The SMPV Bern cordially invites young and old, experienced and less experienced singers to sing along to this year's ad hoc open-air choir project. Parent-child or grandparent-grandchild teams are also very welcome!

The colorful program ranges from Swiss folk songs to a well-known pop song to an opera aria with choir. The registered singers will receive a link to the sheet music specially arranged for the concert and to mp-3 files, which they can use to rehearse the program. Five rehearsal dates are offered:
Sat, May 24, 2-5 p.m. at CAP, Predigergasse 3, 3011 Bern
Fri, May 30 19-22 at EGW, Nägeligasse 9/11, 3011 Bern
Sat, May 31, 2-5 p.m. at EGW, Nägeligasse 9/11, 3011 Bern
Fri, June 13, 7-10 p.m. at CAP, Predigergasse 3, 3011 Bern
Fri, June 27, 7-10 p.m. at CAP, Predigergasse 3, 3011 Bern

If you want to sing with us, you must attend at least three rehearsals.

The program, further information and the electronic registration form can be found at here.

The twenty young singers who took part in the final of the singing competition on June 9 included Elvirissima - young voices 2025
at the MaiHof in Lucerne, the Schaffhausen section president, Thomas Weiss, and one or two other board members will select two singers to perform together at this year's St. Katharinental-EXTRA concert. The prizewinners' concert will take place on Sunday, September 7, 2025 in the beautiful Zunftsaal of the Hotel Rüden, Oberstadt 20 in 8200 Schaffhausen.
The SMPV Schaffhausen provides a piano accompanist, covers all expenses and offers a fee of CHF 500 per person.
In the Registration form For the singing competition "Elvirissima 2025" there is an integrated registration field for the special prize. The registration deadline is April 4, 2025.

I joined the SMPV in 1967 after receiving my teaching diploma for piano. Thanks to my initial training as a commercial clerk with a federal certificate of competence and a language study trip to England, I had a very interesting and well-paid job as a trilingual secretary by then. I then started teaching at the Conservatoire de Vevey, which was a branch of the Institut de Ribaupierre in Lausanne. The pay there was so miserable that I started teaching privately. But that wasn't enough either.
The situation only improved when the Vaud section approached Jacques Chapuis and Edgar Willems to offer us training in the Willems method to make this possible. The training in this method allowed us to offer group lessons for very young students aged 4-5 years, whose hearing and sense of rhythm we trained. These courses still exist today. They give the students a good musical foundation to later learn an instrument they like. I will continue SMPV Vaud be eternally grateful for his pioneering work!

After witnessing how disastrously poorly organized the stage exams were, I started to get involved, whereupon I was immediately offered the opportunity to take over the organization of the exams in future. So I was already taking care of the stage exams before I joined the board. In 1975, I was elected to the board during a dramatic AGM at which the entire board resigned. A new board was elected. But when it came to electing the presidency, things got very complicated: We wanted Claire Buenzod. "What a horror: a woman!" It took long discussions before the meeting finally agreed to elect Claire Buenzod as president.
Since then, I have been looking after the secretariat of the Vaud section. My training as a commercial clerk helps me to carry out my tasks with a certain ease. It's always nice to be needed and I still enjoy putting my skills at the service of our section.

It is not easy to summarize the most important events of all these years. The negotiations for recognition by the canton of Vaud and thus for a subsidy to finance the annual examinations lasted from 1977 to 1985. According to public opinion, our profession was considered "not a real profession at all" and there was no need to subsidize music lessons "as it is a hobby".
In 1997, however, despite the financial difficulties of the canton and thanks to the persistence of the president, Claire Grin, we were able to obtain an annual subsidy of CHF 5,000.
These negotiations brought us to the attention of the DFJC (Department of Education, Youth and Culture). In 2009, we were invited to a meeting with the State Councillor, Anne-Catherine Lyon. During the consultation she organized, the president, Marc-Henri Aubert, and part of the board were asked to express our opinion on the preliminary draft of the law on music schools. We reiterated our support for the positions of the AVEM-SSP. We also made a strong request to be recognized as a partner in the Vaud music education landscape.

Thanks to the support of the canton, we can carry out our annual audits with a certain degree of serenity. These exams have changed a lot over the last 50 years. In my early days, students competed anonymously and the teacher was not present during the deliberations to avoid nepotism. You had the feeling that you were being judged by a shadow court. Today, teachers are present at their students' performances and take part in the deliberations. This enables a constructive dialog between the students and the teachers.

From 2010 until today, we have been able to continue organizing our events without any particular incidents. I am very pleased that I have been able to work on the various projects of our section and contribute to the good relations within the Board of Directors.

Of course, there is always room for improvement. I hope that the section will continue its work with enthusiasm and a constructive spirit.

