Sitting between cello and lute, Ulrike Berger touches the harpsichord to perceive the sound vibrations. Photo: Frank S. FischerThe first drumbeat in the semi-darkness goes through your bones. The dissonances of the strings and harpsichord are harassing, the piccolo flutes frightening. Reading Éléments by Jean-Féry Rebel begins with "Le cahos". Music as an elemental force - to be experienced with the whole body. Composed chaos that stirs things up. The Fribourg Baroque Orchestra is known for its vivid, tonally sharpened interpretations. But on this Sunday afternoon in Freiburg's Ensemblehaus, the effect of this music is even more powerful.

The audience sits in the middle and is surrounded by the orchestra. Each visitor can place their stool wherever they like (set: Fenia Garbe) and change their seat during the concert. The musicians also change position between works. The trumpeters sometimes play from behind, sometimes from the front. The violins are first very close, then far away. The otherwise quiet, barely perceptible sound of the lute is a real revelation due to the short listening distance. The concert also becomes a special visual experience due to the proximity. You can see the sound production: the tense facial muscles of the wind players, the bow strokes and the mallets that cause the timpani head to vibrate.

"Hearing Together" is the name of the joint project of the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and the Freiburg Institute for Musicians' Medicine (FIM), which is supported by the University of Music and the University Hospital. The project, which receives federal funding, aims to better integrate people with hearing impairments into concert life. "We are interested in what significance a hearing impairment has for concert attendance, for the perception of music and the enjoyment of listening," says Claudia Spahn, who heads the FIM together with ENT specialist Bernhard Richter. In the detailed audience survey in the fall, however, they also want to get answers from people without hearing impairments in order to find out how listening to music generally affects their well-being. After the precise data analysis, the third step will be a special concert on March 23, 2026 in the Konzerthaus, the design of which will incorporate the findings obtained.

On the seat cushion between lute and cello

Hans-Georg Kaiser, Director of the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, cannot explain why the target group of the format, i.e. people with hearing impairments, was largely absent from the third concert attended. "Perhaps this is due to the taboo surrounding the subject in society. Or the unusual location for our subscription audience." With live visuals (Sebastian Rieker) and subtle choreography (Friederike Rademann), the concert offers additional stimuli that could also give people with hearing aids a more intense musical experience. That is beyond question for Kaiser. Above all, it is inclusive because it allows people who would otherwise not be able to listen to music at all to have a sensory experience.

One of them is Ulrike Berger, who wears a hearing prosthesis for the deaf and hard of hearing, a cochlear implant. Cochlea in this context means cochlea. Berger was approached directly by project manager Andreas Heideker. Like six other people with cochlear implants, she had made her way to the Ensemblehaus the day before. "We were all totally touched. I myself had taken off my shoes and could feel the vibrations on the floor, but the seat cushion also transmitted them." The managing director of the German Cochlear Implant Society (DCIG) has not heard a concert for years because music sounds distorted due to electrical hearing. 22 channels cannot replace the missing 10,000 auditory sensory cells.

During the concert, Berger sat down between the lute and cello. "As I was able to concentrate on these two instruments, I heard the melodies very well. And through my hand on the harpsichord, I perceived the sound vibrations. So the harmony and therefore the music itself resonated wonderfully with me."

Georg Philipp Telemann's overture La BourlesqueJean Philippe Rameau's suite from Les Boréades and Jean-Michel Delalande's trumpet concerto (solo: Jaroslav Rouček, Karel Mňuk) becomes a special listening experience thanks to the spatial sound. Concertmaster Gottfried von der Goltz moves a little more than usual in order to take the musicians behind him with him. The motifs wander through the room and the ensemble playing is excellent despite the unusual set-up. "Different is always good," says von der Goltz in conversation after the concert. "The proximity of the audience was also special for us. Being right in the middle of the hustle and bustle and not standing at a distance on a stage - that invigorates our playing."

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to a statement from the Swiss Youth Accordion Orchestra (JAO), the "world's largest" accordion festival took place in Innsbruck from May 29 to June 1. There, the JAO achieved 4th place in the adult accordion orchestra category at the highest level with a difference of just 0.8 points to the third-placed ensemble. According to the JAO, this was the best placing of a Swiss formation in the history of the World Music Festival. Under the direction of Yvonne Glur, it impressed with Cap Hoorn by Mario Bürki and Circus Maximus by Stephan Hodel.

The next World Music Festival will take place in Innsbruck in three years from May 25 to 28, 2028.

The JAO is open to all young accordionists aged between 18 and 25 who want to play the accordion at a high level and be encouraged and challenged. The artistic director is Yvonne Glur.

www.jao-oja.ch

 

The Aargau native studied musicology, philosophy and cultural management. She has been a concert dramaturge at the St. Gallen Symphony Orchestra since the 2017/18 season. Prior to this, she worked as a dramaturge and communicator at other institutions and at the Aargauer Zeitung works as a cultural journalist.

Franzsika Frey succeeds Lena-Catharina Schneider, who, according to a statement from the Zurich Chamber Orchestra (ZKO), "was responsible for the artistic direction of the ZKO for almost seven years and initiated numerous successful projects and collaborations during this time." Frey will lead the ZKO together with Angela Sgura. The latter is responsible for commercial operations.

