The Swiss Youth Music Festival takes place every five years and is a highlight of the Swiss Youth Music Association's program of activities. jugendmusik.ch. As a member of the Swiss Wind Music Association and as a supporting member of jugend+musik, jugendmusik.ch is an important link between youth music-making in general and wind music.
On the weekend of June 15th and 16th, 112 youth bands with over 5000 children and young people performed in Zug in the categories of parade music, indoor show, taboure, percussion, brass band and harmony. Fifteen Swiss champions were crowned, who were honored by the President of the Swiss Confederation, Ueli Maurer, in the final on Sunday afternoon in Zug's Bossard Arena.
The aim of the entertainment program was to bring generations together. Under the direction of Mario Venuti, the Kadettenmusik, Stadtmusik and Harmoniemusik of the city of Zug jointly performed Mathias Rüegg's The story of the piccolo and the hundred tubes on.

Swiss champions in the respective categories:

Parade Music Small: BML Talents (Bürgermusik Luzern)
Parade music medium: Liberty Brass Band Junior
Parade Music Large: Boys' Music of the City of St. Gallen
Parade music evolutions: Youth Music Kreuzlingen

Indoor show: Tambouren Knabenmusik der Stadt St. Gallen
Tambours S1J: Boys' music of the city of St. Gallen
Tambours S2J: Windband Biberist
Tambours S3J: Youth music Ringgenberg-Goldswil
Percussion: Stadtjugendmusik Zürich

Brass Band Intermediate: Future Band
Brass Band highest level: BML Talents (Lucerne)

Harmony lower level: Jugendmusik Frauenfeld
Harmony intermediate level: Jugendmusik Sursee
Harmonie Oberstufe: Youth Wind Orchestra of the City of Lucerne
Harmony highest level: Jugendmusik Kreuzlingen

www.jugendmusikfest.ch
 

Appenzell-born Ottilia Dörig-Heim was elected to the Appenzell school board in 2000 and served as president of the Appenzell school community from 2006 to 2012. Since 2012, she has represented Innerrhoden on the Board of Trustees of the Roth-Haus curative education school in Teufen. She has also worked as a biology assistant at the St. Antonius secondary school in Appenzell for seventeen years. Ottilia Dörig-Heim is married and the mother of two grown-up daughters.

The Cultural Office coordinates the promotion and preservation of culture in the Canton of Appenzell I.Rh. It is also responsible for the specialist departments for monument preservation and archaeology, as well as managing the secretariat of the Innerrhoden Art Foundation and the Innerrhoder Schriften publishing commission.

Networking with those responsible for culture in other cantons and neighboring countries is an important part of the job. The position comprises a workload of 40 percent.

With its decision to contribute to the planned music projects, the cantonal government is reaffirming the orchestra's position as an "institution of at least cantonal importance".

The government thus honors the program developed under the aegis of the new managing director Christian Weidmann, which aims to make the orchestra "the orchestra of all Aargau" in the medium term through new concert forms and at the same time promote the cultural canton outside the canton, writes the canton.

In addition to the five classical concert cycles in various locations in Aargau, the Tonhalle guest performances, the conducting master class, the schoolhouse concerts and the school workshops, significantly more music education events are planned for the 2013/14 season: a children's opera in Baden, a lounge concert in the Schachenhalle and performances in unusual locations (such as the Meyerschen Stollen in Aarau).

The Italian conductor Nello Santi has close ties to the city of Zurich, where he has lived for decades, and to the Zurich Opera House. His Verdi and Puccini conductors in particular set standards, writes the city in its tribute to the prizewinner.

From 1958 to 1969, Santi was music director of the Zurich Opera House, where he still conducts regularly today. Since Volkmar Andreae (conductor of the Tonhalle Orchestra until 1949), there has been no other conductor who has shaped Zurich over such a long period and with such charisma, the city added.

Born in Cologne in 1927, Henry F. Levy has been involved in promoting young artists in Zurich for over thirty years. In London, he became acquainted with organizations that rented out affordable spaces to young artists.

He imported this concept to Zurich: since 1983, the "BINZ39" foundation he set up has provided studios and exhibition spaces in Zurich's industrial buildings.

Salwa El-Shawan Castelo-Branco was President of the Portuguese Society of Musicology for many years (1992-2006), as well as Vice-President of the International Council for Traditional Music (UNESCO) from 1997-2001 and again since 2009.

