Powerful images, monumental music: anyone who goes to the movies wants to experience goosebump moments. Music always plays a decisive role in this: without it, even the most ingenious director would not be able to evoke emotions. However, even more overwhelming feelings arise in the concert hall when the film music is played live. In the concert hall of the Lucerne Culture and Convention Center, the 21st Century Orchestra plays live^st Century Orchestra under the direction of Ludwig Wicki music from films such as Dune, Star Wars, Avengers, Interstellar, The Lord of the Rings or Ben Hur.

 The Swiss Music Newspaper is giving away 2 x 2 tickets for the concert performance without film excerpts on November 21, 2024 at 7.30 pm at the KKL Lucerne.

Please register with your exact address by October 10 at the latest by e-mail (contact@musikzeitung.ch) or by post: Schweizer Musikzeitung, Dammstrasse 2, 6440 Brunnen.

Website of the 21st Century Orchestra

The member castles of the "Swiss Castles" association are among the top places to visit in Switzerland. The castles are not only museums, but also places of music. Depending on the season and the castle, there are serenades and concerts in the parks, castle courtyards, banqueting halls and castle chapels.

This year, Castles Day is all about music. Each castle offers its own program to match the historical and local ambience. Medieval minstrel songs, lute playing and courtly music can be heard. Various special instruments will be played, such as Jew's harps, bagpipes, a glass xylophone, fanfares, dulcimer and a pianola. Baroque music, yodeling and Arabic music will make the festive castles resound. Those who prefer to be active can dance to a wide variety of musical styles in several castles: Medieval, Baroque, Charleston, Latin American. In one castle you will be given a stage and can play your own instrument.

Music and festivities are also accompanied by culinary delights. There are special activities for children and families. All information on the individual programs of the 27 castles can be found at www.dieschweizerschloesser.ch

Raffle: Music in the castle

The National Castles Day is being organized for the ninth time by the "Swiss Castles" association, which will be celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2024.

For the readers of the Swiss Music Newspaper 2 x 2 tickets for a visit to the castle on October 6 of your choice will be raffled off. On the website dieschweizerschloesser.ch the castles and their individual programs are listed. Please send an e-mail by September 22, 2024 at the latest to contact@musikzeitung.ch or send a postcard to: Swiss Music Newspaper, Dammstrasse 2, 6440 Brunnen with a note indicating which castle you would like to visit on October 6. The winner of the tickets will be notified on September 27.

The participating castles

CHÂTEAU DE PRANGINS CHÂTEAU DE MORGES CHÂTEAU D'YVERDON CHÂTEAU DE ROMONT CHÂTEAU DE CHILLON CHÂTEAU DE GRUYÈRES JEGENSTORF CASTLE LANDSHUT CASTLE WALDEGG CASTLE BURGDORF CASTLE THUN CASTLE HÜNEGG CASTLE OBERHOFEN CASTLE SPIEZ STOCKALPERSCHLOSS BRIG-GLIS CASTLE HABSBURG CASTLE WILDEGG CASTLE LENZBURG CASTLE HALLWYL CASTLE HEIDEGG CASTLE ZUG CASTLE A PRO CASTLE KYBURG CASTLE FRAUENFELD FORTEZZA DI BELLINZONA CASTLE SARGANS CASTLE WERDENBERG

Well-known composers of all nationalities were inspired early on by the exoticism of an imaginary Spain. From Scarlatti to Liszt and Rimsky-Korsakov to Debussy and Ravel, their music has been influenced by such elements.

This phenomenon has also been observed in Switzerland since the 19th century: Joachim Raff, Hans Schäuble or Armin Schibler wrote several plays in the Spanish style. Spanish immigration to Switzerland began at that time. It intensified during the world wars and the Spanish Civil War. Although official Switzerland did not approve of the use of war volunteers on the Republican side, visas were issued for Republicans willing to leave the country. The Spanish Manifesto, read out by Hans Mühlestein on Basel's Barfüsserplatz on May 1, 1937, speaks for the close ties between the populations of the two nations. Language was by no means an obstacle to cultural exchange: the Swiss Enrique (Heinrich) Beck is regarded as the first translator of Federico García Lorca. In 1944, the immigration police approved the first performance of the play Blood wedding in German-speaking countries, shortly followed by those of Bernada Alba's house. Paul Burkhard composed the music.

Distrust of the "Spanish"

Wherever Spanish musical elements appear, Spanish dance is not far away. Curiously, however, the first representative flamenco figures did not come from Spain: dancers such as Petra Cámara, Lise Bonnet and Fanny Elssler had already been touring Europe since 1850 with their exotic, partly invented flamenco steps. Even the first flamenco legend La Argentina launched her career and lived outside of Spain.