The interview was conducted by Guy Fasel, President of SMPV-Vaud - Translation Marianne Wälchli

Marianne Wälchli The SMPV tariffs are set by those present at the AGMs or GMs of the 15 sections. If a new tariff is decided, it applies in principle with immediate effect. It is up to the sections to decide whether they set semester rates, individual lesson rates or both, whether there are also rates for group lessons and whether other lesson lengths are listed in addition to the rates for 60 and 40 minutes. The rates for adult lessons are slightly higher than those for lessons for children and young people. Some sections define a discount compared to the adult rate as a percentage, others set specific rates for lessons for children and young people.

In 2024, we received many inquiries and requests about the tariffs, and I can only strongly recommend that anyone who would also like a tariff for group lessons or for a 30-minute lesson, or who thinks their section's tariffs are too low or too high, go to the AGM/GM, present these requests there and vote on them. Interestingly, quite a few non-members called who "don't need the SMPV otherwise" but would like to see this or that change on the tariff lists. Of course, they can't have a say.

The level of tariffs is always the subject of heated debate at meetings. There is the view that the tariffs should be adjusted annually in line with inflation, and there is the view of those who would prefer to lower the tariffs because they are afraid that higher tariffs could deter potential students.
The tariffs are standard tariffs, which means that no member can be forced to charge these tariffs if they lose many students as a result. Nevertheless, it makes sense to deviate as little as possible from the tariffs when setting prices for private lessons. It is often surprising what adult students in particular are willing to pay for good lessons. It is not only the tariffs that are adjusted for inflation, but usually also the salaries of our students or their parents. And we must not forget that in addition to the teacher's actual salary, the teaching fee must also cover all social security contributions (AHV, pension fund), the rent for the classroom and infrastructure costs, occupational accident insurance, business insurance, professional association contributions, possibly legal protection insurance, further training costs, costs for instrument maintenance such as piano tuning, costs for sheet music and other teaching materials. Depending on the number of students, even with a lesson rate of CHF 120, there may not be much left over.

It is therefore one of the tasks of the SMPV as a professional association to insist that the rates are not set too low and to encourage members to actually charge the standard rates. After all, you know your students and, if someone is particularly talented but cannot afford the standard rate and therefore only attends lessons irregularly, you can accommodate this person a little and "give them some time".

Private music schools and other platforms often write: "The tariffs correspond to the SMPV tariffs." So here too, the tariffs influence the teachers' salaries. It is imperative that we campaign for reasonable tariffs that generate a living wage for private teachers!

Dear music teachers in Switzerland
Dear colleagues

Being a music teacher in this day and age is a challenging endeavor! Pupils have less and less time, so it's tempting for them to simply take some virtual lessons at an online music school. Maximum flexibility is promised here, and fun is apparently guaranteed. You can even buy a 10-session subscription without any obligation and don't have to commit to anything. The setting corresponds exactly to our zeitgeist: achieving the fastest possible result with a small investment of time and personal commitment - fun factor included. Qualified music teachers are well aware that serious music lessons are hardly possible in this way.

Many laypeople do not realize that this is precisely the invaluable benefit of music lessons, that students have to commit to lessons over a longer period of time, that they have to practice for hundreds of hours to be able to play a relatively simple piece beautifully and musically, but that this genuine ability then leads to deep enjoyment and improved self-confidence. Nor can they imagine that it takes years of intensive study of the instrument to become a professional musician. So much effort is considered totally unfashionable in this day and age.
Music lessons create a counterbalance to the hectic pace of these fast-moving times, in which everyone demands quick results and the number of mental illnesses is growing exponentially because there is no time for other people. Music lessons are not just about learning a craft, they are balm for the soul because people are allowed to pause and engage with this project. The pupils travel to the teacher, because in-depth learning is only possible in real-life confrontation with a qualified specialist; we have known this since the coronavirus pandemic at the latest. And although terms such as "pause", "come to yourself" and "be in the moment" are often used in the context of music lessons, it is not a therapy in which you can simply let your mind wander. Learning to play an instrument is a complex process that requires full attention, in which all the senses must be involved and the mind focused on the activity. It challenges the person in their entirety with all their thoughts, feelings and body. This is the only way learning can take place. And it makes no difference whether we are preparing students for a diploma or working with a mentally handicapped child.

And precisely because music lessons are so anti-cyclical, their value is often not recognized. Music teachers, unlike musicians, are very often not perceived as important. Music lessons become a non-committal hobby, and it is forgotten that even the big stars once enjoyed such music lessons, but that at some point they said yes and fully committed to their instrument with their teacher.

Be proud of your profession! No matter how difficult it sometimes seems in these hectic times, when everything has to be achieved immediately, but at no cost. Physical music lessons will always exist, they are irreplaceable! We are a counterweight that helps to keep humanity in balance, to keep it healthy. In music lessons, the moment is still a valuable commodity, "commitment" and "being able to get involved" are necessary qualities, and qualified teachers are particularly important. In this way, we make an important contribution to our society!

