Born in Giessen (Germany) in 1974, Daniela Martin is a trained musician and literature expert and is interested in the whole variety of the arts. She has worked at the Festival de Radio France et Montpellier, the Centro Cultural de Belem in Lisbon and its Festival Dias da Musica, the Orchestre National de France and as an assistant/agent for artists such as Kurt Masur, Fazil Say and Augustin Dumay.

Since 2010, Daniela Martin has been closely associated with the contemporary music ensemble Variances in Rouen (France) as co-founder and managing director. In this role, she has initiated a series of international collaborations, tours and commissioned projects in the field of contemporary music. Daniela Martin will take up her post in Basel on September 16.
 

On 10 July, the Culture Taskforce, which was founded in March 2020, submitted its position on the urgent Covid-19 Act on 18 pages on behalf of 84 cultural organizations. The text of the consultation response is available on the Website of the Culture Taskforce to read.

The corresponding press release issued by the Culture Taskforce on July 10 is reproduced in full below:

1. we strongly support the Federal Council's draft: without continued support for creative artists and cultural enterprises and their relevant structures, all areas of the cultural sector are at risk of being cut.

2. the cultural sector does not want special treatment, but is a systemically relevant special case among the economic sectors.

3. the cultural sector is larger and more diverse than is generally known.

4. the support measures should be continued, but simplified and adapted to the realities of the sector.

5. a return to the originally planned financial framework is essential.

1. culture as a special case:

Normal cultural operations cannot be expected until at least the end of 2020. Cultural enterprises and cultural professionals are suffering from serious revenue deficits. They cannot change this even with the greatest efforts: During the pandemic, cultural events pose a much greater risk than usual and are only possible to a very limited extent, if at all. The requirements for event organizers hardly allow for economically self-supporting events. Audiences are already hesitant to buy tickets in advance, whether due to health concerns or uncertainty as to whether the event will actually take place.

2. culture as an economic factor:

There are around 65,000 cultural enterprises in Switzerland with a total of around 224,000 employees. At 5 %, the proportion of employees in the cultural and creative industries is comparable to that of the tourism industry (4.8 %). More than 90 % of the cultural sector consists of micro-enterprises with fewer than 10 employees and often small profit margins. Of the approximately 65,000 businesses, around half are organized as legal entities, mostly as limited liability companies or associations (source: FSO, Statistics on the structure of Swiss SMEs 2017, p. 12). These 32,500 or so micro-enterprises are in turn managed by owners or employers (with an average of 1.7 people). So you will hardly hear of mass redundancies, as in other sectors. But many closures and bankruptcies can only be averted with targeted support.

3. culture is many:

In addition to creative artists, producers and event organizers, numerous other professional groups are dependent on a functioning cultural sector, such as lighting and sound technicians, graphic designers, exhibition designers, web designers, etc. Their incomes are also lost without a functioning cultural sector. Without a functioning cultural sector, their incomes also collapse.

4. cultural associations in the lay sector:

According to 2019 federal cultural statistics, around 28 % of the Swiss population are active in cultural associations. The activities of cultural associations in the non-professional sector are therefore of fundamental importance for the cultural participation of the population. The current situation is also threatening their existence. This is because income from organized events is crucial for them.

5. culture is low wages:

In its 2020 analysis paper, the Swiss Conference for Social Welfare (SKOS) states that self-employed people are particularly hard hit in crises like the current one, especially those in the low-wage sector. This includes many cultural workers and their structures.

6. culture needs simplified, realistic measures:

The exclusion of certain cultural players from the measures is incomprehensible. Publishers, bookshops, galleries, music labels, art schools and teachers who teach artistic skills must also have access to the measures. It is also nonsensical to exclude freelancers who work from short-term employment to short-term employment from assistance. These gaps need to be closed in the implementation of the measures - for the preservation of cultural diversity, regardless of whether they are non-profit or profit-oriented actors. The entire cultural sector is equally affected by the COVID crisis, which is why everyone must be treated equally when it comes to support measures. The measures also need to be better coordinated and simplified.