From the First World War onwards, Switzerland experienced a real wave of immigration of great artists who left their mark. Music and dance received important impulses. The symbiosis between Spanish dance forms and local expressive dances was particularly strong. An extremely interesting cultural event in this respect was the First Swiss Dance Competition in 1939 as part of the National Exhibition in Zurich. It attracted the most famous dancers in Switzerland, such as Suzanne Perrottet, Lilly Roggensinger and Dora Garraux.

The media response provides valuable evidence of this: The NZZ wrote that it was understandable that "(...) the female competitors turned to the Spanish dance style, which feigns sensual temperament with its loosening of the hips, strong tapping steps and coquettish fire in the eyes", while the newspaper National law reacted disrespectfully: "(...) the use of important music for mood-making and rhythmic slavery is to be completely rejected; conversely, neither the music nor the dance is served by imitating strict musical forms in dance. Among the subjects, Spanish was conspicuously popular, often shown in beautiful solutions." At the time, few people understood that Switzerland could have supported and developed a potential dance and music heritage.

A Swiss woman spreads flamenco around the world

Alongside well-known dancers, a young Susanne Looser (later Susana Audéoud) performed there. She was interested in flamenco. She later went to Spain, where she founded her successful company with José de Udaeta. In their search for musicians, they engaged a young man, Armin Janssen, who was continuing his piano studies at the time and was fascinated to join in. He soon emerged as the flamenco composer Antonio Robledo.

First in Spain, then worldwide, they conquered the stages. Flamenco was performed for the first time in many countries. Their work is of great ethnomusicological value: they traveled through Spain with recording equipment in their suitcases. They discovered and supported great flamenco personalities who played an important role in the history of singing: Carmen Linares, La Talegona (who until then had lived in great hardship as a cleaner), Sernita (we have them to thank for the only existing recording of his voice) and, among many others, Enrique Morente. The three of them began to develop their own concept of a ballet danced in flamenco style.

La Celestina (1966) was successfully performed and the composition was sold on LP. The joy of experimentation also gave rise to the choreography and further recording produced in Switzerland in 1985: Obsesión. The unusual organ sounds and Morente's powerful voice won over the experts. The public had a different opinion of their symphonic collaboration: At the famous Bienal de Flamenco, they were described as art criminals. Twenty years later, however, they were celebrated as the holy saviors of pure flamenco. Important flamenco artists who worked with them still speak lovingly and with great respect about Armiño and Susana today.

Weighty legacy, big names, little resonance

It was not only in music that they left their mark: Susana's innovative legacy brought about a renewal and consolidation of flamenco ballet, which even influenced legends such as Antonio Gades and prompted him to adopt the concept with his company. Armin and Susana worked as teachers in opera houses, universities and ballet companies. Their collaboration with the Ballet of Toronto was captured on film by Cynthia Scott and even won an Oscar for best short documentary in 1983. Their synthesis with Spanish culture was so successful that they were mistakenly celebrated in various media as Spanish flamenco artists.

In Switzerland, Susana played an important role in the professionalization of dance. Her heirs became world-famous: Brigitta Luisa Merki led the Flamencos en route company for forty years, developing Susana's concept further and celebrating successes at home and abroad. Nina Corti, La Carbona and Bruno Argenta became important dance artists. Teresa Martin became an internationally recognized dancer and choreographer. Robledo dedicated many compositions to her.

Teresa's father, the composer Frank Martin, was also swept along by Susana's and Robledo's storm: from then on, his pieces showed tendencies of flamenco music (e.g. Fantaisie sur des rhymes flamencos, 1973, or Trois danses, 1970). Teresa created choreographies and danced them on stage. The pianist Paul Badura-Skoda or Ursula and Heinz Holliger played at the premieres. Other composers such as Joaquín Rodrigo and Rolf Looser were enthusiastic and also composed for her.

The fact that this extraordinary chapter in Swiss cultural history has been forgotten is probably not only due to financial cutbacks in the dance and music sector: The idea that a certain style does not fit in with the identity of the original Swiss - i.e. that it seems "Spanish" to us - certainly also plays a role. Such prejudices in the reception of Swiss cultural movements contribute to this unique cultural heritage disappearing from the stage and from our consciousness.

*

Isora Castilla is a pianist and musicologist. Her several years of research at the University of Bern will soon be published as a book in Spain and Switzerland.

According to the Bach Festival, the video was filmed in the tower hall of Holligen Castle. The scene imagines the completion of the Bach portrait by Elias Gottlob Haussman (1695-1774).