Many choirs are familiar with the situation: fewer young singers means smaller ensembles with predominantly older members, which lose their appeal for young audiences. The result is more modest concerts with falling ticket sales, fewer regular customers and a declining willingness to sponsor. Paradoxically, savings are then often made in advertising of all things.

If the results are poor, further cost-cutting measures follow: in the selection of works, the orchestra and the soloists. Audiences, sponsors and the media notice these reductions in quality, which leads to even lower income and less free media coverage. This creates a negative spiral that puts choirs in a weak negotiating position and, in the worst case, can lead to their dissolution.

Successful examples show that it is possible to break this trend even under today's conditions. Instead of focusing on saving money, choirs should fight for surpluses and build up reserves - supported by enthusiastic guests, choir members, soloists, orchestras and the media as well as thunderous applause. These social qualities must be preserved. After all, choral singing and the centuries-old musical tradition of classical and folk music, together with the unadulterated human voice, represent an important alternative to the technically determined world of music.

Attention and relief for the newcomers

Many choirs pay too little attention to recruiting new choir members and a solid regular clientele. Action must be taken before the choir becomes small and outdated and before savings on performances become necessary and visible.

Various strategies can help here. The obligation of all choir members to recruit new singers can be made a moral duty. Younger voices should be offered a special position and special appreciation in order to make the choir a place where young and old can meet - for example through "dialog singing" at the concert. Dividing the choir into two parts with a core section for challenging sequences makes it possible to retain strong voices while at the same time creating space for newcomers.

Advertising for new singers is particularly attractive with popular and frequently sung works such as the Mozart Requiem or even an opera. The joy of singing and the opportunity for self-realization should be addressed. A concrete example shows the effectiveness of this strategy: with the question "Would you like to sing in an opera?", the project Tell In 2018, an eight-part choir of 152 singers was put together - with a corresponding effect in the Tell Arena Interlaken.

New singers can initially join on an ad hoc basis and should be given special attention at their first performance. Weekly rehearsals can be reduced by holding more all-day rehearsals on Saturdays or practicing more at home with the help of modern technology to make participation easier.

Attracting sponsors and becoming a brand yourself

A concert incurs many upfront costs for advertising and organization before the revenue flows in. To reduce this risk, strong advance sales through good advertising are crucial. However, there is often a lack of imagination and a systematic approach here.

Sales by the choir members themselves can be increased in many cases. In addition, sponsors can be persuaded to buy a large number of tickets instead of donating money and pass them on to their customers, employees and shareholders free of charge or at a discount. This promises a better PR effect than an embarrassing logo placed on the advertising material among many others. Such ticket sales in a package already offer a certain degree of financial security.

There is great savings potential in joint performances by two choirs that are not in competition with each other. Both can share the fixed costs up to the main rehearsal. It is also conceivable to hold the same concert at different venues.

Choirs need a clearly recognizable logo as a brand. In this way, advertising is more quickly recognized, correctly identified and evaluated because a solid image is created. To achieve this, the target groups must be known and addressed with the right selection of works and targeted advertising. Regular customers should be cultivated throughout the year.

These marketing principles are underestimated by many choirs. Some have not yet realized that they can develop their concert into an annually recurring brand - as many successful music promoters do. Professional marketing is not a luxury, but a necessity for the survival of the choral tradition.

Detailed impulses for a marketing concept - PDF download (20 pages)

Contents:
0. situation and risks of today's classical amateur choirs in general
1. promotion of young talent
2. finance, sales: risks and opportunities
3. wanted: New approaches to solutions - paths that lead to the goal
4. example from practice: "Olten Summer Night Concert"
5. concert management model
6. goals
7. strategy - (path to the goal)
ANNEX Scheme for budgeting, pricing and post-calculation - a calculation example

The author

Ernst Wüthrich is a marketing expert and sings in numerous choirs. In 2018, he was the initiator and director of the "Opera Tell Interlaken" project with over 300 participants.

Contact: ernest100@bluewin.ch

After the megawatt volume of the Eurovision Song Contest had died down, Europe's youth, singing from around 2750 throats, transformed the Regio Basiliensis into a surging sea. The jointly intoned plea Dona nobis pacem could persuade the warmongering potentates to make peace.

The human voice is the most precious instrument. When the breath makes the vocal chords vibrate, when facial expressions and gestures support the message of the music and lyrics, then it hits the other person right in the heart. The days and nights of the European Youth Choir Festival (EJCF) were one big jubilant song and a celebration of solidarity between generations and nations on the Ascension weekend. Thanks to the immense commitment of festival director Kathrin Renggli and her volunteers, this youth choir biennial with 19 festival choirs and 45 guest choirs went perfectly on the stages indoors and outdoors in beautiful weather.

It began with a brilliant choral spectacle in the St. Jakobshalle, which was packed with prominent guests. The Basel Federal Councillor Beat Jans welcomed the young people and festival guests in English with a witty comparison between a Federal Council meeting and a choir rehearsal, both of which usually end harmoniously. The amateur drummer was spontaneously invited to give a sample of his skills. He beat the drumheads and hi-hats with sticks he had hastily brought in. This was followed by beat after beat of pieces sung by heart and performed in groups, such as the new composition for a thousand voices, controlled live on the mixing desk Mono by bassist James Varghese. The final song was the festival hit Music is Everywhere. This was followed by workshops, country focuses, studio concerts, choir directors' meetings, church services, choir boat trips on the Rhine and a cozy picnic on the Schützenmatte.