With this in mind, we wish you a successful new year - don't be discouraged! Move forward with confidence! The SMPV will continue to stand by your side this year and do everything in its power to ensure that music education at all levels is given the status it deserves!

Annette Dannecker and Paola De Luca
Co-Presidents SMPV

SMPV members produce culture every day - in concerts and short performances, with their students at their auditions and in ensemble music-making and cultural participation projects. Many performances take place on a small scale and do not receive the attention they deserve.

That is why the SMPV is organizing a Tour de Suisse Musical from Whit Saturday, 7 to 28 June. In addition to the usual small and large performances, as many events as possible are to be organized in unusual places with cooperation partners, e.g. from local businesses. We are thinking, for example, of a flute duet by two schoolgirls in a bakery in Wengen on a Monday morning. The bakery sells an "SMPV bread" during the three weeks and gives SMPV information material to its customers. A short video recording of the performance is linked to the Tour de Suisse musical map. In the video description and in the tour program there is space to mention the cooperation partners.
Of course, all Whitsun concerts by SMPV members will also be included on the map if links to video clips are provided. Already planned is an open-air ad-hoc choir event by the SMPV Bern in Bern at the end of the tour on June 28, the Palmarès of the prizewinners of the Vaud section exams on June 17, three concerts on June 14, the "Dreiklang" in Winterthur and Elvirissima 2025 on June 9 in Lucerne will also take place as part of the tour.

You could play music on a ship, in a department store, at a vantage point with a correspondingly unusual audience and a particularly beautiful cinematic background. A short crawling concert could take place outside on a playground. Good, even slightly crazy ideas are needed! SMPV members (or sections) can register their performances and those of their students at: smpv.ch/anmeldeformuar-formulaire-dinscription-modulo-di-registrazione-tour-de-suisse-musical .

I am supported by Guy Fasel (Vaud), Akiko Hasegawa (Aargau), Florian Mall (Northwestern Switzerland) and Josira Salles (Biel/Jura) in the OC, which is responsible for coordinating the events for the main route of the tour.

Anyone who is also interested in joining the OC is welcome to get in touch.

We are looking forward to a colorful, sonorous and somewhat crazy tour and to getting to know many members from a new perspective along the way.

For Elvira Lüthi-Wegmann, a singer, singing teacher and patron of the arts from Schaffhausen, the training and promotion of her singing students was a matter close to her heart, and she was closely associated with the Swiss Music Pedagogical Association SMPV throughout her life. She therefore bequeathed a large sum to the SMPV with the proviso that it be used to set up a foundation to support the most talented Swiss students of SMPV members. To identify these, the foundation board will once again organize the "Elvirissima" singing competition in 2025.

On Whit Monday, June 9, 2025, a maximum of 20 finalists will be able to present themselves to the jury in the singing competition for the following prizes:

1st prize: CHF 9'600.-
2nd prize: CHF 4'800.-
3rd prize: CHF 2'000.
4th prize: CHF 1'000.

The Board of Trustees selects the finalists after carefully reviewing the submitted dossiers. These must each contain two video recordings of the candidates. As a special feature, the second piece must be sung a cappella. This is a remnant from the pandemic period, when a "home office video" was one of the requirements for the online-only competition in 2020. At the time, the Board of Trustees determined that it was even easier to hear who was particularly musical in the unaccompanied pieces.
Swiss vocal students whose singing teacher is a member of the Swiss Music Pedagogical Association SMPV, qualified Swiss singers who are themselves full members of the SMPV and foreigners who have been resident in Switzerland for at least two years can apply and are studying singing with a member of the SMPV for at least the fourth semester or have been a full member of the SMPV for at least one year. The age limit is 30 years.
The jury consists of the Board of Trustees and two external experts. For 2025, we were able to recruit Dr. Ursula Benzing, Opera Director at Lucerne Theatre, and Mr. Thomas Barthel, Deputy Director of the International Opera Studio, Zurich Opera House, for the jury.

We look forward to once again discovering beautiful voices, highly musical voice owners and interesting young artistic personalities, and we invite you to travel to Lucerne on June 9, 2025 to watch the public audition live from 10:30 a.m. and cheer along with the young singers when the winners are announced from 4:30 p.m. onwards.

The competition rules, the link to the registration form and information for the public can be found at www.elvirissima.ch

The Board of Trustees of the Elvira-Lüthi-Wegmann Foundation: Prof. Dr. Bernhard Hunziker, Dr. Lena-Lisa Wüstendörfer and President of the Board of Trustees, Marianne Wälchli

Question from an SMPV member: What do I have to consider legally when using artificial intelligence (AI) in music lessons?