Iranian 3D artist Hadi Karimi "created a high-resolution, photorealistic 3D model of Bach's face based on this image from 1748." In post-production, the face of the Leipzig actor in the role of Bach was "replaced by Bach's digitally reconstructed face with the help of artificial intelligence."

Link to the video (idea, concept and script: Vital Julian Frey):

Further information about the video clip and the Bachwochen Thun from August 25 to September 8

As can be read on the orchestra's website, the Swiss National Orchestra (SNO) is "modeled on a national sports team" and is made up of outstanding musicians who hold important positions in orchestras in Switzerland and around the world.

The director of the SNO is Igor Longato. It will make its first appearance in the Great Hall of the Casino in Bern at 11 a.m. on August 1. Admission is free. Works by Hans Huber, Siegfried Wagner, Arthur Honegger, Peter Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninov, Gaetano Donizetti, Giacomo Puccini and Giocchino Rossini will be performed under the motto "Vivat Helvetia". Regula Mühlemann, soprano, and Sébastian Jacot, flute, will perform the solo parts. The conductor is John Axelrod.

Further concerts and CD recordings are planned.

Information and reservation: https://vivat-helvetia.com

This year's official jury of the Concours de Genève met in the composition category in Geneva at the beginning of June. The Swiss composer Pascal Dusapin chaired the jury. Other jury members are Milica Djordjević, Francesco Filidei, Hector Parrà and Francesca Verunelli. Of the 82 scores submitted, 18 were selected and examined in detail. The jury then selected three finalists. These are Léo Albisetti (26) from Switzerland, Caio de Azevedo (30) from Brazil, who lives in Munich, and Sang-Min Ryu (24) from South Korea.

The candidates will be in Geneva from October 16, 2024. They will be able to follow the rehearsals of their work for viola and chamber orchestra for the final round on October 20, 2024 with the Orchestre de Chambre de Genève conducted by Pierre Bleuse. They will also have the opportunity to take part in a showcase. Students from the Haute École de musique de Genève will perform one or two of their works with soloists Lise Berthaud, Georhi Kovalev and Adrien La Marca.

Concours de Genève

Founded in 1939, the Concours de Genève is one of the most important international music competitions in the world. Its aim is to discover, promote and support talented young artists. Every year, up-and-coming international musicians compete in two alternating disciplines, this year in singing and composition. In addition to the prize money, the winners receive a two-year contract with the concert agency Sartory Artists. There are also numerous other coaching opportunities to prepare them for a sustainable career in the classical music scene.

A total of around 60 formations from Bulgaria, China, Germany, El Salvador, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Poland, Sweden, Thailand and many clubs from Switzerland took part in this year's World Youth Music Festival (WYMF) in Zurich. The festival kicked off with a gala concert in the Chipperfield Building of the Kunsthaus.

The competitions in 10 categories took place at the Zurich University of the Arts in the Toni Areal and in the Chipperfield Building of the Kunsthaus. The international jury was impressed by the diverse and high-quality presentations. The great interest shown by the audience in all the presentations was gratifying.

Around 5000 people attended the spectacular opening ceremony in the Hallenstadion. Other highlights included the parade through Bahnhofstrasse and the gala concert in the Tonhalle, the "Youth Music Party" and the closing ceremony with the award ceremony in the Münsterhof.

OC President, Erich Zumstein, looked back with satisfaction on a successful festival weekend. "All the competitions and events were well attended beyond expectations. We were very pleased that we were able to give young people from different countries an unforgettable weekend with this festival and hope that their enthusiasm for brass music was strengthened thanks to this event."

About the World Youth Music Festival

The World Youth Music Festival was founded on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Jugendmusik Zürich 11 and has since developed into an international festival for amateur musicians between the ages of 9 and 25. Since 1985, between 2,600 and 4,500 young people from all over the world have traveled to Zurich for each festival to meet like-minded people from other associations from all over the world, to make music with them and to compete with them in various categories. A total of 250 orchestras from around 50 countries have taken part over the past 33 years. The last WJMF took place in 2017. Due to the Covid pandemic, the event planned for 2021 was canceled.

The festival is organized by a volunteer committee made up of experts in the respective fields and many helpers. The OC President is Erich Zumstein, Director of the Zurich Conservatory Music School.

Detailed information, videos and photos at https://wjmf.ch

After excursions to Ticino, Appenzellerland and the Engadine, the Rümlingen New Music Festival is settling in Oltingen this year. The festival, which reinvents itself every year, has already collaborated with associations or residents of the village in 2010 and 2022. This year, 24 new projects will be realized especially for this place.

The festival starts on Saturday at 3 pm and lasts 24 hours until 3 pm on Sunday. It offers the opportunity to get away from everyday life and, as the festival writes, "immerse yourself in a manageable world with unimagined possibilities".