Simplified, reality-based measures - what does that mean?

- Simplification of registration and calculation of support measures
- Involvement of cultural associations in the development of simpler, reality-based support models
- Transparent, proactive communication between the responsible federal offices and the cultural associations
- Compliance with constitutionally guaranteed procedural rights (legal remedies)
- Compensation for losses: Abandonment of the nonsensical distinction between non-profit and profit-oriented companies in the cultural sector (the vast majority of cultural companies only cover their costs at best)
- Corona income replacement: Individual work assignments should be possible without leading to the loss of the entire entitlement to support. The aim is to ensure that those affected do not become welfare cases - which would be much more expensive for the community.
- Emergency aid for creative artists: Simplification of billing and application models and sufficient funding
- Unemployment insurance: A longer framework period of four years is needed for all freelancers affected by the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. The same benefit should apply in relation to the contribution period: 12 or 18 months of contributions over a period of four years.
 

For these reasons, the Swiss cultural sector supports the Federal Council's draft and welcomes it in particular:

- The continuation of financial aid for creative artists and cultural enterprises, without which the cultural sector would effectively collapse (Art. 7).
- The continuation of the coronavirus income replacement scheme, ideally in a form that ensures a livelihood (Art. 9).
- Support for the owners of cultural enterprises and employees in an employer-like position (Art. 10).

Meaningful support for the cultural sector requires more funding:
The package of measures envisaged by the Federal Council in the area of culture originally amounted to CHF 1.5 billion for six months. In a first step, this became an amount of CHF 280 million for a period of two months, which was extended to six months in a second step. Even if the requirement of CHF 1.5 billion for six months was a projection, it is now clear that a fifth of this amount will not be enough to save the Swiss cultural sector.

The Culture Taskforce will submit a more detailed overall calculation of the financial requirements for the cultural sector by the end of July 2020.

In addition, far-sighted planning of projects and economic stimulus programmes is required to initiate the revitalization of the cultural sector."
 

As announced by the Swiss Music Council on July 13, the Sonart an online survey for all cultural stakeholders on the Sonart website placed. This information will be used to estimate the future financial requirements of the cultural sector. All professional cultural and music professionals are called upon to answer the survey as quickly as possible.

The overall agreement provides for remuneration rates of between 4 percent and 1.7 percent of the retail price for the publication of live recordings on audio and video recordings. The specific amount depends on the total playing time of protected recordings contained on the audio carrier.

For online exploitations, rights holders receive a remuneration of 4.5 percent of the amount that the licensee receives from the online service for the use of their recordings. Members of the BVMI receive an introductory discount and - as is usual for corresponding contracts with collecting societies - an overall contract discount.

The agreement was concluded retroactively from 2017 until the end of 2021. GWVR members are therefore also entitled to remuneration for use in the last three years.

Where exactly Beethoven ran through an apparently abundant downpour with the manuscript of his piano sonata or took the extra mail will probably remain a mystery forever. Was it in Troppau (Opava) in Moravia, when he left Grätz Castle in a hurry and full of anger after an argument with Prince Lichnowsky that undermined his pride? At least that is what Theodor von Frimmel reports, referring to a recollection of the doctor Anton Weiser, who was present at the dinner. Or did water simply seep through a traveling bag on the subsequent journey to Vienna, as Paul Bigot de Morogues, once librarian to Prince Rasumowsky, noted many years later on a printed edition of the work? In the latter case, Beethoven is said to have "laughing at his still very wet work" to the pianist Marie Bigot, who then played the soaked composition at sight. In the other case, the sonata (and thus also its musical expression) is part of a scene in which aristocratic arrogance and artistic self-confidence clashed. It is doubtful whether Beethoven wrote a letter from Troppau the following day to the prince, who had been his patron until then. However, the following statement, which has apparently only survived in spirit, perfectly reflects the insurmountable discrepancy between status and talent (similar to the anecdote about Mozart and Joseph II, also from the 19th century): "Prince! What you are, you are by chance and birth, what I am, I am by myself. There have been and will be thousands of princes, but there is only one Beethoven."