Nature swarming and earthquake scares

Where to begin with the list of highlights that were unending over the five days and evenings? A few specialties should be singled out, such as the strict a cappella movements of the Freiburger Chœur St-Michel followed by lively Bovet dances and a groovy Pink Floyd arrangement; then the old cantigas of the Spanish Nubah and the legendary homages to the rapturous nature of the Icelander Huldur Choir. At the opening, Masis Aram Gözbek fired up the choirs gathered on the high seat and then his Boğaziçi Youth Choir from Istanbul with its powerful vocals and calls from Anatolia and the Black Sea region.

Powerful images from Cameroon embodied the Mboa Choir with animal calls from the wilderness and primal chants of betrothal and mourning to martial calls, spurred on by drums and foot stomping. The work evokes a haunting image of the horror of the Basel earthquake of 1356. Earthbibdema composition commissioned by the Basel Boys' Choir to the Latvian Ēriks Ešenvalds.

Singing glass and snarling dandelions

The performance in the traditional costumes of the Romanian Radio Children's Choir from Bucharest. The chants with stretched vowels and twisted consonants in the rain dance and in a wedding scene sounded like something from another time.

Courtly scenes were sung and danced by the New Amsterdam Youth Choir in magnificent costumes. Swaying and swaying as they walked and jumped, bowed and knelt, accompanied by fiddle and lute in keeping with the times. Dressed in salmon-colored robes, the girls of the Tiara Choir from Riga The rims of the glasses, variously full, accompany the lovely singing: magical sounds as if from a glass harmonica.

Finally, a large-scale performance by the Young Symphony Orchestra of the Basel Music School. They ventured into Wagner's Lohengrin-They won the masterclass with rich brass and finely drawn strings. 300 young people performed the popular work Lionteeth by the Swede Anders Edenroth for the Swiss premiere. Under the fervent direction of Raphael Immoos, the vocal and instrumental voices conquered the bared lion's teeth with lips and tongues.

The conclusion of the five-day youth choir meeting: a cheerful celebration of vocal and human encounters, as well as an excellent performance by the conductors, who challenged their choirs to top vocal and physical performances. The audience acknowledged the performances of the international elite choirs and the regional school choirs with standing ovations.

Link to the interview with Arvo Ratavaara. Together with his wife, he has coached choirs at the EJCF since 1992 and has experienced a great deal in the process.

Table of contents

Focus

The drawer at the end of the drawers
Xavier Dayer understands postdisciplinarity as the meeting of the arts - Interview

The adventure of leaving genre boundaries behind
Ensemble Vide mixes music, image and performance

Post-disciplinary program design and its pitfalls
The Bernese concert provider bee-flat focuses on pointed programs, determined by urgency instead of categories

Chat: Lisa et Tom discuss d'interdisciplinarité et de postdisciplinarité

(italics = summary in German of the original French article)

Critiques

New releases Books, Sound carrier, Websites, Notes, Movies

Echo

Shouting with a united voice
Musicians from French-speaking Switzerland have spoken out to express their concerns and the increasing difficulties in practicing their profession.

New orchestral music for the country
orchester.ch promotes new works by commissioning new compositions. The audience should not only get to hear something new,
but to participate more intensively in the music.

A pinch of ESC craziness for the song
"Lied Basel" carried out a kind of song challenge, awakening the international, diverse and pop side of the song genre

Paul Klee's lover, music
Thematic focus at the Zentrum Paul Klee

Raffle: 300 years Four seasons
Win two passes for the lecture series "Vivaldi's Four Seasons"
To enter the prize draw, send an e-mail to contact@musikzeitung.ch with name, address, e-mail address
Closing date: August 11, 2025

Base

Articles and news from the music associations

Swiss Federal Orchestra Association (EOV) / Société Fédérale des Orchestres (SFO)

Konferenz Musikhochschulen Schweiz (KMHS) / Conférence des Hautes Ecoles de Musique Suisse (CHEMS)

Kalaidos University of Music / Kalaidos Haute École de Musique

Swiss Music Council (SMR) / Conseil Suisse de la Musique (CSM)

CHorama

Swiss Society for Music Medicine (SMM) / Association suisse de Médecine de la Musique (SMM)

Swiss Musicological Society (SMG) / Société Suisse de Musicologie (SSM)

Swiss Musicians' Association (SMV) / Union Suisse des Artistes Musiciens (USDAM)

Schweizerischer Musikpädagogischer Verband (SMPV) / Société Suisse de Pédagogie Musicale (SSPM)

SONART - Musicians Switzerland

Swiss Youth Music Competition Foundation (SJMW)

Arosa Culture

SUISA - Cooperative Society of Authors and Publishers of Music

Swiss Association of Music Schools (VMS) / Association Suisse des Écoles de Musique (ASEM)

 

Sounds from the horse's skull
Puzzle by Thomas Meyer

________________________________________

Order issue for CHF 10.- (+ CHF 2.- shipping costs)

Born in 1952 near Helsinki, Finland, Arvo Ratavaara lost his war-ravaged, invalid father when he was three years old. He grew up in humble circumstances with his mother, who had to flee the war. As a teenager, he was a language trainee in Germany. After finishing school and military service, he completed vocational training in psychiatric nursing in Switzerland and then trained as a nursing teacher. After retiring, Ratavaara cared for elderly people, mostly suffering from dementia, on night duty. He is married to a Swiss woman. Their son lives with his wife and children in the Basel area and their daughter has lived in Finland for many years.

