royal College of Music in London.

Around half of the Swiss population now uses a smartphone. Other mobile devices that allow us to be online anytime and anywhere have also become an integral part of our everyday lives. How does this omnipresence affect artistic creation? And what new forms of artistic expression does it give rise to? The Swiss Arts Council is addressing these questions from 2013 to 2015 with its new program "Mobile. In Touch with Digital Creation" program.

The second axis of the "Digital Culture" focus opens up the influences of digitization on dissemination, promotion and mediation in the classic art disciplines, such as literature on the Internet or music information projects.

Finally, the "Interdisciplinary Cooperation Projects New Media" call for proposals is looking for joint projects by event organizers, institutions and producers that deal artistically with the latest digital technologies or their social and cultural impact.

Pro Helvetia's "Digital Culture" priority covers the years 2012 to 2015 and has a budget of CHF 1.8 million. Applications can be submitted via www.myprohelvetia.ch to be submitted.

The 41-year-old Gubler from Zurich was selected by the search committee from 18 external candidates, as the MHL writes. Gubler will take up his six-year term of office on March 1, 2014. He is currently Head of Studies at the Hochschule für Musik in Basel, where he is also entrusted with university management duties.

Gubler studied saxophone, composition and law and, in addition to his administrative duties, worked as a freelance saxophonist and composer as well as a lecturer at various Swiss universities.

Inge-Susann Römhild will continue to head the MHL until February 28, 2014. With 19 years in office, she is currently the longest serving head of a German music academy. She was first elected Rector of the MHL in 1994. After four further terms as part-time Rector, she became full-time President for the first time in 2008.

The sound installation is based on Hofmann's master's thesis at the Zurich University of the Arts. The musician investigated which sounds can be heard in a beehive. He makes the previously barely heard noises and sounds audible through body sound recordings.

In an oversized, walk-in beehive, visitors to the Zoological Museum of the University of Zurich can discover the secrets of bee sounds. Inside the hive, they can hear bees crawling on the floor like menacing drum rolls, while splashing, dripping and pitter-pattering can be heard on the honeycombs. When they leave the hive, they move along the bees' approach path. At first there is a classical humming sound, but soon the humming is replaced by human voices, which move through the space just like the bees.

For the recordings, Hofmann housed a bee colony in a test box equipped with microphones and soundproofed it with 300 kilograms of sand. He connected the special microphones to a computer and did all this in the presence of the bee colony, which was supposed to behave as naturally as possible.

Hofmann worked with professionals from the fields of physics, sound engineering, film, photography and carpentry, as well as with beekeepers. And he founded an ad hoc choir to transform the sound of nature into the sound of culture in the bees' approach path. Young people and adults keen to experiment transformed the natural sound of bees into their own aesthetic expression, based on the sounds and movements of bees.

More info: www.zm.uzh.ch

Initial investigations have already been carried out in a previous project from 2009 to 2011. It turned out that the task of realistically simulating the so-called load-bearing behavior of historical objects is extremely complex and the need for research is very great.

In addition to the modeling by the Dresden scientists, the Swiss cooperation partners from ETH Zurich will investigate the specific material properties in the experimental part of the project. In addition to the wood, the focus will be on the adhesives and coatings commonly used at the time.

In the end, the researchers not only want to understand which stresses lead to which types of damage, but also define threshold values and formulate recommendations for the storage and use of historical wooden objects.

The scientists at the Dresden Institute for Statics and Dynamics of Structures, led by Michael Kaliske, are cooperating with the Institute for Building Materials at ETH Zurich, the Händel House in Halle/Saale and the Musée d'Ethnographie in Geneva.

According to a report by "France Musique", state subsidies for conservatoires were already reduced by 25 percent in 2013. In 2014, they are to be cut by a further 31 percent, meaning that the subsidies will be reduced by around half within two years. Spedic is demanding that the contributions remain at least at the same level as before.

The reductions in contributions to the conservatoires are in line with the general reductions in the state culture budgets in France. These will be cut by around 2% in 2014. The state spends around 2.7 billion euros annually on the cultural sector and 4.56 billion euros on the creative industries (including the media).

The petition on the web:
https://secure.avaaz.org/fr/petition/Conservatoires_en_danger/?stFdveb

Benoit, a 41-year-old from Bern, has worked in the department since 2007 and as a research assistant since 2013. In addition to processing applications, he is currently in charge of the office of the French-speaking cultural commissions.

Benoit studied German, English and geography at the University of Neuchâtel. "Thanks to his practical experience and as co-deputy head of department, as well as his excellent knowledge of the cultural scene in the French-speaking part of the canton of Bern and the bilingual district of Biel/Bienne", he is ideally suited to the role, writes the canton.

An interim solution until the end of 2014 is appropriate, the canton added, because the competencies and responsibilities in cultural promotion in the French-speaking part of the canton of Bern will be discussed next year as part of a project called "Statu Quo+".
 

In the first jury round of the young ears award In 2013, eleven music projects for children and young people were nominated from 103 applications. Among them in the category LabEar the project "Free improvised music for children" by Gauze construction from Lucerne and in the category Best Practice, Concert the co-production "The Golden Heart" by the Philharmonie Luxembourgthe Lucerne Festival and the Cologne Philharmonic Hall. The competition, which is being held for the eighth time in 2013 under the motto "Excellent for young ears", honors outstanding educational projects. The final will take place on November 21 at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig.

According to the organization, "the young ears prize is awarded in four categories. Best Practice searches in the categories Concert and Participatory project for exemplary concert formats for young audiences and process-oriented educational programs for children and young people. In the category Music & Media Music projects are in demand that use auditory, visual or digital media to extend the spectrum of musical activities for children and young people beyond the experience of music. Concertbeyond that. LabEar is aimed at projects on the fringes of music with a focus on listening itself."
 

