Born in Basel in 1979, Brüderlin has been managing director of Treibstoff Theatertage in Basel since 2010 and has worked as a dramaturge and producer since 2009. In cooperation with institutions such as the Kaserne Basel, the Theater Roxy, the Fabriktheater Rote Fabrik Zurich and the Theaterhaus Gessnerallee Zurich, he is jointly responsible for the production of various theater, music theater and dance productions.

According to the canton's official announcement, Brüderlin began his career in 1998 as an actor at the Junges Theater Basel. He studied theater, film and literature at the universities of Lausanne, Bern and Berlin as well as dramaturgy in Leipzig. Between 2002 and 2008, he worked as an assistant director and dramaturge.

As cultural projects officer, Brüderlin is responsible for the funding areas of dance, theater and youth culture as well as for related festivals. He will sit on the Dance/Theater BS/BL expert committee and develop a concept for the promotion of youth culture.
 

Born in Barcelona in 1971, Javier Hagen has been director of the contemporary music festival forum: wallis since 2006 and is one of the co-founders of the Valais section of the International Society for Contemporary Music. He studied classical singing, song and medieval and baroque music in Germany, Italy and Switzerland.

Sarah Brunner was born in Eischoll in 1984 and studied organ with Monika Henking as well as church music and choir conducting with Ulrike Grosch, Stefan Albrecht and Pascal Mayer at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. She has been a church musician in Visp and Zermatt since 2012.

The Valais Culture Prize, which has been awarded since 1980, is endowed with CHF 20,000. Established in 1982, the prize of 10,000 francs is awarded to three people at a time and is intended both as recognition for their work and as an incentive to continue on their chosen path.

Since 2011, a special prize, also worth CHF 10,000, has been awarded to a person or group that is "committed to the development of Valais culture away from the stage". This year it goes to the Oberwalliser Kellertheater.

There they sit: high school students Phil, Bendicht, Alex and Dani in a pub in Bern's old town. Annoyed by the omnipresence of the troubadour in the German lectures and the seemingly political irrelevance of his lyrics, they have just decided to disrupt the next concert at the Bierhübeli. But when the time finally comes, everything turns out differently; the boys remain silent, somehow this man, standing there at the front with his guitar, has impressed them after all.

This scene is described by historian and writer Wilfried Meichtry in his newly published biography of Mani Matter (1936-1972). The Bernese troubadour was already an idol during his lifetime. Today, 40 years after his accidental death, his popularity remains unbroken: his songs have long since become popular. Until now, the person behind them, Mani Matter himself, was less well known.

Meichtry writes his way through Matter's life in exciting language and shows a man who was more than just a "Värslischmied": Family man, philosopher, politician, legal advisor, art lover, actor and much more. Better than in the exhibition Meichtry also designed for the Swiss National Museum, the author succeeds in bringing the reader closer to Matter as a person and also addressing unknown aspects: for example, the abandoned German studies course, the passionate chess and boules player, the bad loser.

While Matter's personality can be experienced in all its impressive versatility, the lyrics remain absent - a parallel to the Zurich exhibition, which also failed to show how ingenious and profound Mani Matter's chansons actually are. In his playful language, not a word is chosen at random; the lyrics are the product of intensive work. It is also a pity that Meichtry refrains from giving precise source details for the numerous quotations, thus making it impossible to contextualize them more precisely.

Nevertheless, the author describes a man who had doubts throughout his short life and was never sure whether he should become an academic or a chansonnier. A man who never loved the limelight. With this biography, Meichtry wants to prevent Mani Matter from being put on a pedestal. He succeeds in doing so in a convincing way.

Wilfried Meichtry, Mani Matter. Eine Biographie, 308 p., CHF 34.90, Nagel & Kimche, Munich 2013, ISBN 978-3-312-00559-8

Carl, Charles, Natalis Carolus or Noël Charles - the names and name variations suggest it: Rosier(s), like most musicians of the time, was cosmopolitan, as the sparse known details about his life attest. Born in Liège in 1640, he was a violinist from 1663 and later deputy conductor in the service of the Cologne Elector Max Heinrich in Bonn. After the dissolution of the court chapel, Rosier settled in Cologne in 1675, returning to Bonn after a few years to take up a permanent position as cathedral conductor in Cologne in 1701, a post he held until his death in 1725. Prints and autographs, as well as concerts with his Collegium Musicum, prove that he was also active in the Netherlands.