He is fascinated by the Russian language and has traveled extensively to Russia and Ukraine. Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine came as a shock to him. His language skills allow him to follow current events in greater depth from sources in both countries.

With the European Youth Choir Festival (EJCF) Arvo Ratavaara, a "musical layman", as he admits, first came into contact with the festival in 1992, the year it was founded. Together with his wife, he accepted the invitation to host choir members as guest parents. The first guests were two singers from the Ellerhein Girls' Choir from the Estonian capital Tallinn, which lies opposite Helsinki on the Gulf of Finland. A year before the festival, Estonia had gained independence from Soviet rule. The host parents learned that young people from this choir had been actively involved in the resistance against the Soviet tanks.

In moving words, Arvo talks about his exciting and thrilling experiences with the young singers. He confesses that they opened up "a new world" for him.

 

Arvo, what memories do you have of your first encounter with the Ellerhein Girls' Choir?
We met the girls with other host parents on Münsterplatz for the reception. The first question was: In which language can we talk to them? Our little daughter answered spontaneously: "Mi Papi ka finnish and they speak finnish; so no problem!"

The Martve boys' choir from Tbilisi was also a special experience: I had never heard this kind of voice in my life. I was in a daze during their performance. In my mind's eye, I saw mountain landscapes with grazing horses. I had the pleasure of accompanying the boys' choir on their second visit to the festival in 2010.

 

In 1995, the Finnish girls' choir Kiimingin Kiurut was a guest choir. What was your experience of the choir from your home country?
Yes, these were more familiar sounds for me, but also completely new ones. On the front of the Basler Zeitung an article appeared with a colorful picture that aptly described the singing of the girls' choir as "filigree". I got the BaZ-I was able to hand out 40 free copies to the choir members as souvenirs. During an excursion to Augusta Raurica, the choir was shown objects from Roman times for a song they sang. I also organized a tour of the Alps, which the young singers really enjoyed.

 

In 1998, the girls' chamber choir Carmina Slovenica under the direction of Karmina Šilec. A very moving performance in terms of its vocal discipline.
The girls sang and moved slowly towards the audience, reaching out their hands to the listeners. Handkerchiefs were brought out and you could hear sobs here and there. After the concert, an old man came up to me and told me how the singing had touched him deeply and how the experience was unique in his life.

 

In 2001 and 2014, two youth choirs from Minsk in Belarus came to Basel: the boys' choir Kapella Khloptchikau and the student choir of the Belarus Music Academy.
The boys' choir arrived late by bus in 2001. The canteen was closed. Where to go? It worked out at McDonald's. They were ready to feed 40 people within a short space of time. The chaperone told the tired and somewhat wild boys: "At McDonald's you have to behave like in church!"

There was also a special encounter with the police. I lost my bearings on the drive into the city center. The Belarusian drivers didn't know where to go next either. I saw a police car in front of us at Barfi. With the slogan "The police, your friend and helper" in my head, I got out and asked the police officers if they could help us. They said "Follow us", switched on the blue lights and escorted us to our destination. When the policeman came to us afterwards, the chauffeurs feared the worst. They were amazed at the assistance of the Basel police. The drivers responded: "They were cool guys!"

I stayed in contact with one singer after the festival and supported him financially for his entrance exam to study music in Germany. More than 20 years later, I received a call from him. He still lives and works in Germany and has a family with three children.

There was a moving moment at the student choir in 2014. Choirmaster Inessa Bodyako had her young son and baby with her. Conducting and childcare did not go well together. So the festival management volunteered a babysitter. An example of how far-reaching the comprehensive care of this youth choir festival is!

 

In 2004, Moldova was a guest with the Gloria youth choir.
There was an almost dramatic interlude with a girl who had been taken into police custody for suspected shoplifting. The police officers couldn't communicate with her in any language. But they found a piece of paper with the telephone numbers of us choir leaders on it. So I translated at the police station and the singer was released on bail. She was heartbroken and couldn't stop crying. She was terrified of the choir management's reaction. Together with the EJCF office manager, we decided that no one would find out about the incident. After the incident, the girl was afraid of her solo performance in the final concert. The choir sang a beautiful, melancholy lament. The girl's voice in the solo part sounded touching, perhaps especially for me because I knew what she had been through.

 

A story about the Moscow children's choir Vesna from 2016?
There was a scary encounter on a crowded streetcar. I bumped into a man with black hair, black eyes and a black beard and apologized to him. He stared at me aggressively for the whole journey. I was talking to the Russian singers and whenever I looked at him, I saw his fierce look. I thought he felt his honor had been violated and feared trouble. Suddenly he said to me in Russian: "You speak Russian well". In response to my question, he replied in monosyllables that he came from the Caucasus. After this compliment, he got out. I was amazed and relieved.