Participating sound artists

The program includes world premieres by Romane Bouffioux (FRA/CH), Léo Collin (CH), Rama Gottfried (US/CH), Wolfgang Heiniger (CH), Urban Mäder (CH), Aya Metwalli (EGY), Marina Tantanozi (CH), Violetta Garcia (ARG), Michel Robin (CH), Daniel Ott (CH) and Anna Sowa (CH/PL)

 

https://www.neue-musik-ruemlingen.ch

After the "Eurovision Song Contest" (ESC), the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) organizes the "Eurovision Young Musicians" competition (EYM) this summer. Valerian Alfaré is taking part in the final show for Switzerland in Bodø, Norway. The 19-year-old impressed the three-member jury of experts (Oliver Schnyder, Manuel Oswald, Eva Oertle) with his euphonium at the Swiss pre-selection in Basel this spring. As one of eleven finalists, Valerian Alfaré will perform as a soloist at the Stomen Konserthus in Bodø on August 17, 2024, accompanied by the Norwegian Radio Symphony Orchestra.

The Swiss pre-selection at the Meret Oppenheim Hochhaus in Basel, SRF's cultural location, was carried out in partnership between SRF, music academies, music schools and the Swiss Youth Music Competition. Young Swiss musicians between the ages of 14 and 21 took part.

19-year-old Valerian Alfaré from Rheinfelden in the canton of Aargau plays the trumpet as well as the euphonium. As a trumpet player, he concentrates mainly on jazz and is a member of the Swiss Youth Jazz Orchestra. With the euphonium, he is primarily active in classical and contemporary music.

About the "Eurovision Young Musicians" competition

The "Eurovision Young Musicians" competition offers young classical talents a large international TV stage with a professional orchestra. The event is organized every two years by the EBU, which also organizes the ESC. The 2024 edition will be hosted by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. The competition will take place in Bodø, one of the three European Capitals of Culture 2024.

Link to the original article on SRF

How the Boswil House of Artists the Advisory Board and the Board of Trustees elected Irene Näf-Kuhn and Christine Hehli Hidber as Co-Presidents to succeed Stefan Hegi at their last meeting. Hegi has been a member of the Board of Trustees since 1997. As an architect, he was primarily involved in the structural development of the Künstlerhaus. In August 2021, he took over from Peter Wipf as Vice-Chairman until a successor could be found. On August 1, pianist and music manager Irene Näf-Kuhn and lawyer Christine Hehli Hidber will take over the office.

The Sima enjoys an excellent reputation worldwide. Over 300 talented musicians from all over the world have registered for the 14th master class for violin, viola and cello at the Music Island Rheinau 96 outstanding talents from 33 countries were admitted to this year's Academy. They will benefit from the experience of internationally renowned instructors in solo lessons, chamber music lessons and workshops. As a special highlight, the best soloists in the competition will have the opportunity to perform as a soloist at the final concert with the Southwest German Philharmonic Orchestra of Constance in Zurich.

Private initiative

Sima is a private initiative to promote young musical talent. It is supported by the Youth Classics Association. The president and artistic director is Philip A. Draganov.

The Academy offers outstanding young musicians who are studying at a music academy or aspire to study music in the future an intensive, high-quality musical education during the summer vacation period. The master class provides Swiss participants with an extremely valuable exchange with the world's elite.

Teaching at the highest level and exceptional insights

The Academy has once again succeeded in attracting selected lecturers from renowned music academies such as the Zurich University of the Arts, the Bern University of the Arts, the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin and the Haute Ecole de Musique Vaud-Valais-Fribourg. They work with the participants as part of the solo lessons. In addition to individual lessons, there are rehearsals with accompaniment and chamber music lessons as well as various special events. For example, the participants work as a team in a violin-making workshop under the guidance of the renowned Violin maker Stefan-Peter Greiner a violin.

As a special guest at Sima 2024, Christian Tetzlaff, one of the most sought-after violinists and most exciting musicians in the classical music world, will give an "Interpretation Course Brahms" for Academy participants selected by the Artistic Director.

 Chance to perform as a soloist with a  large orchestra

A soloist competition will be held for the first time this year. The best will perform as a soloist at the final concert with the Southwest German Philharmonic Orchestra Constancewhich will take place on Sunday, July 21, 2024, at the Zurich University of the Arts. Based on the videos sent in by the candidates in advance, the finalists will be selected to perform in front of the jury of Sima lecturers in the final round at Sima. It will then be decided on the spot who will be allowed to perform as a soloist with the orchestra at the final concert.