Her academic research and the focus of her numerous publications are primarily on the musical traditions of Portugal and the Middle East. She is currently leading research projects on Portuguese jazz and Celtic influences on the music of Galicia and northern Portugal. Her most recent publications include the four-volume Enciclopédia da Música em Portugal no Século XX (2010), Music and Conflict (2010) and Traditional Arts in Southern Arabia: Music and Society Sohar, Sultante of Oman (2009).

Since 2007, the Glarean Prize has been awarded every two years to scholars who have distinguished themselves through an outstanding oeuvre in the field of European music historiography and whose research activities take appropriate account of issues relating to the publication and distribution of music.

The Glarean Prize is financed by funds donated by the Basler
music historian Marta Walter (1896-1961) bequeathed to the SMG in her will. Previous winners of the Glarean Prize are Karol Berger (Stanford), Martin Staehelin (Göttingen) and Reinhard Strohm (Oxford).

The legacy also made it possible to create the Jacques Handschin Prize, also endowed with CHF 10,000, which aims to promote young researchers. Previous winners are Giovanni Zanovello (Bloomington) and Bruno Forment (Brussels). This prize for young researchers will be awarded next year.

Presentation of this year's Glarean Prize:
Thursday, December 5, 2013 in Bern, 6.15 p.m.
Main building of the University of Bern (cupola room no. 501), Hochschulstr. 4, 3012 Bern
 

Due to a new "fee regulation" from the Senate, the districts feel compelled to take this measure and are "already feverishly searching the market for new teachers for the fall," ver.di continued.

The state is thus destroying teams at music schools that have grown over decades, the union continues. The process is "outrageous and unprecedented in the history of German music schools". Next Friday, the ver.di music section will demonstrate against the dismissals together with the Berlin state teachers' union.

According to the "Berliner Zeitung", freelance music school teachers will no longer receive a monthly flat fee in future, but will have to bill each lesson individually. Income during vacations would be eliminated. The annual gross fee of a Berlin music school teacher is around 12,500 euros.

The fee contracts have to be renewed because the German Pension Insurance has diagnosed pseudo self-employment in many teachers. The teachers were only living off income from their music school activities. The state of Berlin therefore has to pay social benefits in arrears.

With the BSO (conductor Mario Venzago), pianist Moritz Ernst, born in East Westphalia in 1986, will perform the piano concerto, which had to wait 80 years for its Swiss premiere. Schoeck's violin concerto will be interpreted by Bettina Boller.

The fact that the Bernese composer Edward Staempfli has fallen into oblivion has nothing to do with the quality of his works, but rather that he belongs to the wrong generation, writes the BSO: on the one hand too young to have already made a name for himself at the outbreak of the war, and on the other hand too old to be able to start again after the end of the war. One of his late discoverers was the young pianist Moritz Ernst.

Born in Bern, Edward Staempfli (1908 to 2002) was a national figure, particularly between 1939 and 1951. His ballets were performed in Bern and Basel. They were regularly on the program at the festive concerts of the Swiss Tonkünstlerverein. World premieres were broadcast on the radio.

Info:
June 22 and 23, 2013, Kultur-Casino Bern.
Details: www.konzerttheaterbern.ch

The source contains clear evidence that Bach performed Gasparini's work several times in the two main Leipzig churches of St. Thomas and St. Nikolai, writes the Bach Archive Leipzig. The manuscript will be on display at the Schütz-Haus Weissenfels until July 14, 2013.

Francesco Gasparini created operas, chamber cantatas and church pieces. One of his most famous works is the "Missa canonica" for four-part choir and basso continuo, composed in Venice in 1705, which forms the basis of the copy that has been found.

The Weissenfels manuscript comprises a total of 13 partbooks (4 vocal parts, 4 parts for strings and oboes, 4 parts for cornetts and trombones as well as an organ part).

The set of parts proves that Bach expanded the purely vocal scoring of the original to include string and wind instruments in accordance with the usual practice in Leipzig and limited his performance to the Kyrie and Gloria sections.

The French composer Jean-Michel Jarre is considered a pioneer of electronic music. He worked with Pierre Schaeffer in the GRM (Group for Music Research) and achieved his worldwide breakthrough in 1976 with the album "Oxygene".

In addition to his activities as a composer, Jean Michel Jarre is a UNESCO spokesman and ambassador as well as a spokesman for the IFPI, and he has led the lobby for internet copyright legislation before the European Parliament.

