The conference Growing Up: Jazz in Europe 1960 - 1980 is organized by the Bern University of the Arts, the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and the HEMU Lausanne. It sheds light on developments in European jazz during two of its most eventful decades.

Ekkehard Jost, Alexandre Pierrepont and Bruno Spoerri have been invited as keynote speakers.

Contributions to the following panels/sections are welcome:

- Jazz stages in Europe: festivals and clubs
- Parallel worlds: The pluralism of scenes and styles
- Jazz reception, record companies and the media
- Aspects of gender and ethnicity in European jazz
- Jazz education, professionalization and organization in professional associations
- State-subsidized jazz in Switzerland and other European countries
- What is "Swiss" about Swiss jazz?

Presentations can be given in German, English or French. Selected conference papers will be published in an issue of the European Journal of Musicologywhich is dedicated to the conference topic.

Proposals for conference contributions (personal details, academic degree, abstract of the planned contribution of approx. 400 words) can be submitted to the head of the program committee Thomas Gartmann (thomas.gartmann@hkb.bfh.ch) can be entered.
 

According to DOV Managing Director Gerald Mertens, the number of German orchestras that are still doing relatively well artistically and economically is decreasing. The increasing number of so-called in-house collective agreements, in which orchestra members have to forgo wages for a limited period in order to keep their jobs, is a cause for concern.

However, current calls for symphony orchestras to be converted into part-time orchestras for reasons of cost-cutting, such as the Robert Schumann Philharmonic Orchestra Chemnitz, or for 25 percent salary cuts, as in the case of the Mecklenburgische Staatskapelle Schwerin, are also worrying.

At the end of September, the Federal Labor Court is also expected to make a decision on the future of the wage link between orchestra remuneration and the public sector, which has been in place for decades. Around 100 out of 131 cultural orchestras have not received a regular wage adjustment since 2010, writes the DOV.

With the creation of a music school law, the cantonal government wants to make music education an integral part of public education in the canton of Zurich. In particular, the conservatories are to be more clearly anchored in the educational landscape. The draft of the new law regulates the organization, management and financing of music schools.

In addition to elementary school, secondary schools and vocational schools, music schools should offer music lessons that are accessible to children, adolescents and young adults residing in the Canton of Zurich up to the age of 20 or until they have completed their initial education, but no later than the age of 25. Music lessons in accordance with the curriculum at elementary school and grammar schools are not affected by the Music School Act.

According to the draft law, the responsibility of the municipalities for music schools remains unchanged. As before, these have the task of ensuring access. Minimum requirements for the structure of the offer are now to be defined and cooperation between music schools in the Association of Zurich Music Schools is to be promoted. This should improve quality and optimize the range of services.

The financing of music schools also remains fundamentally unchanged according to the draft law: This will continue to be based on the three pillars of parents, municipalities and the canton, whereby it is planned that the canton will in future contribute 10 percent of the chargeable operating costs by means of state contributions.

The consultation period lasts until November 29, 2013. The consultation documents can be downloaded at www.zh.ch/internet/de/aktuell/vernehmlassungen/info.html (keyword "Music School Act").
 

According to a report in the "Aargauer Zeitung", the Catholic priest Thomas Sidler asked the conductor Urs Stäuble to send him confirmation of a church affiliation so that the reservation for the concert could be made properly. Stäuble, who had previously left the church, therefore withdrew the church reservation and explained that he did not want to discuss the matter with an "enemy of the free spirit".

In the article, Markus Schmid, President of the Roman Catholic church council in Frick, signals understanding for the pastor's request. He considers it problematic, to say the least, when people leave the church but still want to benefit from its infrastructure.

In an online commentary, Sidler asks whether it is right to perform in the church after having clearly distanced oneself from using the church's infrastructure and not supporting it financially, as well as "conducting musical masterpieces that were made possible in the first place thanks to the church, and at the same time renouncing the same church".

Original article:
www.aargauerzeitung.ch/aargau/fricktal/der-kammerchor-fuehlt-sich-in-der-katholischen-kirche-frick-unerwuenscht-127083962
 

In 1973, during his time as a student at the Winterthur Conservatory, Reto Parolari founded the Orchestra Reto Parolari. The first public concert of the newly founded ensemble took place on July 1, 1973 on the Serenaden-Platz of the Winterthur Conservatory. The program included works by Josef Rixner, Fritz Kreisler, Franz Lehár, Ernst Fischer and Vittorio Monti.