As part of the special prize of the Southwest German Philharmonic Orchestra Constance, one talent will be selected from all participants of Sima 2024 to perform as a soloist with the Southwest German Philharmonic Orchestra Constance, which will be renamed the "Lake Constance Philharmonic Orchestra" from the 2024/25 season, at a concert in Constance. www.philharmoniekonstanz.de

 Public concerts during SIMA

During the week, the Sima participants demonstrate their skills at various public concerts.

 Thursday, July 18, 2024, 1:30 p.m.
Final concert of the Brahms Masterclass by Christian Tetzlaff
Music hall, Musikinsel Rheinau

 Thursday, July 18, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
1st concert of the SIMA 2024 participants
Mill hall, Klosterinsel 2, 8462 Rheinau

 Friday, July 19, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
2nd concert of the SIMA 2024 participants
Mill hall, Klosterinsel 2, 8462 Rheinau

 Saturday, July 20, 2024, 2 p.m.
1st final concert of the chamber music groups
Mountain church, 8462 Rheinau

 Saturday, July 20, 2024, 7:30 p.m.
Final concerts of the individual classes
Violin classesA. Chumachenco / Z. Tadevosyan, P.A. Draganov / J.G. Flores, A. Janke, P. Vernikov / S.Marakova
Viola class: T. Selditz
Cello classes: T. Grossenbacher, J. Hasten, T. Svane
Music Island Rheinau, 8462 Rheinau

 Sunday, July 21, 2024, 09.30 a.m.
2nd final concert of the chamber music groups
Music Island Rheinau, 8462 Rheinau

 Sunday, July 21, 2024, 5 p.m.
Gala concert at the end of the 14th Sima 2024
Selected participants perform as soloists with the Southwest German Philharmonic Orchestra of Constance
Zurich University of the Arts, Concert Hall 3, Toni-Areal, Pfingstweidstrasse 96, 8005 Zurich

All concerts: free admission - collection

 

 

Othmar Schoeck grew up in Brunnen and began his music studies at the Zurich Conservatory in 1904. In 1907, he accepted Max Reger's invitation to join his Leipzig composition class. Back in Switzerland, Schoeck earned his living by conducting two male choirs in Zurich, while he became increasingly well-known as a composer. His early compositions soon brought him international attention.

Even though Schoeck felt committed to German Romanticism and saw himself as a successor to Schubert and Hugo Wolf, he knew the works of his contemporaries very well and drew inspiration from them. The Othmar Schoeck Festival 2024 presents a musical panorama of Europe at the beginning of the 20th century and examines the Brunner composer's first career steps in the period before the First World War.

The program

Unheard-of love: Béla Bartók and Othmar Schoeck both raved about the Hungarian violinist Stefi Geyer. Right in the Opening concert with the Moser String Quartet their first string quartets can be heard and in the big symphony concert on Sunday Schoeck's violin concerto "Quasi una Fantasia". The Swiss violinist Sebastian Bohren performs the work dedicated to Stefi Geyer together with the Basel Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Izabelė Jankauskaitė.

Particularly noteworthy is the Sunday morning service with the young Swiss baritone Manuel Walser. He sings Schoeck's three sacred songs op. 11 accompanied by Stefan Albrecht on the organ in the parish church of St. Leonhard.

And as always, the next generation of musicians is involved, be it with world premieres in the Chamber music concert, in the Workshop "futur composé" with Dieter Ammann or in a Colloquium of the Institute of Musicology at the University of Zurich, which presents case studies on press coverage of Schoeck's premieres and presents them in a Panel discussion is concluded.

There are seven events in total. A total of 18 works will be performed. An orchestra, a string quartet and a brass quintet, together with all the other 22 musicians, plus two musicologists, a musicologist and some students will be performing.

The performances

Opening concert, Friday, September 6, 2024, 8 p.m., Reformed Church Brunnen

Colloquium, Saturday, September 7, 2024, 3 p.m., Villa Schoeck, Brunnen

Concert and world premiere, Saturday, September 7, 2024, 8 p.m., Villa Schoeck, Brunnen

Church service, Sunday, September 8, 2024, 10 a.m., Roman Catholic parish church of St. Leonhard, Ingenbohl-Brunnen

Podium, Sunday, September 8, 2024, 2 p.m., Villa Schoeck, Brunnen

Workshop, Sunday, September 8, 2024, 4 p.m., Villa Schoeck, Brunnen

Symphony concert, Sunday, September 8, 2024, 8 p.m., Seehotel Waldstätterhof, Brunnen

Tickets are available from August 7 at ticketino.ch or via schoeckfestival.ch bookable. Reservation recommended.