The CISAC (Confédération Internationale des Sociétés d'Auteurs et Compositeurs) is a global non-governmental organization that brings together 231 authors' associations and societies from 121 countries. According to its own information, it represents more than 3 million authors and publishers from all artistic disciplines. In 2011, CISAC members earned 10.3 billion dollars worldwide. In addition to SUISA, ProLitteris, SSA and SUISSIMAGE are CISAC members from Switzerland.
 

Already during his exile in Zurich (1850 to 1858) and not only during his later stay at Haus Tribschen near Lucerne (1866 to 1872), Richard Wagner's paths led him to Brunnen on Lake Lucerne. However, plans for a festival stage on the lake quickly fell victim to violent foehn storms, which are not uncommon in this area.

Classic 3x This is the subtitle of the Brunnen Music Festival, which will focus on Wagner's music in an unconventional setting on June 29. It begins in the afternoon with an introduction in the old cement factory. This is followed by three 45-minute concerts: two in the cement factory and one at the end in the Hotel Waldstätterhof. The program includes chamber music and symphonic works by Wagner, Richard Strauss, Mendelssohn, Rossini and Mozart. Many Swiss and international musicians as well as the Lucerne Chamber Brass will perform.

Further information and exact program: www.musikfest-brunnen.ch
 

The award, worth a total of 40,000 Swiss francs, is aimed at bands and musicians from Switzerland and/or Finland "who have been in the business for some time and can devote themselves to furthering their musical career thanks to the prize money".

With this award, the Zurich jazz club Moods has, in its own words, created a music prize that bears the jazz club's seal of quality. It is financed by a foundation with a Finnish background.

The Moods Jazz & Blues Award supports musicians aged 35 and over - professional musicians who are no longer able to take part in many up-and-coming competitions.

A broad base, good acceptance, a contemporary media presence with a new website and Facebook profile, sufficient finances, the successful launch of the rock/pop jazz competition, a high standard - the Swiss Youth Music Competition has arrived where it always wanted to be. It has become an indispensable beacon of top-level musical promotion and is firmly anchored in the consciousness of all stakeholders. The pop/rock and jazz competition, which was held for the first time in 2012, has been extremely well received. The second final will once again be held at Moods in Zurich at the end of August. Interestingly, more than half of the finalists in the jazz category have already taken part in the classical music competition.

Solid financing
Of course, work has to be done every year to finance the event. Private sponsors, including main sponsors, conclude their contracts for one to three years. The "public sector" cannot guarantee permanent funding either, as we all know. However, the likelihood of a sufficient cushion being created in each case has increased significantly in recent years. In addition to the cantons, the federal government has recently joined the ranks of supporters. According to the federal government's cultural message for the years 2012 - 2015, the SJMW is one of the institutions eligible for subsidies. A substantial amount has already been allocated for 2012; this is very likely to be the case again until 2015 for the time being. The total budget of the SJMW is relatively modest at CHF 680,000. It is admirable that such great events can be organized year after year with these funds.

Choral singing is on the rise. This was demonstrated by over 2000 children and young people at the 4th Swiss Children's and Youth Choir Festival (SKJF). A gigantic concert hall for 2500 spectators was created especially for the festival in the Athletics Center. The two big festival concerts, the "SingplausCH" and the opening and closing concerts took place there. There are no admission criteria for the SKJF, only the condition that all participants are present for three days and complete all the performances scheduled for the respective choir. This year, the lack of a restriction on participation meant that 50 choirs with 1500 singing members took part. Two years ago in Lausanne there were 30, and in St. Gallen there were also 650 children who took part in the cheerful "SingplausCH" with their choirs on Friday.
The three-day program was huge. Around 60 concerts took place in 26 venues, churches and concert halls in and around St. Gallen. Despite frequent rain, the public showed great interest. Further training courses for choir conductors and workshops rounded off the program.

Deficits are out of the question
The SKJF aims to promote children's and youth singing as well as Swiss choral compositions. The founding meeting was held in Zurich on March 7, 2006. The idea for the SKJF came from Michael Gohl, who was also a member of the board of the "Verein Schweizer Kinder- und Jugendchor-Förderung SKJF" at the beginning. The association is a member of the Swiss Choral Association SCV. It ensures the regular organization of the festival and promotes the networking of Swiss children's and youth choirs with other projects across language borders. Only Peter Daniels (finances) remains on the current board of the association. This continuity is paying off in the truest sense of the word. The former CEO and amateur choir singer knows the financing business inside out and has built up a useful network of contacts over the years. Nevertheless, he "always has to start from scratch". Even before the festival began, he put out feelers for potential sponsors for the 2015 festival in Disentis/Mustér: "We only work with donors, we don't do any sponsoring. Donors - usually foundations - give money without anything in return. Sponsors, on the other hand, want to sell something and that doesn't fit in with the purpose of promoting children and young people." This year, Daniels has a sizeable budget of over half a million francs at his disposal. Deficits are out of the question: "We only order what we can pay for".