Answer from Dr. Kovacs:
The use of AI in music lessons is becoming increasingly popular. For this very reason, a certain carelessness has arisen in the handling of works and data, which is not appropriate from a legal perspective. In principle, the general legal rules that apply offline also apply to the use of AI tools.
apply. The Internet is not a legal vacuum. The following presentation of some "legal minefields" is intended to help you recognize them and deal with them correctly. It is not exhaustive, so that the respective problems must be examined for each individual use.

A The following should be noted for the input (feeding the AI with data): In principle, all owners of rights to the data entered (e.g. images, texts, pieces of music) must be asked for their consent (license). Without this, use is generally not permitted.

1. There are exceptions to this in copyright law:

• Teachers may use copyright-protected works in the classroom as long as this is necessary for the purpose of teaching and the use is not commercial. However, they are
• subject to remuneration.
• Short excerpts from protected works may be quoted as long as the source is cited and the work is used to illustrate the teaching topic.
• The making of copies for teaching purposes is permitted if they are intended for the personal use of the students and do not go beyond what is necessary.
• However, it may still be necessary to obtain the author's consent (i.e. a license) if the work is used on a large scale or for events outside the classroom.
• Many schools have agreements with authors or collecting societies (e.g. SUISA) that they pay a flat-rate license fee to cover the use of music or texts in class.

2. data and privacy protection:
Many AI applications collect and process users' personal data. This is not permitted without their consent if it goes beyond the generally known data. In particular, the use of personal images always requires consent, as does the use and compilation of cell phone numbers and email addresses. Schools and teachers must ensure that they meet the legal requirements. In particular, they must inform the authorized persons in advance of the purpose of the data use and obtain their consent. The teacher must be able to prove this. The teacher must also take suitable measures to protect the data and be able to provide evidence of this.

B The following should be noted for the output (the work result of the AI tool):

AI-supported tools can generate or analyze pieces of music, write and correct texts and much more. However, they can also use pieces of music or texts from the internet to edit them and thus generate new pieces or texts. It is still unclear who owns the rights to these new works: the developers of the AI programs, the users or the AI itself? It is clear that the AI itself cannot be the author of a work, especially as only natural persons can be.

Liability and conclusion:
If an AI tool or the user does not observe the legal restrictions or even provides incorrect information in class, all parties responsible, e.g. the developer of the AI, the school and the teacher, are jointly and severally liable, i.e. they are jointly and severally liable in full for any damage. This can be expensive. It is therefore important that teachers inform themselves about the specific regulations and seek legal advice in case of uncertainty.

The annual forum is organized by the SMPV Zurich Sections and Winterthur/Zurich Oberland and the MuV.vpod.
It offers interested music teachers from the Canton of Zurich the opportunity to exchange information about working conditions at Zurich music schools and to obtain important first-hand information.
And with board members from two SMPV sections and a VPOD representative in attendance, the annual forum is an excellent opportunity to make suggestions for improving the situation of music teachers in the Canton of Zurich and to discuss with the associations how these improvements could be achieved.

Among other things, it was discussed that music teachers often do not know whether they are employed at a private or public music school. It was once again emphasized that music schools that are part of a (public) elementary school are generally more advantageous for teachers. In particular, additional offers such as class music-making (the city of Zurich finances class music-making for 120 classes), music camps, choir, etc. are not necessarily supported by an association, but there is a budget for this in the public music schools.
Those present found it disturbing that music is often neglected as a subject in elementary school. This may be due to the fact that only a third of PH students choose music as a subject and therefore two thirds of primary school teachers do not have a teaching qualification for music. Since only three subject teachers should actually be assigned to a class and other subjects than music are considered more important, there is no music teacher for some classes.

The problem was also raised that the EDK only recognizes the diplomas issued by the ZHdK for primary music schools for kindergarten and 1st and 2nd grade. However, MAG students are trained to teach up to Year 6. Many leave their jobs disappointed after a few years.

Those present found it grotesque that music teachers seek the support of a trade union when faced with labor law problems, but are not prepared to join a professional association. They are particularly poorly informed about the SMPV, and there is a misconception that it is only an association for freelancers. It is important to keep informing people that the SMPV is a professional association for all music teachers!

Further information at fzhm.ch

Marianne Wälchli Music education is caught between culture and education, and when drafting a new music school law, the canton's law on the promotion of culture and primary education must also be taken into account. An ideal music school law lays the foundation for ensuring that as many children and young people as possible can attend music lessons outside of school, either individually or in groups, and that children from less educated and financially weaker families are not disadvantaged. It ensures transparent and fair employment conditions, regulates quality assurance and lays the foundation for optimal talent development. Quality assurance also includes ensuring that as many music school teachers as possible have both artistic and pedagogical qualifications, i.e. a Master of Arts in Music Education or an equivalent diploma.