The works

Jonas Achermann:
Composition sketch for brass quintet

Béla Bartók (1881-1945):
String Quartet No. 1 (1908/09)

Viktoryia Haveinovich:
Composition sketch for brass quintet

Alma Mahler (1879-1964):
Three songs

Aregnaz Martirosyan (*1993):
Duo for violin and piano (UA)

Christoph Pfändler (*1992):
- Duo for soprano and violin (UA)
- Composition sketch for brass quintet

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937):
String Quartet in F major, op. 35 (1902/1903)

Othmar Schoeck (1886-1957):
- String Quartet No. 1, op. 23 (1911/13)
- Three songs by Heine, op. 4 for voice, violin and piano (1906)
- Three sacred songs for baritone and organ op. 11 (1906/07)
- Violin Concerto (Quasi una Fantasia) op. 21 (

Franz Schubert (1797-1828):
Symphony No. 3 in D major

Erwin Schulhoff (1894-1942):
- Sonata for violin and piano op. 7 (1913)
- Drei Stimmungsbilder (after poems from "Die Garbe" by Hans Steiger) for soprano voice, violin and piano op. 12 (1913)

Hyeok Son:
Composition sketch for brass quintet

Luca Staffelbach:
Composition sketch for brass quintet

Hugo Wolf (1860-1903):
Italian Serenade, arranged for orchestra by Max Reger (1873-1916)

The contributors

Basel Chamber Orchestra, symphony concert

Jonas Achermann, composer, workshop
Heinrich Aerni, musicologist, podium
Stefan Albrecht, organ, church service
Dieter Ammann, Composer, Workshop
Ariadna Bataller, viola, Moser String Quartet, Opening concert
Xavier Gil Batet, trombone, KamBrass Quintet, Workshop
Sebastian Bohren, violin, symphony concert
Oriol Reverter Curto, tuba, KamBrass Quintet, Workshop
Lea Galasso, violoncello, Moser String Quartet, Opening concert
Inga Mai Groote, musicologist, podium
Viktoryia Haveinovich, composer, workshop
Izabelė Jankauskaitė, Conductor, Symphony concert
Doris Lanz, musicologist, podium
Joan Pàmies Magrané, trumpet, KamBrass Quintet, Workshop
Kanon Miyashita, violin, Moser String Quartet, Opening concert
Maria Servera Monserrat, French horn, KamBrass Quintet, Workshop
Patricia Muro, violin, Moser String Quartet, Opening concert
Christoph Pfändler, composer, workshop
Hyeok Son, composer, workshop
Julia Spaeth, soprano, concert and world premiere
Luca Staffelbach, composer, workshop
Nadezda Tseluykina, piano, concert and world premiere
Manuel Walser, Baritone, Divine service
Guillem Cardona Zaera, trumpet, KamBrass Quintet, Workshop
Susanne Zapf, violin, concert and world premiere

The association

The Othmar Schoeck Festival Association enables performances of Othmar Schoeck's music at his birthplace Brunnen. It promotes a critical examination of the composer's biography. Thanks to the targeted involvement of young musicians, the work of one of the best-known Swiss composers of the first half of the twentieth century remains relevant.

The Board of Management would like to thank all Persons and institutionswho support the festival.

Carolina Müller will be the new lecturer for the vocal major "Groove and Electronics" from the fall semester 2024. Internationally successful as Miss C-Line and winner of the New Generation Jazz Lab Contest in 2021, she has released three albums and collaborated with artists such as Casey Benjamin and Jeff Ballard. She is musically and technically proficient in music production, studio recording, mixing, live show production and composition.

As of the 2024/25 academic year Jakob Pilgram He succeeded Pascal Maier as the new artistic director of the Collegium Musicum and lecturer for vocal ensemble. As a sought-after soloist in Germany and abroad, he has sung with conductors such as Thomas Hengelbrock, Philippe Herreweghe, Ton Koopman, Andrea Marcon and Hans-Christoph Rademann and has acquired a sound knowledge of historical performance practice. In 2005, he founded the professional larynx vocal ensemble, where he acts as musical director and conductor. He is also a member of the Artistic Board of the Balthasar Neumann Choir and co-director of its Singer's Academy. Since 2004, he and Mischa Sutter have formed a song duo that has won prizes at international competitions.

Also starting in the new academic year, the multi-award-winning Michael Bach Lecturer in brass band conducting. He has conducted the Bürgermusik Lucerne brass band since 2009. He has been principal conductor of the Grimethorpe Colliery Band (GB) since 2023 and is a regular guest conductor with bands such as the Eikanger-Bjorsvik Band (NO) and the Fodens Band (GB). He acts as a juror at major national and international competitions and runs the Saanenland-Obersimmental Music School.