Against this background, the epithet "Appassionata" could hardly be more aptly chosen for the Sonata in F minor op. 57: the characters of the two outer movements are always passionate and tempestuous. In the opening movement in particular, the barely fully formulated theme shakes the outer form with its impulsive urgency, and the virtuosic cascades of the finale rush through the ambitus towards the end. Perhaps because Beethoven kept the tempo indications fairly neutral (Allegro assai, Andante con moto and Allegro ma non troppo), the work was not particularly popular with the public at the beginning. As is so often the case, this required a posthumous addition: the designation "Sonata appassionata" first appeared on the title page of an arrangement for four hands (!) published by Cranz in Hamburg in 1838 and was soon gratefully received by other publishers. Carl Czerny, however, did not like this romanticizing epithet - because in his eyes the sonata "is in any case too great".

If you would like to see the water damage in the autograph for yourself, the Online facsimile on the website of the Bibliothèque national de France recommended.

Link to the project homepage "52 x Beethoven"

The Lucerne School of Music will move from Dreilinden to the new building at Südpol in Kriens in summer 2020. The city council therefore put the re-letting of the Dreilinden property out to public tender in 2017 and awarded the contract to Finartis Kunsthandels AG. It will use the main building as its head office.

As Finartis Kunsthandels AG will only make its investments once a rezoning has become legally binding, the municipal music school will make interim use of the main building and the economy building from August 1, 2020. It will hold its own courses in the rooms. Music rooms can also be rented by interested parties at fixed times or on a one-off basis for music lessons with lessons or for independent practice (phone: 041 208 80 10 / email: musikschule@stadtluzern.ch).
 

González-Monjas will seamlessly succeed the current chief conductor Thomas Zehetmair in a year's time. As concertmaster, he often led the orchestra from the first podium, and recently also increasingly conducted larger works.

Roberto González-Monjas is Professor of Violin at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London and Artistic Director of the Iberacademy in Medellín, Colombia. Since the 2019/20 season, he has been Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Dalasinfoniettan in Sweden and Artist in Residence at the Orquesta de Castilla y Leon in Spain. Until 2019, he was also concertmaster of the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome.
 

The mission statement also aims to strengthen the excellence and diversity of cultural offerings internationally. Furthermore, cultural innovation is to be facilitated, the opportunities of digitalization are to be exploited and the funding policy is to be specifically geared towards new potential. The canton also writes that it is crucial that the entire population can actively participate in Basel's cultural life. This is made possible by cultural funding that strives to improve inclusion, equal opportunities and gender equality in the cultural sector.

Critical voices were raised during the consultation process, primarily from the music scene: The desired concentration and visualization of Basel as a city of music was going in the right direction, but not far enough. For this reason, with the new cultural mission statement, the government council has now given the task of making a comprehensive overview of music promotion. The aim is to obtain a basis for well-founded decisions. The desire for a festival concept, which is also being examined, was once again expressed by many.

Collegium Novum Zürich (CNZ) has announced that the position of Production Director has been created in light of CNZ Managing Director Alexander Kraus' move to Theater Basel on August 1, 2020. Kraus' previous duties will be carried out by Géraldine Camenisch and Johannes Knapp, with Knapp, who has been Artistic Director of the ensemble since fall 2019, also taking on the role of Managing Director.

Géraldine Camenisch studied singing at the Geneva University of Music as well as musicology and Russian language and literature at the University of Zurich. She has been working at Tonhalle-Gesellschaft Zürich AG since April 2019 and is completing the Executive Master in Arts Administration program at the University of Zurich.

The federal government has extended the measures to safeguard the Swiss cultural landscape by four months until September 20 and increased its funding for cancellation compensation in the cultural sector. In addition to the CHF 10 million already allocated from the crisis fund in March, the canton is now also making CHF 15 million available for cancellation compensation. Together with the federal funds, the cultural sector in Basel-Stadt will thus receive CHF 30 million.