The most wonderful employment conditions on paper are of no use if timetables only allow music lessons between 4pm and 7pm, for example, meaning that music teachers cannot get a reasonable number of lessons per week. It is therefore crucial that elementary school and music schools negotiate sensibly with each other.
Music lessons are ideally one-to-one lessons given by highly qualified teachers. And you need enough suitable classrooms for the lessons. It is obvious that this is cost-intensive. And even though it is now generally known how important music lessons are for mental and emotional development, there are supposedly resourceful cost-cutters who cut the number of minutes per child to such an extent that meaningful lessons are no longer possible. Or they prescribe group lessons where it is not practicable. In such situations, the SMPV must stand up for the members affected.

In the following sections, I would like to look at the development of music school legislation in individual cantons:

Ticino
The latest developments in the canton of Ticino give music teachers and students hope for the future.
As a reminder, the "100 giorni per la musica" initiative, which calls for music lessons for children and young people to be subsidized, as stipulated in Article 67a of the Federal Constitution, was submitted in 2023 by an initiative committee including SMPV member Emilio Pozzi. At the moment, the canton of Ticino only covers around 25% of the costs of recognized music schools. This means that parents of music students have to bear around 75% of the costs themselves, while parents in the rest of Switzerland pay an average of just over 30%. Children and young people from financially weaker families are thus effectively excluded from extracurricular music lessons, which clearly contradicts Article 67a.
In the first week of August, it was announced that the Ticino State Council had drawn up a counter-proposal in collaboration with the initiative committee.
The government is of the opinion that a law on extracurricular music lessons, as called for by the initiative committee, "is not suitable or appropriate to provide a satisfactory response to the common challenges raised by the initiative". The counter-proposal, on the other hand, provides for a partial amendment to the Cultural Promotion Act, which includes the following points, among others:

• An independent quality commission is to be set up to define the quality criteria that a music school must fulfill in order to receive subsidies.
• Extracurricular music lessons for children and young people up to the end of compulsory schooling or for young adults up to the age of 25 if they are in education should be substantially subsidized.
• Music students from low-income families are to receive additional support.
• Cantonal public schools should be able to use their premises for music lessons free of charge.

For the trial phase from 2026 - 2028, the government expects annual recurring costs totaling 1.5 million. The costs would be borne entirely by the Swisslos Fund during this trial phase.
If this counter-proposal is adopted by Parliament, the initiative committee is prepared to withdraw the initiative. It is therefore possible that the situation for music students and teachers in the canton of Ticino will improve massively as early as 2026!

Thurgau
A revised music school ordinance came into force in the canton of Thurgau on January 1, 2024. The road to this was described as "long and emotional".
In June 2018, Thurgau's public education authority set up a working group made up of representatives from the canton and the Thurgau Music Schools Association (VMTG) with the aim of "reviewing the funding and quality assurance of music schools". The board of the SMPV Thurgau also took part in the consultation and demanded, among other things, that lessons for young adults in training should be subsidized up to the age of 25 (instead of 20), which was unfortunately not approved. In this respect, music students in Ticino could soon be in a better position than those in Thurgau.
The increase in the proportion of qualified music teachers desired by the SMPV is a positive development. This must now be at least two thirds instead of half. As before, the salary tables for salary bands 2 and 3 of the elementary school apply to music teachers, whereby salary category A applies to qualified teachers and category B to non-qualified teachers.
Another significant innovation is the division of the cantonal contribution into a flat-rate salary per lesson and a flat-rate operating fee with a variable component, as music schools under public law are allowed to use school premises free of charge, whereas music schools organized under private law have to pay for classrooms. The canton anticipates additional annual costs of around CHF 600,000.
Although not all the demands and wishes of the music schools were met, the completely revised music school ordinance can be described as an important "milestone" for music education in the canton of Thurgau.

Grisons
Here, music school legislation is regulated in the Cultural Promotion Act. When this came into force in 2018, it brought a clear improvement for music schools. The regions were obliged to provide a comprehensive range of singing and music schools. To this end, the canton supports the music schools annually with an additional CHF 410,000 on top of the regions' contributions of around CHF 550,000.
However, the SMPV OSO would like to optimize details in the implementation of the law. For example, the canton sometimes does not contribute the 30% stipulated in the ordinance to the music school costs due to the method of calculation with flat rates for pupils, but only 25%, and the municipalities then have to bear the deficit even though the canton has not exhausted its budget. Secondly, the SMPV OSO is bothered by the fact that the salary of music teachers with a full-time workload corresponds to the salary of primary school teachers with a full-time workload, but that the music teacher lesson lasts 60 minutes, while the primary school teacher lesson is only 45 minutes long, meaning that music teachers actually earn 25% less.