 

Two years later, we hosted another Russian choir from Ekaterinburg, this time the boys' and men's choir of the Sverdlovsk Children's Philharmonic Orchestra. What was the most formative encounter?
Together with the Graubünden choir Incantanti, the choir sang a Russian Orthodox song in honor of the Mother of God. The intensity was impressive.

Another time, the abbot of Mariastein Abbey led the Russian choir into the chapel in the rock cave. With his permission, they sang their Marian hymn there. It was very atmospheric. The visitors present were surprised, the song seemed to touch them in their devout mood.

 

In 2021, two Swiss youth choirs from Uster and Thalwil performed at the EJCF. Why no foreign choirs?
That was in the Corona year with corresponding travel restrictions. Singing was only possible after daily self-tests and with a mask. But the young people overcame the circumstances with flying colors. They rehearsed songs with the guest conductor Sanna Valvanne from Finland, which was also a wonderful experience for me.

 

Your last year as a choir tutor in 2023 with the Girls' choir Shchedryk from Kyiv must have been oppressive?
The war was repressed as a topic and gave way to the unbridled joy of singing and performing. The girls celebrated singing together with other choirs in liberating peacefulness. In Rheinfelden, they marveled at the beautiful houses in the old town. There were, however, a few moments of sadness. In the morning, the girls saw on their apps that Kyiv had been bombed. The most intense moment was when two singers received the news that a relative or acquaintance had died in the war. Despite everything, they sang again at the top of their voices.

One impressive moment was after a concert in Arlesheim Cathedral. By chance, I heard a boy in the cellar, which served as a dressing room for the Finnish chamber choir of the Vaskivuori grammar school, sing a song. Finlandia by Sibelius. Others gradually began to sing along until the whole choir joined in. The singing rose ever more powerfully from the heavy, old vaults up into the open air.

Sibelius composed the anthem during the period of Russian oppression. It became a symbol of Finland's desire for freedom. The lyrics were later written during the Second World War, when Finland defended its independence in the Winter War and Continuation War against the Soviet Union.

The next day, the Ukrainian and Finnish choirs were in the Unimensa. After the meal, someone from the Finnish choir asked me to join them with the Ukrainian choir. The singers lined up in a circle around us and intoned Finlandia.

Sentimental patriotism is far from my mind. But this experience left me shaken. I realized that I was in charge of a choir of young people who had just experienced something similar at home, of which the Finlandia-The story of how I came to be here and that this also has to do with the history of my origins.

 

Why stop now?
I thought about whether I would manage to stop at all. But I have to be economical with my energy. The "private concert" in the Unimensa was a fitting end to my work as a choir tutor. Much more happened between the first and last festival than I can tell you here. It was an eventful time. It was wonderful to be part of this great festival. There were many interesting encounters and lots of music. There was a good and optimistic atmosphere in the festival organization. I particularly appreciate Kathrin Renggli as head of the festival with the great organization and complex logistics, but above all as a person with her warm and motivating nature.

With all these memories, it's nice to now "retire". At the last meeting in the Unimensa, I said goodbye to "my" Ukrainian choir with a few words of encouragement. The choir director Marianna Sablina welcomed me to Ukraine. "After the war then," she added hopefully.

 

Arvo, thank you very much for the profound conversation!         

How often is contemporary Swiss orchestral music heard in our symphony concerts? How often is Helvetic music heard there, even established works such as Honegger or Schoeck? This is a question that concerns not only Pro Helvetia, which is tasked with promoting Swiss music, but also the orchestras themselves. A decade ago, Pro Helvetia launched the project œuvres:suissesin which eleven symphony orchestras took part with three world premieres each. The aim was not only to support new pieces, but also to bring them into circulation. This was not a failure; some of the pieces were actually taken up. But we were not allowed to rest on our laurels.

Participate instead of being told

So has orchestra.chthe umbrella organization of fifteen Swiss professional orchestras, has once again taken the initiative. "For contemporary music in society" and "The country needs new sounds" is the cheerful headline on the association's homepage. The subtitle "together, insieme, ensemble" hints at a surplus. It's not just about premieres, but also about music education: "Works of contemporary music will be performed that have been commissioned from composers working in Switzerland - and which take into account the importance of exchange with society as well as participation, inclusion and involvement."

Innovators and traditionalists

Music education - and much more than that. No mere explanations, but music that explains itself through participation. It is interesting to compare the commissioned composers. Of the 29 names that œuvres:suisses were involved and represented established positions within New Music at the time, only one of them reappears: Richard Dubugnonnot an avant-gardist, but an accomplished, colorful and narrative composer. In addition, mostly younger musicians appear who stand between the genres and play with them. This points to a paradigm shift: Contemporary music-making has changed and diverged, as is particularly evident in the orchestral works aimed at a larger audience. There are the innovators, who have a somewhat harder time beyond the specialized festivals because they question conventions; here are the traditionalists, who want to and can operate the apparatus, as it is so beautifully called.

Spring hope with children's choir and drums

Of the ten pieces that were launched between May 11 and 24 in three language regions, two very different ones are highlighted here. In his Mother's Day Concerto, which Vivaldi and above all his Four seasons was dedicated to the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra a new piece with the appropriate title The New Spring before. It was created by the Oklahoma-born jazz musician and composer Jalalu-Calvert Nelson. His politically motivated composition Jim is Still Crowing recently made it to the finals for the prestigious Pulitzer Prize.