The eight solo sonatas for treble recorder and basso continuo come from a collection of works for various instrumentations compiled by Charles Babell, which also includes sonatas, suites and duets by other composers such as Finger, Paisible, Courteville and Fiocco.

Rosier's sonatas consist of four to seven movements, in which all the Baroque styles of Europe at the time are combined: The motivic and harmonic relationship and thus the cyclical formation of the individual movements refers to the model of the Italian sonata da camera. Some sonatas seem more inspired by the French style and use typical suite movements - but there are also examples of completely free forms. Interestingly, there are also some references to Henry Purcell's semi-opera The Fairy Queen. Thus three of Purcell's arias reappear virtually unchanged as movements in Rosier's sonatas in G and C minor.

The present edition is in two volumes, each with four sonatas. There is a single flute and bass part, a score with both parts and one with the basso continuo omitted. Almost simultaneously with the publication of the German edition, David Lasocki published an electronic version of the parts and score in the USA, which is also based on the Babell copy: www.instantharmony.net

Carl Rosier, Eight solo sonatas for treble recorder and basso continuo, edited by Anne Kräft with a continuo realization by Thorsten Mann, first edition; vol. 1 (1-4), EW 855; vol. 2 (5-8), EW 884; € 21.50 each, Edition Walhall, Magdeburg 2012

In his opening speech, guest speaker Daniel Hope emphasized that classical music is not in a crisis, but rather that this music has been ignored in recent decades. We need to act now, as young people have fewer and fewer opportunities to discover this music. In a so-called network meeting, the Swiss violinist and music manager Etienne Abelin, together with Marshall Marcus from England, presented the Sistema Europe various European offshoots of the Venezuelan El sistema. Switzerland is also involved in the Sistema Europe with the Superar Suisse Association.

The Fondation Suisa, together with Pro Helvetia and the Swiss Performers' Cooperative, organized a joint Swiss stand in which the following organizations participated: classYcal-new ways in classical music, Disques VDE-GALLO, Guild GmbH, Lucerne Festival, Musiques Suisse of the Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund, Schweizerischer Tonkünstlerverein and Schweizer Musikzeitung.

Classical:NEXT took place in Munich for the first time in 2012. This year, with the second edition in Vienna, it has established itself as an important and growing international event for the classical music industry. 120 exhibitors presented their offerings, while 40 international experts took part in conferences, discussion panels and presentations and 100 artists performed at various concerts. Video showcases and film screenings rounded off the program.

It was initiated Classical:NEXT from CLASS-Association of Classical Independents in Germany e.V. The trade fair is organized by piranha womex AG, which has been staging the annual music trade fair WOMEX - the world music expo - since 1994.
 

Pauli has worked for the cantonal archaeology department of the Department of Education, Culture and Sport as head of the Vindonissa excavations since 2001 and as director of the Aargau Museum since 2008. He previously worked as an archaeological project manager at the Zurich Cantonal Archaeology Department.

Under Pauli's leadership, a "Legionary Trail" was created and a Vindonissa professorship was established at the University of Basel. Under his leadership, the Museum Aargau expanded from two to six locations. Visitor numbers increased significantly within five years - from 82,000 to 227,000.

Thomas Pauli will take up his new position on August 1, 2013. The position of Director of the Museum Aargau will be advertised publicly.
 

"Serendipity" means the unexpectedly coincidental, the fairytale-like, the idyllic, the unheard-of, explained festival directors Dolores Mark and Graziella Contratto at the presentation of the program to media representatives.

Ancient pilgrim songs, works by the lucky children Mozart and Mendelssohn, transcriptions "with sudden added value", the recital, a nomadic hike, Wagner in the salon, a concert of wishes and the prizewinners' concert in collaboration with the Concours Ernst Haefliger are just some of the offerings.