Major events are still prohibited until at least the end of August, many festivals have already been canceled and cultural institutions are severely restricted in their operations due to the necessary protection concepts.

The compensation can cover a maximum of 80 percent of the financial loss, provided that this is not already covered by other state measures (e.g. short-time work or loss of earnings via the compensation fund). The Culture Division of the Presidential Department will be accepting applications until September 20. Losses due to canceled, postponed and only reduced events that were planned until the end of October 2020 are eligible for compensation.
 

"These three are one." The anonymous reviewer in the Leipziger General Musical Newspaper cannot characterize this work, which was first published in print in 1806. And yet this Trio op. 87 for two oboes and cor anglais (together with the Variations on Mozart's "Là ci darem la mano" WoO 28) has remained a peripheral composition in the general perception to this day. It almost seems that the comparatively light, almost uncomplicated tone irritated and caused difficulties for our contemporaries against the background of what quickly became standard reception topoi: "Nowhere do you notice a disproportion, nowhere anything wanted or unnatural; therefore it provides the trio, With all the applied art, a pleasant, unclouded, if not high enjoyment. The limitations of the instruments and the simplicity of the three-part setting make it seem less than it is to some." - It almost reads like a promotional apology.

But one should not be deceived by the high opus number of this trio. Initially erroneously counted as "op. 29", it only appears in a list of works in 1819 without Beethoven's involvement. However, the composition had already been written around 1795 - and by no means as an occasional work. Rather, it is connected with the Teimer brothers' ensemble, which was very popular in Vienna at the time and also performed in public, for which Franz Anton Hoffmeister "concertizing trios" is said to have written. Furthermore, when the Schwarzenberg Harmoniemusik was dissolved in 1799, the archives contained further works for the three brothers by Johann Nepomuk Went, Joseph Triebensee, Franz Krommer and Anton Wranitzky, among others; Beethoven's four-movement trio was therefore only part of an existing repertoire for a unique (Viennese) special ensemble. Johann Ferdinand von Schönfeld reported in 1796 in his Yearbook of Musical Art for Vienna and Prague: "Who doesn't know these famous virtuosos on the oboe? They adorn our most prestigious academies. Their tone is mellifluous, and their art so excellent that some of our authors write for them. They are also masters on the English horn." Only a short time later, however, this formation came to an abrupt end when the brothers Franz and Johann Teimer died suddenly in May and August 1796.

Parallel to the first edition, Beethoven's composition was also published in 1806 in arrangements for two violins and viola as well as for piano and violin. Still a welcome addition to musical entertainment.

Link to the project homepage "52 x Beethoven"

According to the press release, the signs had long been pointing to hope, as the event will not take place until the end of August 2020. In addition, the decision was made early on to focus exclusively on Swiss musicians this year. Under the current coronavirus circumstances, this not only seemed to be a viable solution from an organizational perspective. It would also have strengthened an important pillar of the festival: namely to offer the local scene an attractive platform, as has already been the case successfully in Willisau in recent years.

The organizers had continuously adapted the plans and the implementation of the applicable regulations. However, the latest federal requirements have now made it so difficult to hold the event that the Willisau Jazz Festival would lose its character. This has nothing to do with the visitor limit of 1,000 people, but with the fact that the organizers had to separate sectors of 300 people with separate entrances and exits in order to comply with the required tracing radius. A festival as Willisau envisioned it could not form sectors. The Willisau Jazz Festival is an open place for exchange and encounters.

On July 1, one day after the Taskforce Culture The Federal Council decided that self-employed persons directly or indirectly affected by measures against the coronavirus can continue to claim compensation until September 16. According to the Federal Council's press release, those affected do not need to take any special steps and the AHV compensation funds will resume payments.

People who are employed by their own company and find themselves in a hardship situation can now also claim this compensation. The unemployment insurance short-time work compensation for these people expired on June 1. It will take some time before the processes for this new benefit are in place. The Federal Council therefore recommends waiting until mid-July to register with the AHV compensation fund.