He has lived in Biel for some time now. And his music is gradually attracting more attention in Switzerland, and rightly so, as it combines commitment and catchiness, experimentation and narrative. The hope for a new spring is expressed in musical images, Vivaldi echoes are juxtaposed with illustrative noise passages. This immediately captures the ear and does not overtax it. However, the preparation was at least as important as the result. Not only the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra was involved, but also the Luzerner Kantorei, a children's choir. There was also the Lucerne Drum Circle, which contributed a lot to the rhythmic drive. And the sound level was created by class 4B from Kriens elementary school, supported by percussionist Miguel Ángel García Martin.

Intense sound impression in the middle

The actual premiere of Richard Dubugnon's Passacaille concertante took place on May 13 in a baroque-neo-baroque program of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra and fitted in perfectly. The Lausanne-born composer filled the old form with late romantic sounds and made it glide beautifully. On the previous Sunday afternoon, the music mediation took place in a public rehearsal, which, however, wanted to be more. Together with Lena-Catharina Schneider, artistic director of the ZKO, cultural mediator Lisa Stepf developed a participatory experience format entitled Come in. The audience, including many children, was divided into groups of around twelve people, who moved between four stations. At one station, the composer and conductor Daniel Hope gave a brief introduction to the work; at the other two, the audience sat in the middle of the string orchestra in either the higher or lower registers. The musicians were happy to engage in conversation with the amateurs. The focus was less on the new work than on the intensity of the sound impression that was experienced there. They were part of it.

Further concerts as part of "Neue Töne braucht das Land"

May 17: Musikkollegium Winterthur - Blaise Ubaldini

May 24: argovia philharmonic - Rodolphe Schacher

Editor-in-chief of the "Gewandhausradios" is Martin Hoffmeister. On the program: 24 hours of classical music including live broadcasts from the Gewandhaus and programs such as the weekly magazine "Inside Gewandhaus".

According to the imprint, the foundation Zukunft Gewandhaus zu Leipzig Projekte gGmbH is behind the project. From an article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine it can be learned that, in addition to the Gewandhaus Orchestra's own recordings, a large proportion of the recordings broadcast come from ensembles associated with it and the Naxos Music Library, the project partner.

A crackling sound from which a broken, pulsating chord gradually emerges. "Say, what wonderful dreams hold my mind," sings Marie Gerhardine Iguchi with a haunting voice - the synthesizer on her lap. Richard Wagner's Wesendonck song Dreams is given a whole new guise: classical music meets electronics. Until now, the opera singer has lived out her two musical passions separately. In Dreams Gerda, as the singer calls herself in this project, creates a synthesis. She has submitted a video of this to the newly launched Art Song Challenge. "A song is a life - to be enjoyed while it lasts and to be appreciated for its finiteness," writes Iguchi.

Lieder recital goes pop

It is no coincidence that the Art Song Challenge (ASC) has a similar name to the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC), which is currently electrifying the city of Basel. Silke Gäng, mezzo-soprano and artistic director of the Lied Basel" festivalshas always been enthusiastic about the diversity and internationality of the ESC. And thought about what she could take from the ESC to spice up classical song singing a little and make it accessible to a wider audience. "The ESC motto 'United by music' also speaks directly to me," she says. "With our new song competition, we want to give young singers a low-threshold stage and encourage them to include other musical traditions."

Similar to the ESC, the ASC also encourages people to sing in the language of their home country. The aim is to make the song programs more diverse and cross-cultural. And also to rethink the strict form of song recitals. In order to emphasize its international orientation, "Lied Basel" has joined forces with other song festivals in Germany (Liedstadt, Heidelberger Frühling), Spain (Schubertíada) and England (Leeds songs) have joined forces. 130 submissions from 29 countries are the result of the first ASC, which was advertised particularly on social media and held online. The artists of the five selected entries will receive a concert engagement at one of the festivals. The Audience Award, which is voted for online, is endowed with 1000 euros.

Pop goes high culture

It is undisputed that recitals could do with a breath of fresh air from the pop world. What is the situation in Basel with other organizers of so-called high culture? The Basel Symphony Orchestra has not only with the concert Symphonic Gameswhich presented soundtracks from video games, played as part of the ESC accompanying program, but was also heard with a percussion ensemble on the open-air stage at Barfüsserplatz on "Klassik & Crossover Day". "Openness to different styles and new impulses is part of our artistic approach," says Elisa Bonomi, press officer of the Basel Symphony Orchestra, referring to previous joint performances with ESC participant Anna Rosinelli and an upcoming one with Swiss pop singer Ritschi.

The Theater Basel offers a "refuge of relaxation" during the Eurovision Song Contest on Theaterplatz right next to the official party mile with the "Pop-up Teaclub" with free tea, plants and sustainable sofas made from straw bales. There are no plans for ESC-themed events. But with productions such as the techno-based It would be such a shame if you missed it or Herbert Grönemeyer's musical Horse eats hat projects with a pop-cultural slant are finding their way into the normal repertoire. "The strict distinction between pop culture and high culture is a thing of the past," says Theater Basel.