Young musicians such as pianist Benyamin Nuss, sopranos Julia Westendorp and Lena Kiepenheuer, clarinettist Nils Kohler, the Hermès Quartet and Laura Schmid, winner of the Prix Credit Suisse Jeunes Solistes 2013, will be performing in Davos.

"Werk für drei von neun Musen" is the title of the commissioned work that Trümpy wrote especially for the Davos Festival and the medieval singing ensemble Les Neuf Muses. He will also lead a workshop with the two up-and-coming composers Matthias Renaud (Switzerland) and Demetre Gamsakhurdia (Georgia), who will present their works composed especially for the Davos Festival.

More info: www.davosfestival.ch
 

The project is to be realized in around 38 concert cycles over 19 concert seasons. Concerts will take place in the Martinskirche Basel and the Tonhalle Zurich.

The Italian baroque specialist Giovanni Antonini is the artistic director of this major musical project. He will produce around two thirds of all the symphonies with the kammerorchesterbasel, which Müller supervises, and one third with his own orchestra, the giardino armonico. Christoph Müller is also the artistic director of the Menuhin Festival Gstaad.

The foundation is still in contact with various CD labels to clarify the details of the respective releases. Funding for the entire project has been secured by two Basel patrons.

Ulrich Tadday and Katrin Bock have succeeded in completely reconstructing the score of the first performance from 1871 on the basis of the historical copies of the choral and orchestral parts and in comparison with the known, later version of the large-scale work, writes the University of Bremen.

Well over 300 deviations, major and minor changes, characterize the composition: in contrast to the well-known later version, the Bremen version of the triumphal song is not in D major, but in C major.

It has fewer wind instruments, and the large choral parts are much more fluent in rhythm and articulation. Overall, the musical movement is much more delicate, less striking and martial.

The composition differs so much from the known, later version that it is justified to call it an independent work, the university continued: the "Bremen version of the Triumphlied" will be included in the Johannes Brahms Complete Edition and published as a study edition by Henle-Verlag.

Cheung prevailed against twelve competitors in two rounds. The scholarship was awarded for the first time in the form of a public competition. The competition was looking for pianists who are able to react spontaneously to unprepared tasks as all-round musicians with a wide variety of styles, imagination and improvisational skills.

In two rounds, which took place on May 25, the candidates had to accompany silent films, be musically inspired by images or vary jazz standards and pop songs.

Mischa Cheung was born in 1984 to Swiss-Chinese parents and began playing the piano at the age of three. He obtained his concert diploma with distinction in Konstantin Scherbakov's master class at the Zurich University of the Arts in 2009 and graduated two years later with a Master of Arts in Specialized Music Performance.

The Nico Kaufmann Foundation, which is administered by the Department of the President of the City of Zurich, awards an annual scholarship to musicians who have not yet reached the age of 35 in the year of the competition and are resident in Switzerland. This year's jury consisted of the Director of the Music Department at Zurich University of the Arts, Michael Eidenbenz, pianist André Desponds and pianist Vera Kappeler.
 

The Migros series is raising its profile more and more and its success seems to be proving it right. As explained at the media conference to present the season, the concerts were 93% full in the season that has now ended.

Swiss creativity will be reflected in the coming season not only by inviting important performers - the sopranos Marysol Schalit and Rachel Harnisch, the cellist Sol Gabetta, the oboist Matthias Arter - but also by more determined collaboration with Swiss composers.

Dieter Ammann's "Boost" and "Core" will be given second and third performances. "Core" will be performed by the Mariinsky Orchestra. According to Mischa Damev, the director of the concert series, its conductor Valery Gergiev is so taken with the piece that he wants to include it in the program in St. Petersburg beforehand.

The other invited orchestras are the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique (conducted by John Eliot Gardiner, soloists include Rachel Harnisch), the Budapest Festival Orchestra (Iván Fischer, soloists Maria João Pires and Marysol Schalit) and the Basel Chamber Orchestra (conducted by Mario Venzago, soloists Sol Gabetta and Matthias Arter).

Extra concerts will be given by the Beijing Symphony Orchestra in Bern - with the bamboo flute virtuoso Tang Junqiao -, the Camerata Bern and the Polish Chamber Orchestra in Geneva.