Original cast
All the great composers have also written music that can be classified as light music. For Reto Parolari, it is therefore important that these works are performed with the original instrumentation: "Authenticity and honesty are essential for the performer. Sound-optimizing synthesizers and sequencers have no place here. They only ruin the original, highly differentiated texture of a piece and in particular its transparency and depth of sound. Because the melodic events often change across the different registers." (SMZ 10/2008 P. 19/20).

Photo: ORP

The ZS Big Band

Musicologist Jana Kühnrich, who studied at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, has been entrusted with this task since December 2012.

After Chrysander's correspondence had already been catalogued and published in book form by the Handel House in 2001, Kühnrich is now examining Chrysander's musical and scholarly manuscripts. The estate comprises around 1000 documents, from small notes to comprehensive handwritten scores.

As part of the project, a database is being created that will provide access to the contents of the estate. It will be available for interested parties to use in the library of the Handel House from October 2013. It may also be possible to access it via the Internet at a later date.

Website of the Handel House: www.haendelhaus.de

According to the agreement, which was officially signed on August 19, the theater, a characteristic wooden building located 15 kilometers from Lausanne in the middle of the small village of Mézières, will be supported between 2013 and 2015.

It will thus be tasked with offering a high-quality program with a local focus and attracting new audiences in addition to existing subscribers. Financial details of the agreement are not included in the canton's announcement.

Website of the theater: www.theatredujorat.ch

At the request of the jury, the Foundation Board awarded seven sponsorship prizes totaling 51,000 Swiss francs. The prizes were awarded to: Rico Baumann, percussion, Bern; Claire Huguenin, voice, Bern; Matthias Tschopp, saxophone, Zurich; Florian Egli, saxophone, Zurich; David Meier, percussion, Zurich; Yves Theiler, piano, Zurich; Lukas Wyss, trombone, Worb.
Thirty students and graduates of the jazz course registered for the competition; 18 of them were invited to audition in Lucerne.

Founded in 1986, the Foundation The main aim of the program is to promote training in the field of music (jazz and classical) and the development of literary works. The target group is young (up to the age of 40), talented literary artists, musicians and composers of Swiss nationality or artists who live in Switzerland.

According to the German Music Industry Association (BVMI), revenue from physical and digital music sales rose by 1.5 percent to EUR 660 million compared to the first half of 2012. The greatest growth was recorded in the area of digital music sales, i.e. revenues from downloads and music streaming, which increased by a total of 16 percent in a half-year comparison. With a drop of 2.5 percent, the decline in sales in the physical recorded music business was also significantly lower than in previous years.

German music buyers continue to prefer physical sound carriers, which remain the backbone of the German music industry with a 75.5 percent share of sales - above all the CD, which declined slightly by 2.7 percent compared to the first half of 2012, but still accounts for 67.5 percent of the overall market.

Vinyl records are continuing the comeback in the niche market that began in 2006: Compared to the first six months of the previous year, vinyl sales rose by more than 30 percent, giving it a 1.8 percent share of the overall market.

One in four euros came from digital music sales in the first half of the year, with the download business, which increased by 5.3% compared to the same period last year, now accounting for a market share of around 20%. The relatively new market segment of streaming (subscriptions and ad-financed) doubled its market share to 4.6%, which according to the BVMI currently offers the market's greatest growth potential with a 105% increase in sales.

Between 1970 and 2006, Nashville was the only American city with a growing number of jobs in the music industry. Today, there are 7.8 musicians per 1000 inhabitants. In Los Angeles there are 2.8, in Austin 2.6 and in New York 2.1

Musicians in Los Angeles earn 175% of the average American wage, in Nashville 156% and in New York 147%. Musicians in the soul and jazz cities of Memphis (79 percent) and New Orleans (73 percent) are at a relative disadvantage.

In contrast to Los Angeles, where the cost of living is 31 percent higher than average, in Nashville it is 11.1 percent lower. In absolute terms, the city has 27,000 jobs in the music industry. They generate a payroll of 1.7 billion dollars and contribute 5.5 billion dollars to the city's annual turnover.