Aldo Caviezel is forty-three years old, married, a father and lives in Unterägeri. After training at the St. Michael Teachers' Seminary in Zug, Aldo Caviezel soon became involved in culture at all levels, writes the Canton of Zug.

From 2003 to 2005, Caviezel completed a Master's degree in Cultural Management at the University of Basel, where his thesis dealt with the question of the optimal organizational structure for cultural institutions.

Aldo Caviezel will work for the Canton of Zug from November 1, 2013 until January 31, 2014 in a 20 percent position and from February 1, 2014 in an 80 percent position.

As announced by Konzert Theater Bern, the four partners are issuing a "Call for Projects" to young up-and-coming artists from the fields of theater, directing, music, composition and related areas. The aim of this call is to promote contemporary projects that go beyond the usual repertoire. This goal is to be achieved in a three-stage competition.

According to the information on the Website of Musik Theater Bern In June 2014, an international group of experts (Ludger Engels, Mathias Rebstock, Xavier Dayer, Xavier Zuber, Peter Kraut, Pierre Sublet, Françoise Rivalland, Malte Ubenauf, Daniel Ott) will discuss positions, aesthetics and strategies, and the individual projects will be further developed individually.

The second block in September 2014 offers the opportunity to work specifically on a theatrical design. The most interesting projects will be presented at the Bern Biennale in September 2014. A jury with the artistic directors of the Munich Biennale 2016 (Manos Tsangaris, Daniel Ott) will use this opportunity to decide which projects could be developed into full productions in Munich.

Individuals or teams of up to three people with a clear connection to Switzerland are admitted, whereby none of the people should be older than 38 years at the time of registration. A maximum of 15 people will be accepted. The electronic application dossier must be submitted by February 7, 2014. Further conditions of participation can be found at Concert Theater Bern. 
 

Neumann will not take part in the coalition negotiations to form a new German government. The retirement of the universally respected minister marks the end of an era in cultural policy in Germany. It remains to be seen who will succeed him in office.

CDU politician Neumann has been Minister of State to the Federal Chancellor and Commissioner for Culture and the Media since November 2005. Between 1989 and 1995 he was chairman and from 1995 to 2005 deputy chairman of the CDU's Federal Committee on Media Policy.

From 1991 to 1998, he served as Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Education, Research and Technology and subsequently until 2005 as Chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group on the Bundestag Committee on Culture and the Media. 
 

The kammerorchesterbasel is to receive annual funding of CHF 505,000 for 2014/15. This corresponds to an increase of CHF 150,000 per year. According to the canton, this increase will help ensure that the ensemble can pay its musicians in line with the Swiss Music Association's rates over the next ten years.

For the same period, the basel sinfonietta is to receive annual support contributions of CHF 334,000, CHF 100,000 more per year than before. In order to achieve planning security, the basel sinfonietta is dependent on a solid increase in basic funding from state contributions. The orchestra has earned an excellent reputation for its quality and its specific program, explains the government council. 
 

According to German press reports, the oratorio, which lasts around 40 minutes, will primarily be based on texts from the Old Testament. The German press agency quotes Schnyder as saying that it is "a kind of nudge prayer".

The Frauenkirche in Dresden was almost completely destroyed during the Second World War. It was reconstructed between 1994 and 2005. Today, it once again serves as one of the city's centers of sacred musical life.

According to his own characterization, Schnyder's music is situated in the areas of new music, classical music (chamber music and symphonic concert music), early music, ethnic music, crossover, jazz, big band, opera, oratorio, ballet and Latin music. In addition to his compositional activities, Schnyder regularly performs as a soloist, chamber musician and jazz improviser.

Singing makes you strong! That's why it should be supported everywhere: in the family, kindergarten, youth group or school. In 2009, Carus-Verlag launched the song project together with SWR2. It began with lullabies (see review SMZ 4/2010). Five major songbooks and 12 CDs have been published to date, and over 100 singers, choirs, vocal ensembles and instrumentalists have recorded songs for the project, as have over 300 children. More than 350,000 euros have been used to support singing projects with children.

The new episode, Lullabies from all over the worldThe book features a variety of traditional lullabies from different countries, illustrated with photos from all over the world. The songs take the listener on a musical journey around the world, including to New Zealand, India, South Africa, Lebanon, Turkey and Switzerland. Interested listeners can also follow the sounding itinerary on the radio (see below).

The project was developed in collaboration with the European Choral Association - Europa Cantat (ECA-EC) and its international network. The books, CDs, music volumes and text booklets are available in stores. The contents are also available free of charge on songproject.org.

Broadcast dates:
hr2-kultur: from October 26, 2013 to April 12, 2014, Saturdays between 1:05 and 2:00 p.m.

SR2 in Voyages - Music of the WorldsOctober 27, 2013 to April 13, 2014, approx. 6:00 p.m./6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

MDR: weekly from October 28 on MDR Figarino web radio and at the start and on the Sundays in November (November 3, 10, 17 and 24, 2013) at 8:20 a.m. on MDR Figaro in the Family breakfast.

Applicants can present their own project at one of the festival locations, for example with a video, an installation or a concert. A maximum of CHF 30,000 is available per project.

The Fete de la Musique de Genève, a kind of open showcase of music, follows a concept that originated in France. The event, which is now celebrated in around a hundred countries, attracts around a quarter of a million visitors to the Calvin city every year.

More info: www.ville-ge.ch/culture/fm/