In addition, the Swiss Conference of Music Universities (KMHS) has announced that the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation will support music students in need in Switzerland, Germany and Austria with a total of two million Swiss francs. These funds will be distributed directly to the music universities via a key. The scholarship offices of the respective music academies are responsible for and organize the distribution of support to those in need. The KMHS writes that it is "very pleased and grateful that, in addition to the current efforts of its member universities, this important foundation acts in awareness of the international professional field of music and at the same time supports students from several countries."
 

The Swiss section of the ISCM has announced that, on its initiative, musicologist Anton Haefeli from Aargau was appointed an honorary member of the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) by a large majority at its General Assembly on June 27, 2020. "Anton Haefeli has been held in high esteem by the ISCM for decades," writes ISCM-Switzerland. It refers to his book published by Atlantis-Verlag in Zurich in 1982:  IGNM - The International Society for New Music - Its history from 1922 to the present day. This "epochal" and "reference-generating" work was commissioned in 1972 for the 50th anniversary of the IGNM and documents the significance of the company from 1922 to 1980 "exemplarily" alongside its history.

The ISCM-Switzerland writes further: "Haefeli, born in Brugg in 1946, studied musicology with Kurt von Fischer and music theory with Rudolf Kelterborn in Zurich. He received his doctorate with the aforementioned thesis on the history of the IGNM (International Society for Contemporary Music ISCM). He then worked as a researcher and teacher at the Basel Academy of Music, most recently as its deputy director. Publication of numerous articles on music education topics and 20th century music.

Honorary members of the ISCM

Haefeli is the fourth Swiss ISCM honorary member after Arthur Honegger (1950), Paul Sacher (1971) and Klaus Huber (1994). The ISCM's honorary members include important composers, conductors and musicologists of the 20th century. They include Igor Stravinsky, Béla Bartók, Maurice Ravel, György Ligeti, John Cage, Hermann Scherchen and Arnold Schoenberg.

The ISCM is the oldest international umbrella organization for the promotion of New Music. It is considered one of the most important music-cultural societies in the world. Originally founded as an initiative of the Second Viennese School in 1922 during the Salzburg Festival, it sees itself as an international network for the promotion of New Music. One of its central tasks is to organize the World New Music Days, which have been held at different locations every year since 1923. The Swiss Society for New Music is the Swiss section of the ISCM, also founded in 1922. It is currently chaired by Javier Hagen."

The consortium called "NFDI4Culture" will establish a demand-oriented infrastructure for digital research data on tangible and intangible cultural assets in the NFDI. This data includes 2D digital copies of paintings, photographs and drawings as well as digital 3D models of culturally significant buildings and monuments or audiovisual data from music, film and stage performances.

The concept and structure of the consortium were developed over two years in close cooperation between 11 specialist societies, 9 supporting institutions and 52 partners; the Academy of Sciences and Literature Mainz is in charge. Within the consortium, the Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz will in particular support the work of the specialist disciplines in the production and enrichment of digitized material of all kinds (2D, 3D, but also audio and video) and organize the nationwide coordination between digitization centers.

More info: https://nfdi4culture.de/

According to a statement from the Swiss section of the ISCM, delegates gathered on June 27, 2020 for the first virtual General Assembly in the history of the International Society for Contemporary Music, after this year's World Music Days in New Zealand had to be canceled for the first time since World War II due to the coronavirus crisis.

The ISCM World Music Days are to take place in Shanghai and Nanning in 2021. The Sinfonietta Basel is expected to give its first Asian guest performance there through the Swiss section. In 2022, the 2020 program will be repeated in Auckland and Christchurch, New Zealand. To celebrate the society's centenary in 2023, the ISCM will be entering new territory, as the festival will take place for the first time on the African continent with Johannesburg/Soweto as venues, under the direction of composer and percussionist Lukas Ligeti and the South African ISCM section.