Organizers everywhere are looking for concert guests, especially younger ones. The Leimental Study Choir has now had great success with a very simple idea. For the performance of George Frideric Handel's Messiah the choir held its final rehearsals at the Oberwil/Biel-Benken (BL) secondary school: A trumpet player practiced in the entrance hall, while at the same time schoolgirls walked past him as if it were the most normal thing in the world. The orchestra could be seen through the school windows and the faint sound of the trumpet could be heard across the schoolyard. HallelujahHandel's arias brought some warmth to the dull spring days. The needs of the school and the musicians were easily accommodated side by side. And the interested pupils were given an "en passant" insight into the everyday rehearsals of soloists and orchestra.

For those 7th graders who, together with their music teacher Daniel Vuilliomenet Hallelujah-choir, two special rehearsals were scheduled. It was the first time they had attempted a four-part choral movement. For the sake of complexity, they often rehearsed with the CD playing. This gave the children confidence for the difficult parts. At the first rehearsal with study choir director Sebastian Goll, they joined the members of the choir in separate registers. They began without much ado. In between, musicians from the baroque orchestra L'arpa festante introduced their instruments, the baroque trumpet, the theorbo, the harpsichord, the positive organ and the oboe, usually with a sample of the corresponding literature. Then it was back to the Hallelujah. In order to make the structure of the piece transparent, Sebastian Goll had individual instrumental groups play alone: Where do the motifs vary, where do they overlap, when do they reappear? The inclusion of entertaining, rhythmic elements accompanied the singing, making the structure and dynamics of Hallelujah physically tangible for the children. Sebastian Goll also repeatedly brought Handel's personality and life to life through anecdotes and episodes.

In the second rehearsal, he once again recalled the images he had choreographed. The chorus was asked to spread their arms and speak to the quieter parts. Hallelujah-repetitions. "Of course you are not allowed to do these movements at the concert, but you have to carry them in your heart and people should be able to see your joy, they have to feel that you are living this music!" Some local politicians were also present. One of them said afterwards that she could actually feel the music coming from within; it was fantastic to see the happy faces and the fun of the music.
For three days, music was in the air at the secondary school and brought diverse and positive experiences. One mother emailed: "Working together on this big, beautiful project motivates and delights our son enormously. The concert is omnipresent at home at the moment." It is only incidental that the audience also flocked to the music hall of the Basel Stadtcasino in unexpected numbers ...

Caption
"Hallelujah": physically experiencing the structure of music
 

The starting point of the Bernese researchers' theory is a distinction between foreground and background neurons. The foreground neurons represent the activation patterns that are predetermined by a sequence, in the case of a melody by auditory neuronal foreground activity. While the sequence takes place in the foreground neurons, background neurons are also active in an initially random order. These learn to support the sequence of foreground activity.

According to Hebb's rule, connections between neurons activated in immediate succession are strengthened ("fire together, wire together"). However, the synaptic connections to the background neurons must not be adapted according to this rule, as otherwise the initially random and possibly incorrect sequences will "burn in" to the background neurons.

"According to our model, the synaptic changes are modulated by a signal that estimates the effect of the background activity on the foreground activity," explains last author Jean-Pascal Pfister: "If the current background activity has a supportive effect, the original Hebb learning rule is applied - otherwise the sign of the learning rule is reversed and the connection of sequentially activated neurons is weakened.

"In the case of the melody, this means that the background activity that would trigger an early or incorrect continuation of the melody is suppressed within the pause," adds Pfister.

The Bern researchers' model makes experimentally directly testable predictions. How exactly higher-level signals adapt the synaptic connections can be determined experimentally, Pfister continues.

Original article:
Johanni Brea, Walter Senn and Jean-Pascal Pfister: Matching storage and recall in sequence learning with spiking neural networks. The Journal of Neuroscience, June, 5 2013, 33(23): 9565-9575; doi: 10.1523/​JNEUROSCI.4098-12.2013