When I vacated the Central Secretariat, I was struck by how much SMPV Switzerland has changed in such a short space of time:

Before 2005, much of the association revolved around professional training: you became a member because you had completed your own teaching diploma course at the SMPV, or you were a member because you trained students yourself through the SMPV.
Even back then, members benefited from individual services, but the main focus was the private SMPV music study program.

As a reminder: in 2005, the SMPV decided to make vocational training independent because this was the only way to meet the requirements of the "Bologna reform", but also because vocational studies were tearing an ever larger hole in the association's coffers. In 2007, responsibility for vocational training was handed over to the SAMP Foundation, which in 2009, together with the Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences, founded the SAMP AG School of Music, which in turn later became the Kalaidos School of Music.

The SMPV supported the young conservatoire until all students enrolled on an SMPV course had obtained their SMPV diploma. However, the SMPV's main focus increasingly shifted away from the topic of "vocational training".

What now?

The sections, whose main task has always been to look after their members and offer useful services for music teachers, were not about to undergo a drastic change of direction.
The central association, on the other hand, asked itself many questions: Do we still need it? What are the tasks of the SMPV if it no longer offers vocational training? Does the membership of the SGB decided by the 2005 DM bring us anything? What are the tasks of the "new" SMPV?
In 2011, the Board of Directors organized various meetings in Lucerne for interested members at which these issues were eagerly discussed.
It quickly became clear that the members wanted to preserve and further develop their association. They felt that it should become a purely professional association.
But while some wanted a pure trade union, others were satisfied with the popular services and wanted to leave the SGB straight away. Everyone agreed that the SMPV had to stand up for professionalism in music education. The association should only accept qualified music teachers. This would send a signal in the direction of the protected professional title "SMPV music teacher".

The big break

Nobody had expected the coronavirus pandemic. Many of our members were suddenly faced with existential questions. The SMPV was able to help many of them with advice and support: obtaining all the important information as quickly as possible, bundling it and passing it on to members. Many a presidium was "retrained" - learning by doing - to become a crisis manager. The fact that we were hardly able to obtain any compensation for freelance teachers is due to the fact that cultural workers who teach are either assigned to education or culture, depending on where costs can be avoided. However, we were able to ensure that as many of our events as possible could take place, and because we used good protection concepts to ensure that no one was infected at the events, we were able to show that musicians are not a dangerous species - not even singers.
Unfortunately, some members had to change jobs during this time. The crisis made others particularly strong. It probably even helped the SMPV on its path to professionalization.

The SMPV today

Today, the SMPV is a purely professional association. Throughout its 131-year history, the central association and the sections have constantly Service offers This is why it can offer its members such an unusually wide range of services that all music teachers could actually benefit from membership.
However, some of these services have to be obtained actively.
The SMPV provides: the SMZ subscription, the agenda that is still popular with many and the standard rates for private music lessons. In negotiations with politicians and in discussions with other associations, it advocates a fundamental improvement in the situation for music teachers. If you have problems at work, you can find support from the central association or the sections and, if necessary, you can also get free initial legal advice.
You have to make an active effort to maintain your profile on my-music-lessons.ch and on rent-a-musician.ch - but we will also be happy to advise you.
SMPV members can insure their earnings in the sub-mandatory area with the Music and Education Pension Fund.
At section level, you can have your students perform in music lessons, give teacher concerts, attend practice-relevant, discounted further training or even give a course yourself. You can find all the information you need at smpv.ch/service
Take advantage of our wide range of services and let us know if you have an idea for another service!

Outlook

Challenging times lie ahead: the baby boomers are gradually retiring and some of these members will be leaving the association. Recruiting members will become increasingly important if we do not want to have to raise membership fees sharply or restrict services.
The job title "music teacher" is still not protected, or rather only in the cantons of Vaud and Lucerne and there only for employment in music schools.
The shortage of skilled workers caused by the wave of retirements, which is already real for the instruments piano and guitar, can lead to music schools employing untrained teaching staff who can be paid lower wages, which could lead to wage dumping in general.
And politically, we must ensure that music, dance, theater and art teachers are given a lobby and that they are finally recognized as "cultural workers plus pedagogy".

It can be worthwhile to read music school laws very carefully. In 1999, resourceful minds in the SMPV Schaffhausen discovered that their cantonal music school law offered the association the opportunity to set up its own music school with subsidized lessons.
The wording of the purpose hardly differs from that of other music school laws:

"1. the canton shall promote music lessons for young people as a supplement or continuation of music lessons in public schools, with the aim of enabling them to participate actively in musical life.
2. to this end, it shall make contributions to recognized music schools..."
In order to be recognized, the music schools must be based in the canton of Schaffhausen, but then it also says "sponsorship":
"As school authorities, municipalities, associations of municipalities as well as associations or foundations with a corresponding purpose recognized."

Werner Joos, president of the section at the time, Beat Studer, the first director of the SMPV music school, and board member Anne Marie Rohr thus saw the prerequisites for successfully founding their own SMPV music school.