Among other things, the new regulations allow children to learn certain instruments earlier than before, because smaller instruments and teaching forms and time structures adapted to the age of the children now make it possible to start instrumental lessons at pre-school age.

With the revised regulations, the music school can also offer additional subjects such as accordion or solo singing if there is a proven need. In addition, the previously different employment conditions between music and elementary school teachers are to be equalized.

The costs for the expanded range of subjects and for a broader age segment of pupils will amount to around CHF 53,000 per school year. The revised music school regulations will also lead to additional salary costs of CHF 58,000 per school year. This amount is to be continuously reduced through new hires and retirements.

Only four percent of university graduates are self-employed five years after graduation. While graduates in the exact and natural sciences are less likely to become self-employed (just 1 percent), those in the field of design are particularly likely to do so (23 percent). The proportion of self-employed people in the fields of music, theater and other arts is also relatively high at 13%.

The majority of bachelor's graduates from universities of applied sciences either work freelance on a contract or mandate basis (57%) or have founded a company (27%). Among Master's graduates from universities, self-employment on a contract or mandate basis is also the most common (40 percent).

Over 90 percent of self-employed people who have taken over or founded a company are satisfied with the level of responsibility, the content of their tasks and their freedom of action and decision-making; they also score highly in other areas.

The entire study is available at www.bfs.admin.ch can be obtained:
 

The German Music Award Echo is one of the most established and best-known of its kind. The Deutsche Phono-Akademie - the cultural institute of the Bundesverband Musikindustrie e. V. - honors outstanding and successful performances by national and international artists every year. The Echo Klassik is awarded by a jury made up of the Classical Music Working Group of the German Music Industry Association, independent industry experts and the ZDF music editorial team. It makes its decision based on both artistic quality and audience success. The awarding of the prize thus reflects not only the opinion of critics, but also the appreciation of music buyers.
This year, 54 prizewinners in 21 categories will be honored. These include Martha Argerich as Instrumentalist of the Year with her Lugano concertosThe Musikkollegium Winterthur under the direction of Douglas Boyd with the Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra and the 5th Symphony by Ralph Vaughan Williams, with the duo Tal & Groethuysen as soloists; the Ticino ensemble I Barocchisti under the direction of Diego Fasolis accompanying Cecilia Bartoli in opera excerpts by Agostino Steffani; Sol Gabetta in a duo with Helene Grimaud; Patricia Kopatchinskaja with works by Bartók, Eötvös and Ligeti.
The winners of the Lifetime Achievement, Promotion of Young Talent and Bestseller of the Year categories will be announced in the coming weeks.

List of award winners
 

Trained as a cellist in Biel and Lausanne, Sieber worked for five years with the Rheinische Philharmonie state orchestra in Koblenz (Germany). He is currently studying for a master's degree in cultural management at the University of Zurich and works as project manager for the vocal ensemble Ardent.

Ensemble Proton Bern is active in Switzerland and internationally. It has particular ties to its home city of Bern, where it is an "Associated Artist" of the Dampfzentrale Bern. Its next performance will take place on September 6, 2013 as part of the Bern Music Festival.
 

The publication "Willisau and All That Jazz" tells the eventful history of jazz in Willisau from 1966 to 2013 with numerous photos, posters and press quotes on over 700 pages. Festival founder Niklaus Troxler provides insights into his memories and reports on his encounters with jazz greats such as Keith Jarrett, Irène Schweizer, John Zorn and Ornette Coleman.

The Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts has also developed the online database "Willisau Jazz Archive": Primary sources such as concert posters, photos, program booklets and excerpts from unpublished recordings are already accessible online and allow comprehensive research on jazz in Willisau.

Both projects are the direct result of a donation: two years ago, Niklaus Troxler donated his private jazz archive to the Lucerne School of Music. This comprises around 720 hours of sound recordings, over 180 concert posters, a large collection of press reports and all the festival program booklets. In return, the university undertook to organize, inventory, professionally store and scientifically index this data.

The illustrated book "Willisau and All That Jazz" will be presented at the upcoming edition of the festival (28.8. to 1.9.2013). The vernissage will take place on Thursday, August 29, at 6 p.m. in the Festhalle Willisau. The book is published by Till Schaap Edition and is available in stores at a price of 78 francs.

More info:
www.willisaujazzarchive.ch