Marco Amherd He studied conducting, organ/church music (concert, teaching and soloist diploma) and economics in Zurich, Freiburg im Breisgau and Toulouse. He is currently the artistic director of the Swiss Vocal Consort. His flair for unusual sounds is evident in his collaboration with the Vokalensemble Zürich West and the Junges Kammerchor Zürich. He has won awards at numerous international competitions. Marco Amherd is currently also the artistic director of the Davos Festival.

Getting moving, imagining colorful future spaces and returning to the present: The "actions" by Stefan Linne, a mime artist and actor in Berlin, spanned from the beginning to the end of the meeting. The organizers were pleasantly surprised by the large number of participants from all generations. Teachers, students and heads of music schools, conservatoires, associations and academies were invited, mainly from Germany. Student delegations from all of Germany's music education faculties refreshed the many participatory formats. To kick things off, young and old learned to juggle with three colored cloths under Linne's guidance in no time at all. This activity symbolized a central aspect of the conference, namely getting away from a black-and-white view in professional music education.

Finally being able to bridge the gap between artistic and pedagogical orientation was a palpably urgent concern of the audience and speakers.

The specialist medium of the future

The Faculty of Music at the Berlin University of the Arts organized the conference in cooperation with the Mannheim State University of Music and Performing Arts. Ivo Berg, Barbara Busch, Christina Fassbender, Isabelle Heiss, Sebastian Herbst and Barbara Metzger were in charge of the project. The Strecker Foundation acted as sponsor. It has owned the music publisher Schott since the end of 2023. This in turn has been publishing the magazine practise&music out. Since its foundation, it has played a central role in reflecting on various aspects of music education and the development of music schools and colleges. The anniversary was not only celebrated with "champagne and seltzer". Rather, it provided the impetus for a think tank on the future of specialist media. Editor Rüdiger Behschnitt and his colleague Kerstin Weuthen collected many ideas with the audience in well-organized brainstorming sessions on where the journey could take us, provided that human and financial resources do not play a role. As expected, no silver bullet emerged; the media landscape is currently changing too quickly and unpredictably. Short, clear, correct, specific, free and easily accessible - this is how information should be, especially from the students' point of view.

Eight areas of tension

The question that gave the symposium its title, which took place in the rooms of the University of the Arts, was already fanned out in the invitation to tender using eight pairs of opposites. They formed the framework of the events and were explicitly discussed in a "World Café":

1. elitist vs. participatory? Against the background of which guiding principles, which people can learn which music at (higher) music schools and how?
2. Personal development vs. career orientation? Should the development of music schools and colleges focus primarily on the personal development of students or on the future professional field?
3. tradition vs. innovation? Does the future of music schools lie in preserving or overcoming traditions?
4. Lonely vs. together? Will music schools and colleges become superfluous without comprehensive (external) cooperation?
5. Art vs. science? What role do science and art play in the development of (higher) music schools?
6. Sense vs. nonsense? To what extent are mission statements suitable for the further development of music schools and colleges?
7. Closeness vs. distance? What role do proximity and distance play in teaching at music schools and colleges?
8. Analog vs. digital? What significance do analog and digital forms of communication and expression have both in the context of teaching at music (higher) education institutions and in relation to musical performance and music production?

Squeezed around eight tables, the participants spent half an hour exploring these areas of tension. They had had the opportunity to sign up in advance for three of the questions that concerned them most. The "World Café" lasted an hour and a half in total. The result was impressive: many square meters of paper full of colorful scraps of thoughts.

Keep the questions moving

The presentations by Barbara Stiller, Martina Krause-Benz, Ulrich Mahlert, Wolfgang Rüdiger and Tobias Seidel brought further facets to the discussion and stimulated individual discussions during the breaks. Participants were able to explore their specific concerns in seven workshops. Students and alumni of the Berlin University of the Arts repeatedly built bridges between intellectual reflection and artistic presentation with their performances.

There were no clear answers to the many questions, but perhaps the insight that the discussion between the various players must be continued with the greatest possible openness. At the end, Stefan Linne and the students led the participants back to themselves and their own ideas of a sustainable music (high) school.

On the website of practice&music (https://uebenundmusizieren.de/artikel/zukunft-im-blick/uebenundmusizieren.de) documents for some of the events at the "Fit for the future?" conference have been uploaded. A printed publication will also appear later.

 International problem child school music

One month after the Berlin conference, the study Mulem-ex - Music teacher training - an explorative study was published. The aim was to find out why young people in Germany decide against studying to become music teachers. There is a shortage of thousands of trained teachers in the field of school music and the number of new students enrolled on the relevant courses is falling sharply. In a nutshell, the study cites the following reasons for the development of a negative career image: those with an affinity for music perceive the aptitude test geared towards European classical art music as a high hurdle; many respondents feel insufficiently prepared for everyday working life and see few opportunities for development; numerous potential students fear the high workload in everyday working life due to the time-consuming preparation of lessons and the simultaneous lack of opportunities for musical-artistic activities.