Today, the SMPV Music School is managed by Christoph Honegger, who is employed on a variable basis, depending on how many students are enrolled at the SMPV Music School.

Teachers take on a lot of organizational responsibility, i.e. they look for and find their students themselves by word of mouth or, for example, via the SMPV private tuition platform my-music-lessons.chand they teach them in their own classrooms or at home because the SMPV music school has no premises. In return, they receive a small room allowance. The school is subsidized by the city, municipalities and canton with 55%, whereby, as with "normal" music schools, only the lessons of non-working students under the age of 25 are subsidized.

Every member of the SMPV Schaffhausen has the right to teach pupils in the canton of Schaffhausen via the SMPV music school. Musicians must have both an artistic and a music teaching qualification in order to join the SMPV, and so the city and canton have the guarantee that they will only subsidize lessons from highly trained music teachers - a win-win situation for everyone involved.
A special feature of the school is the salary flat rate: every teacher earns exactly the same regardless of age. However, there is a school-specific family allowance of 5% per child. The school management takes care of registration and deregistration, debt collection, social security accounting and salary payments, and organizes the school's own annual music day.
Around 170 students are currently enrolled at the SMPV music school.

I spoke to two of the current twenty-four teachers:

Flor Stammer is a violist and has been teaching violin and viola at the SMPV music school since 2021; she has also recently been employed as a viola teacher at the MKS. Apparently, there is a very peaceful coexistence between the MKS and the smaller SMPV music school and Flor does not feel under any pressure from the MKS to persuade her SMPV students to switch to the MKS; competition also stimulates business, and a larger selection of teachers can also generate a greater demand for music lessons.
She believes that the SMPV music school offers particular advantages for adult lessons, although these are not subsidized, because, for example, the teaching weeks and times can be arranged more freely. The association structures at the SMPV music school also lead to in-depth exchanges between colleagues, with ensembles from different classes being put together for the music day or sheet music being exchanged for lessons.
When she completed her studies in the middle of the Covid pandemic and it was very difficult to find a job as a music teacher due to the uncertain situation, she was particularly grateful that she was able to teach her first pupils almost immediately through the SMPV music school.

Urs Bringolf has been a percussion teacher since the school was founded and has taught the most students at the SMPV music school to date.
What he appreciates about this particular music school is that, although he can give subsidized lessons there, he still has much more freedom than at a state music school; he doesn't miss regular meetings, for example. He teaches almost 30 pupils through the SMPV music school. However, he also realizes that it is more difficult to find enough students these days. On the one hand, there is no longer a music store where he could always give trial lessons, so he no longer has a direct supplier; on the other hand, he has noticed that people are struggling with more fears since coronavirus. They feel or actually feel worse off financially, the news of wars fuels additional fears, and so they are less willing to spend money on music lessons. Especially if children don't practise much, lessons end after one or two years, whereas in the past pupils often stayed for ten years or longer. Despite this, he still loves teaching, and he talks enthusiastically about how he has to keep rearranging the drum kit on music days so that it is ideal for left-handers and then for right-handers, and how he hands out ear protectors to the audience because they sometimes "chlöpft" in the excitement of the performance.

Further information about the SMPV music school

A special feature of the SMPV is its structure: it consists of fifteen sections, which are independent associations that set up different programs of activities and offer different services. They can put forward their ideas for the development of the central association in the form of proposals to the DM. At the twice-yearly Presidents' Conferences, their Presidiums discuss which trade union and cultural policy topics the Central Committee should address, which services it should develop for members, how it should organize member recruitment and how it should communicate.

When discussing the association's strategy and planning extraordinary events, the Board must therefore always remember to take into account the different needs of the various sections.
It is ideal that the composition of the Board is as heterogeneous as possible in terms of age, experience, professional situation and special interests, and the Board is therefore very much looking forward to working with the new Board members:

Aita Biert knows all facets of (music) teaching professions from her own experience. She has trained as a primary school teacher, piano teacher, social worker and music therapist, has worked as a piano teacher at various music schools, was head of a music school in the Lower Engadine and has always also worked as a social worker. Today she works as an independent music therapist and piano teacher, is a member of the cantonal parliament of Graubünden and is also a board member of the Graubünden Association of Singing and Music Schools. She wants to make a strong commitment to recruiting members, as she knows from experience how important communities and interest groups are, and she is appalled that so many music teachers do not belong to a professional association. She is keen to use her political contacts to achieve political goals.

 Sebastian Mäder is very interested in the development of music education in Switzerland and would particularly like to advocate for the expansion of skills in pop/rock/jazz. He would like to initiate a discussion among music educators about what music education should be like in the future and what role the SMPV could play in this.
He completed his music education studies as a drummer at the ZHdK and will soon complete his music management studies at the HKB. Among other things, he teaches a drumset class, heads the pop/rock/jazz department at the Kilchberg-Rüschlikon music school and teaches skills in popular music at the HKB.