For the Basel Sinfonietta was unable to jump on the ESC bandwagon due to its own long-term program planning. "Inclusion, subcultures and empowerment, especially for marginalized groups, are topics that the Basel Sinfonietta takes up time and again," says Managing Director Daniela Martin. The ESC offers a lot of inspiration in terms of visual staging, social media and strengthening the community. She emphasizes that the new music ensemble is also active in pop music contexts, as shown by past collaborations with DJ Janiv Oron, the African pop band Burkina Electric and the NDR big band.

Live and in front of an audience in the future?

The selected ASC contributions also sound more like pop Look of the Austrian duo Lena Kuchling and Bernhard Höchtel and Aam Paka by Nishad Pandey and Arko Mukhaerjee, in which a traditional Bengali folk song meets an electric guitar. The last part of Franz Schubert's Lyreman in the fascinating, two-part version by Latvian Katrīna Paula Felsberga and French singer Justine Eckhaut leaves classical singing behind. In future, Silke Gäng would like the Art Song Challenge to take place live in front of an audience and, like the ESC, change location every year within the networked festivals. United by Music not just digitally, but in real life. That would be something.

You can vote for the winner of the Audience Award on the "Lied Basel" website until May 17: Link to the website

The recommendations were developed in a process lasting several years and in consultation with experts and partner organizations. They "take into account the different conditions within the music scene and contain a certain range", writes Sonart - Music Creators Switzerland.

The result is a 38-page guide that is freely accessible on the website. It proposes hourly, daily and weekly flat rates for self-employed people in all music genres. A distinction is made between "FairPay" and "MinimumPay".

Link to the website with guidelines and fee calculator

Dimitri Howald and Michel Ploug will be teaching at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) from the fall semester onwards.

Dimitri Howald (born 1993) is a nationally and internationally sought-after guitarist and composer. His seventh album released under his own name Southern Return brings together his diverse influences from contemporary jazz and new wave to tropicalismo to create a personal blend. He presents this music live in renowned clubs and festivals in Switzerland and abroad with his current formation Dimitri Howald & The Amnis Band as a quartet or as an extended band including string trio (SRF Kultur, 2025). He also performs with the Dimitri Howald Trio, composes and is active as a sideman in various projects. The list of clubs, festivals and musicians he has worked with is correspondingly long and diverse.

The Danish guitarist and composer Mikkel Ploug (born 1978) has performed throughout Europe, Brazil and the USA with his bands Mikkel Ploug Group, Mikkel Ploug Trio and Equilibrium. He has recorded 18 albums for internationally renowned labels and has worked with numerous international jazz greats. He has also performed as a soloist with the Royal Ballet in Copenhagen and collaborates with the American choreographer and dancer Tilman O'Donnell and the award-winning composer Bent Sørensen. The British jazz magazine Marlbank describes him as "...one of Europe's most pioneering contemporary jazz guitarists."

The agenda is available online and in print at ESC hotspots, as the "Proz" writes:

Online

On the website www.proz.online links make it possible to find all the offers relating to the ESC. On the one hand, this includes the official accompanying program of the Host City Basel, which includes the concerts on Eurovision Square (Barfüsserplatz) or the party offerings in the EuroClub (Messe Basel). On the other hand, it also includes all the activities of cultural organizations and other players such as institutions, companies and churches.

There are currently 270 events and 7 exhibitions listed around the ESC (as of May 8, 2025). The offer is as large as it is varied: you can find out where there is a public viewing, where you can sing karaoke or dance yourself. There are also concerts, guided tours, theater performances and even alternative ESC competitions. The offer from the LGBTQAI+ community is particularly large. Numerous Basel museums also offer an ESC program.

If you don't want to scroll through all the offers, you can filter by category (e.g. dance) or by form (e.g. leadership). The ESC agenda is updated on an ongoing basis.

Print

The PROZ's printed ESC agenda has already been published: a large print run of 6000 copies is available at various locations in Basel. These include the Eurovision Village and the ESC EuroCafé at Messe Basel, as well as the Welcome Desk at EuroAirport, the Tourist Information at Steinenberg, the info points at Basel SBB and Badischer Bahnhof railroad stations, the Basel passenger boat service and numerous hotels in Basel. It is also available at various cultural venues and festivals such as Unternehmen Mitte, Kaserne Basel, Tanzfest Basel and Burghof Lörrach.

The "Proz" is the media partner of the major event.

From May 28 to June 15, 2025, Upper Valais will be transformed into a hotspot for new music for the 18th time this year. Popular Swiss and international contemporary music acts will perform at the Festival Forum Wallis and provide an insight into the colorful and diverse work of new music. The festival takes place over three weeks on a total of six days: the acousmatic concerts take place at the MEbU (Münster Earport) (May 28/29) and the experimental live acts at Leuk Castle (May 31). On June 13, 14 and 15, folk and world music will be highlighted in a new focus. The festival will then swarm out to Simplon Dorf, Ried-Brig and Münster for concerts with the Upper Valais Folk Song Choir together with the Egyptian Wael Sami Elkholy.

Lineup 2025

The 18th festival will feature Swiss free jazz greats Manuel Mengis and Hans-Peter Pfammatter, Roberto Domeniconi, Francesco Miccolis, Flo Götte, Patrice Moret, UMS'nJIP and the Greek dissonArt Ensemble.