The training situation in Germany can only be compared with that in Switzerland to a limited extent. Anyone wishing to teach music in general education schools in this country needs a diploma from a university of teacher education (PH) or a degree in school music I or, for grammar schools, school music II (music universities). However, there is a lack of meaningful figures, for example on the deselection or non-selection of certain subjects or degree programs at the PHs or on the retention of graduates at PHs and MHs. In addition, the employment contexts for music teachers at the school level below, in the area of music & movement, are very heterogeneous. Enquiries to the Chamber of Universities of Teacher Education at Swissuniversities and the Conference of Swiss Music Universities (KMHS) have shown that no well-founded data is available in Switzerland to date. However, the KMHS would welcome a comprehensive survey.

Link to Mulem-ex - Music teacher training - an explorative study

A compass is a useful thing, even if it seems to have long since been replaced by newer technologies. It gives us a clear disposition of the world. We then know where north is. We can orient ourselves. But is that still enough today, as the most diverse directions and alignments appear side by side? We need to think about the compass again, we need to feel how it swings. Sometimes it's a slight vibration, but sometimes it's a hoofbeat ...

Orientation and reorientation

The Bern Music Festival therefore proposed the "Compass" theme to the city and canton's music scene. The latter responded with a variety of ideas, some of which the Board of Trustees selected and had developed. One event with Ludmilla Mercier and Ulysse Loup takes us to the calving glaciers of Greenland, while another with Werner Hasler and Stefan Schultze takes us into the world of animals, which also use an internal compass to guide their movements and flights. For example, how synchronously do three turntable players (including Marcel Zaes), who play in different parts of the world, coordinate themselves? Isn't their imprecision the interesting thing about it? What does an Iranian musician (Ali Latif-Shushtari) imagine about the micrograms of the wandering Robert Walser, where do they lead him? And what does Arnold Schönberg's stirring contemporary document still mean to us today? A Survivor from Warsaw? The Berlin opera company Novoflot and the Thun-born composer Michael Wertmüller have taken on the piece and shed new light on it.

Such projects show how differently today's musicians operate. But hasn't orientation in the musical world always been reconsidered? Individual composers have become compasses, in their own time and beyond, simply by asking questions and sometimes trying to find answers. Schönberg, for example, certainly saw himself in such a position. With atonality and, above all, the twelve-tone technique, he believed he was pointing music history in the right direction. And he did, even if it is no longer uncontested. It is still worth taking a closer look at him. In the three-part concert series Extreme Romanticism, the piano duo Susanne Huber / André Thomet focus on two of his early atonal works and add quarter-tone music by his contemporaries Charles Ives as a contrast. Ives also appears in the second part of the series, to which Jacques Demierre contributes up-to-date commentaries. And Franz Liszt, the true future musician of the 19th century, appears as the third compass figure, with whom the electronic musician Olga Kokcharova enters into a boundary-breaking dialog.

Directions and barriers

Borders often stand in the way of a compass. And that is why the Ensemble Proton Bern, together with four composers and the vocal ensemble Cantando Admont, is exploring the borders of our country, its openness and its isolation. What inner compass do refugees follow on their difficult journey through our country? What barriers do they have to overcome? The international vocal quartet Operadicals (with Franziska Baumann) and the Bernese choir suppléments musicaux, on the other hand, search for the terra incognita of the human voice. And Mauricio Kagel, the Argentinian-born composer based in Cologne, looks at the world from an unusual perspective in his Windrose pieces. For him, the south, which we associate with heat, stands for Patagonian cold. In this way, orders are thrown into turmoil.

Composer in Residence: George E. Lewis

Crossing boundaries and reorientation are also central to the musician who is coming to Bern as Composer in Residence: George E. Lewis. The trombonist from the jazz avant-garde circle of the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) has long been one of the most important figures in US music. His music combines improvisation and composition, computer-controlled installations and interactive concert forms with a profound reflection on the conditions of contemporary musical creation. He will talk about decolonization; his computer orchestra interacts with pianist Magda Mayas in Voyager; and he is writing a new piece for the versatile wind-dynamic organ in Bern Cathedral. Daniel Glaus plays the solo part and thus becomes the "devil in the cathedral". With each performance, the way of seeing and hearing changes. Even the compass of the scores can no longer be completely relied upon. But perhaps that is precisely what is liberating ...

 

Bern, September 4 to 8, 2024

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