Assessments by our departing member of the Executive Board

Dear Ines, thank you very much for supporting us on the Central Committee despite your busy professional schedule. We already miss your intelligent, well-considered votes, and we have benefited enormously from your extensive experience in the trade union sector, which you gained in the CLA negotiations for the Musikkollegium Winterthur, as a long-standing employee representative and also in your work for the SMV.
How would you assess the situation of the SMPV based on your experience of working on the Central Committee? In your opinion, what is working well and where are there areas of improvement?

 Ines Hübner: In the service sector, the SMPV is very well positioned and very modern, and highly competent work is also being done there. I would mention our two mediation platforms, for example.
On the other hand, I think that the SMPV should significantly increase its presence at music schools and make music school teachers aware that it is available to represent their interests - e.g. also in CLA negotiations.
I can't understand why only one music school has a CLA, why the teachers don't make an effort to negotiate such a contract for their music school. A CLA creates transparency, ensures equal employment conditions for all and creates a forum for discussion at an inter-collegiate level and up the hierarchy for an exchange on an equal footing.

MW: No member responded to the interview with Mr. Munzinger on the subject of CLAs. Are music school teachers simply doing too well to need a CLA?

 IH: I don't want to say that. There seems to be this perception based on a "patron-centered" view of the world: "Everything works, my music school management takes care of me." But for fear of upsetting this ideal world view, people don't dare to say or question anything. This means that employees go into hiding if there are minor problems and sit them out, and if there are major problems and they have to defend themselves, they risk losing their job. In the spaces provided by a CLA, such problems can be discussed democratically without fear.

Every music teacher is a specialist in their field. Thanks to the democratic structures offered by a CLA, everyone can contribute their specialist knowledge, which is ultimately a huge benefit for the whole music school.

But I know it's difficult to get people involved in trade union work. Creative, new solutions are needed. I see this as a very important task for the SMPV!

Elida Tirtopan gives in „Rhythmic basics for instrumental lessons" Tips on how to playfully teach the necessary rhythmic basics in beginner lessons in the often limited time available. In "Playing with colorful rhythms" lets us Susanne Maria Schwarz experience how the game with colored cards, words and course possibilities takes away the fear of rhythmic problems. In "Sound before sign!" leads us Regula Schwarzenbach into the concept of rhythmic learning through listening and movement and lets us speak polyphonic chants as an example, while Josef Rédai shows how, thanks to the "Marton rhythm concept" can easily grasp even complicated rhythms. Oliver Schär strengthens in "Impulse / In the pulse" with various exercises the feeling of the musical pulse, whereby any rhythms can easily be placed on this foundation, and with Barbara Wäldele-Hoppmann we go to "Rhythm in the blood" on an enjoyable physical journey of discovery from normal walking to dance combinations.

Registrations with the electronic Registration form
Registration deadline is Monday, May 27, 2024

The course fee is CHF 100 for SMPV members and CHF 130 for external participants.

The SMPV Bern is looking forward to a collegial exchange with you!

Flyer

The group of members born between 1962 and 1967 is also by far the largest in the SMPV. It is therefore worth thinking about how to prevent a future shortage of music teachers when these baby boomers reach retirement age.

In addition, the Federal Council has announced its intention to save half a billion francs in "education and research" between 2025 and 2028 despite general inflation, and it is clear that the austerity measures will also affect conservatoires. It must also be interesting for music academies to train young talent for areas in which graduates can actually find work. It is therefore to be hoped that, despite the pressure to save money, they will invest more in the field of music education and train fewer pure performance artists, not all of whom will find work later on. Or as Urs Frauchiger, who sadly passed away last year, used to say to first-year students when he was director of the Bern Conservatory: "You think you're in a talent factory here, but first and foremost you're in a music teachers' seminar."

This does not mean at all that music students should be less well trained artistically. Future music teachers in particular should be outstanding musicians with profound technique, high musicality, great stylistic knowledge and ability and a winning charisma. They should also perform regularly and have the ability to pass on their knowledge and skills to pupils of all ages. In order for more very good young musicians to take the path of music education out of conviction, professions in the field of music education must be better recognized by society.

A colleague who teaches around 35 pupils at various music schools was recently asked by the mother of a pupil: "What do you actually do for a living?". Such scenes should definitely be a thing of the past. And it should no longer happen that colleagues say of themselves: "I'm just a music teacher."

Teaching music is a wonderful, enriching, versatile, demanding and important profession. The didactic training is just as important as the artistic training. And the SMPV must and will work to ensure that music schools do not suddenly employ people who are not trained for this profession (preferably at dumping prices), as is already common practice in elementary school.