The Montreal Symphony Orchestra will be conducted by Kent Nagano (soloist Marc-André Hamelin), the Mariinsky Orchestra by Valery Gergiev (soloist Denis Matsuev) and the BBC Symphony Orchestra by Sakari Oramo (principal soloist Leonidas Kavakos).

The whole program: www.migros-kulturprozent-classics.ch

During his first participation in the most famous choir competition in Europe reached the Swiss Youth Choir (SJC) took second place, while the University Choir of Houston (USA) and the Saarbrücken Chamber Choir came first. As the SJC writes, the interpretation of the varied program not only impressed the jury: the audience even voted the choir into first place. The Swiss Youth Choir was conducted by Andreas Felber (LU) and Dominique Tille (VD), who won a special prize for the best interpretation of a contemporary work (Ilja Panzer: Sometimes I wish). In addition, Carl Rütti's And again my deep life rushes louder premiered. The Saarbrücken Chamber Choir was awarded the special prize of the Carl Orff Foundation Diessen am Ammersee for its interpretation of this work.

The 10 participating choirs from Germany (2), Serbia, USA (2), Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Finland, France and Switzerland gave a total of 13 concerts in the region. The 360 singers thrilled over 5000 listeners and over 100 invited guests from all over the choral world. 150 works were sung during the competition, which was recorded and broadcast by six radio stations.

The Swiss Youth Choir was co-founded in 1994 by its permanent artistic director Hansruedi Kämpfen, music director of the city of Brig, and has over 50 singers from 15 cantons. Auditions for the following year take place every November. The members are between 16 and 26 years old and rehearse a longer concert program over two weekends and a rehearsal week at Easter. Next concerts:

Bern, Nydeggkirche, Saturday June 8, 8 p.m.
Glarus, City Church, Sunday June 9, 5 p.m.

Musicologist Ulrike Kienzle conducted research for a commemorative publication as part of the Foundation's 175th anniversary celebrations. The quartet with which Bruch applied for a scholarship as a 14-year-old was found in his application documents.

Kienzle also discovered a Kyrie among letters and testimonials in the composer's handwriting in application documents from 1851 belonging to the Liechtenstein composer Josef Rheinberger.

Founded in Frankfurt am Main in 1838, the Mozart Foundation is dedicated to supporting young composers. In its historical beginnings, the scholarship holders included Max Bruch, Engelbert Humperdinck, Ludwig Thuille and Ernst Toch. Support is provided in the form of monthly scholarships, occasionally also through performances of works by the scholarship holders.

In the preliminary round of the first duo competition at the Basel University of Music, three ensembles were selected from 15 instrumental duos with piano for the final. They each played a half-hour concert program with works by Robert Schumann, Bohuslav Martinů, Thomas Demenga, Benjamin Britten, Witold Lutosławski and Claude Debussy.

The jury consisted of Katharina Gohl Moser, Philippe Racine, Thomas Füri and Bruno Canino. The prizes donated by the August Pickhardt Foundation Riehen were awarded in this order:

1st prize 10,000 francs: Astrig Siranossian, violoncello and Andriy Dragan, piano
2nd prize 7500 francs: Joonas Pitkänen, violoncello and Fiore Favaro, piano
3rd prize 5000 francs: Mirka Šćepanović, violin and Elena Petrova, piano
 

In September 2012, the Zurich Cantonal Council approved a project loan of CHF 28.5 million by a large majority for the renovation work and structural measures to convert the former psychiatric clinic.

The "Schweizer Musikinsel Rheinau" foundation rents the premises at an annual rent of CHF 330,000. It also covers the extensive start-up costs and the operating deficits to be expected even with high capacity utilization.

The foundation is endowed with CHF 20 million, contributed by the current National Councillor and former Federal Councillor Christoph Blocher.

The music island has 16 rehearsal rooms - from a music hall for a large orchestra to small, well-insulated rooms for soloists - and a hotel. It comprises 63 rooms with a total of 129 beds as well as a historic dining room with a modern preparation kitchen and a lounge.

According to the foundation, the Musikinsel is already well booked for the second half of 2014. Reservations can be made by calling 044 254 53 69 or via e-mail accepted.

Guided tours will be offered from July. You can register for these via www.musikinsel.ch