The Ars Electronica Forum Wallis Selection Concerts, which will take place for the 10th time in 2025 and are curated and performed by Simone Conforti from IRCAM Paris, will take place at the MEbU in Goms. 26 works were shortlisted this year, with a further 14 receiving a Special Mention. 279 works by 249 composers from 39 countries and all continents were submitted.

Forum Valais since 2006

The Forum Valais is an international festival for new music and takes place in Valais. Since 2006, it has co-produced over 300 world premieres and presented works by over 500 composers from all over the world, including Stockhausen's Helicopter string quartet together with the Arditti Quartet, André Richard and Air Glaciers, Holligers Alb-Chehr and Cod.Acts Pendulum Choir. Regular guests at the festival include world-class ensembles such as recherche, Zafraan, UMS'nJIP, dissonArt, Steamboat Switzerland, Klangforum Wien and Ensemble Modern.

http://forumwallis.ch

Within the permanent exhibition Cosmos Klee. The collection illuminate in the Paul Klee Center Each year, several focus exhibitions focus on a specific aspect of his work or world of thought. The current show Klee musically was organized by Fabienne Eggelhöfer, Chief Curator, and Marianne Keller, Archive Manager at the Zentrum Paul Klee, and runs until 1 June. A eight-part podcast and a Video deepen the few objects on display.

The focus is introduced with the much-quoted sentence from a letter the artist wrote to his fellow student Hans Bloesch in 1898: "My lover is and was music, and I embrace the oil-scented brush goddess simply because she is my wife." Klee's lifelong love was the music of Bach and Mozart. These two favorite composers are clearly evident both in the particularly revealing sheet music, which is displayed in a showcase and on a music stand, and in the shellac records that cover an entire wall.

Not an avant-gardist when it comes to listening to music

Surprisingly, Klee, an outstanding avant-gardist as a visual artist and innovative to the very end, only had very limited access to the music of his contemporaries. He almost completely ignored the Second Viennese School and the New Music of the 1920s, which was inspired by jazz and American fashionable dance. Thus, the only pieces on display in the exhibition are excerpts from Petrushka (1911) can be heard alongside symphonic works from the Viennese Classical period.

As the son of Hans Klee (1849-1940), a music teacher from Thuringia, Paul Klee learned to play the violin at the age of seven. For a long time, he found it difficult to decide whether to become a musician or a painter. During his training as a painter with Heinrich Knirr in Munich, he played in a string quintet whose partners included Fritz Stubenvoll. Whose Four songs from Stieler's "Wanderzeit" bear the handwritten dedication "Meinem lieben Paul Klee/unserem trefflichen Primgeiger. Munich May 15, 1901".

Among the exhibits, they lead to the personal relationship that Klee later had with the Swiss composer Albert Moeschinger (1897-1985), who taught at the Bern Conservatory at the time. In 1934, Moeschinger dedicated to Klee a Con grandezza titled piece for string quartet and was found in the painting The young Moe (1938), which today belongs to the Philipps Collection in Washington. With his piano piece The flower eater based on Klee's lost oil painting of the same name from 1927, Moeschinger created one of the first of more than 400 compositions inspired by works of art or ideas by Klee.

Critic and cracking Bach player

From 1903 to 1906, Klee wrote numerous concert reviews for the Berner Fremdenblatt & Verkehrs-Zeitung and for the Tourist gazette for Bern and the surrounding area. They have been Writings. Reviews and essays published by Christian Geelhaar (Cologne 1976), but not included in the exhibition. In those years, Klee was also a violinist in the Bern Orchestra Society. He learned to play the viola in 1904, but made little use of it.

Even before he married the German pianist Lily Stumpf in 1906, he played music with her passionately. He wrote to his mother Ida Frick (1855-1921), who was trained as a singer, in 1900: "We play Bach so much that it just cracks." Klee owned two violins. He kept the precious one by Testore at home, where he made music with his wife. He played the other instrument in his studio.

Bauhaus Week in Weimar

The legendary "Bauhaus Week" in August 1923 included several works by contemporary composers who came to Weimar for the performances themselves. On this occasion, Paul and Lily Klee got to know Béla Bartók and Ferruccio Busoni as well as Paul Hindemith and Igor Stravinsky personally. Apart from Stravinsky, whom Klee held in high esteem, but without playing anything by him, none of these composers found their way into Klee's extensive record collection.

He wrote in his diaries: "Parallels between music and the visual arts are becoming increasingly apparent to me." These are visualized in a very vivid way in the exhibition under various aspects in Rhythm and beat and Polyphony titled groups of works. Does the pen and ink drawing Sailing ships, easily moved the movements of a baton, the drawing is Mirror canon (on 4 levels) as a visual realization of a four-part, polyphonic composition. Klee included graphic realizations of Bach's music in his pedagogical texts.

As a frequent visitor to opera performances, he often expressed his impressions with irony. In the group of works Stage and podium lithography, for example The singer of the comic opera (1925) or allusions to compositions by Offenbach.

As neither a guide nor a flyer or advertising card has been published for the exhibition, please refer to the book Paul Klee and music on the exhibition of the same name at the Schirn, Kunsthalle Frankfurt (Nicolaische Verlagsbuchhandlung Beuermann, Berlin 1986). The Zentrum Paul Klee is also making eight ten-minute podcasts and a six-minute video available online.

Link to the podcasts 

Link to the video