In 2003, Lysy took up the position of Professor of Cello at the University of California in Los Angeles. Before moving to the United States, he held a professorship at McGill University in Montréal. He was also a visiting professor at the International Menuhin Music Academy in Switzerland for several years. He lived with his family in Los Angeles.

Lysy's more recent projects have included a Bach solo recital at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, two programs with Vladimir Ashkenazy and his sons in Lugano, a concert with the American Youth Symphony Orchestra in Los Angeles and a tour of the USA, Canada, Italy and Argentina with the show "Te Amo, Argentina".

Article in The Strad

There were 27 applications from all over the world for the piano competition. Ten young talents were admitted to the final by the jury and four were ultimately awarded a prize. The first and second prize winners will perform as soloists at the KKL Lucerne. The first prize is endowed with CHF 12,000, the second with CHF 8,000 and the third with CHF 4,000.

The first prize was won by Laura Mota Pello (Spain), the second by Francesco Granata (Italy) and the third was awarded ex aequo to Manoush Ruken Toth (Switzerland) and Zhiqiao Zhang (China).

The Rahn Kulturfonds association has been awarding the Rahn Music Prize for the promotion of students at Swiss music academies for over 45 years. The competition is held every two years, alternating between piano and string instruments.

According to the city's press release, the same requirements apply to all applicants and the same funding criteria apply to all cultural projects. The merger is also "an important step towards fair and transparent working conditions for all". Sectors in which extremely precarious conditions prevail today would be directly compared with sectors that "have known and adhered to clear and comprehensible guidelines for years". From now on, the City of Bern will "only support projects that guarantee fair wages, salaries and fees as well as social security contributions".

A cross-divisional cultural commission has been created from the previous divisional commissions, with additional expertise from areas that were not previously represented. The municipal council has elected 39 people to the cultural commission, 32 of whom are members of the previous divisional commissions.

More info:
https://www.bern.ch/mediencenter/medienmitteilungen/aktuell_ptk/neue-kulturkommission-nimmt-arbeit-auf

The four manuscripts in the hand of Bach's pupil Heinrich Nikolaus Gerber are on display in the treasury of the Bach Museum Leipzig. The copies made by Bach's private pupil in Leipzig around 1724/25 are of particular importance: they are the earliest known sources of the compositions, which must have been created directly under the eyes of the Thomaskantor.

Gerber's manuscripts were considered lost for decades. They were later found in the private possession of the British pharmacologist, musician, Bach lover and patron Sir Ralph Kohn (1927-2016), who was born in Leipzig as the child of a Jewish Orthodox textile merchant. In 1933, Ralph Kohn and his family had to flee Leipzig to escape the Nazis, but remained emotionally attached to his native city and its rich musical tradition throughout his life. Thanks to a donation from the Kohn family, the manuscripts are now together in Leipzig.

According to a press release from the German Music and Orchestra Association (Deutsche Musik- und Orchestervereinigung unisono), the number of reported musician positions in the 129 professional orchestras has risen slightly to 9770.65 positions. In 2022, 9749 positions were still reported. The situation of professional orchestras in Germany has largely consolidated after decades of structural adjustments. In 1992, there were still 168 orchestras. However, "the growing uncertainties surrounding the financing of public broadcasting" were a cause for concern. These concern the future of all radio orchestras, including the seven radio choirs and four big bands.

36% report a deterioration in the staffing situation over the past ten years. The effort involved is also increasing, as only just under 21% of orchestras manage to fill vacancies in one application process. 36% need 12 months or longer to fill a vacancy.

More info:
https://uni-sono.org/presse_meldungen/mehr-musikerstellen-in-deutschen-berufsorchestern/

The Brazilian mezzo-soprano Marcela Rahal studied singing in Leipzig with Roland Schubert and in São Paulo with Francisco Campos. She will make her debut at the Lucerne Theater in spring 2024 in the title role of Antonio Vivaldi's opera "Giustino": from 2 March, she can be seen and heard as Brünnhilde in the world premiere of Samuel Penderbayne's new stage work "Siegfried!" based on Richard Wagner.

The Tenor Viñas Competition is one of the most important in the genres of opera, oratorio and song. Every year, young singers from all over the world take part. The international jury consists of experts from the Metropolitan Opera New York, La Scala Milan, the Teatro Real Madrid, the Royal Opera House London and other major opera houses.

Jun Märkl has been Music Director of the Malaysia Philharmonic Orchestra since 2021 and has held the same position with the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan since 2022. He was Artistic Advisor to the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of the Residentie Orkest in The Hague and the Oregon Symphony Orchestra. Märkl took over the position in Indianapolis after Krzysztof Urbanski became Music Director there. Urbanski, in turn, will become chief conductor of the Bern Symphony Orchestra from the 24/25 season.

The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1930 by Ferdinand Schaefer. From 2002 to 2009, Urbanski's predecessor in Bern, Mario Venzago, conducted the orchestra.

Bringuier will take up the post in Liège at the beginning of September 2025. The contract has a term of four years. He succeeds Gergely Madaras, who took on the role for six years. The Hungarian conductor will return to the OPRL as a guest conductor from the 2026/27 season.

Bringuier was music director of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich from 2014 to 2018 and of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León in Valladolid from 2009 to 2012. Since 2019, he has been an associate artist of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice, his home town. He was recently appointed Principal Conductor there for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons.

The Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège is the only professional symphony orchestra in the French-speaking part of Belgium. It was founded in 1960 by Fernand Quinet, then director of the music conservatory in Liège, and was initially known as the Orchestre de Liège. The orchestra's main aim is to disseminate the Belgian-French repertoire, but also to explore new repertoire and premieres.

The Violin making school Brienz convinced the jury with her copy of an instrument by Antonio Stradivari. The competition, organized by the Musée de la Musique/Philharmonie Paris and the Talents et Violon'celles Foundation, is aimed at both current and trainee violin making professionals. As in 2022, the Swiss school was able to prevail against other European schools in the Talents de demain category.

She not only won first prize ahead of France (Ecole Nationale de Lutherie Mirecourt) and Italy (Cremona International Violinmaking School), but also the jury's special Coup de coeur prize. The instrument, built by student Eva Schulz (third year of apprenticeship), a replica of the famous "Sarasate" by A. Stradivari from 1724, will be purchased by the Musée de la Musique, Paris, and made available to young music students in the future.

Urbanski takes over in Warsaw from Andrzej Boreyko, who was also chief conductor of the Bern Symphony Orchestra from the 2005/2006 season to the 2009/2010 season. Urbanski will take over the leadership roles in Bern and Warsaw from the upcoming 2024/25 season.

The Symphony Orchestra of the Warsaw National Philharmonic is a Polish orchestra founded in 1901 and based at the Warsaw National Philharmonic. It takes part in the International Chopin Competition and the Warsaw Autumn Festival.

Staier studied with Lajos Rovatkay and Ton Koopman and worked with Musica Antiqua Köln. From 1987 to 1995 he was professor of harpsichord and fortepiano at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. He gives master classes worldwide and has also worked as a conductor and orchestra leader for several years.

The Bach Medal of the City of Leipzig has already been awarded to the Thomanerchor Leipzig (2023), Sir András Schiff (2022), Hans-Joachim Schulze and Christoph Wolff (2021) for "special services to the cultivation of Bach's works", Angela Hewitt (2020), Robert Levin (2018), Masaaki Suzuki (2012), Herbert Blomstedt (2011), Philippe Herreweghe (2010), Nikolaus Harnoncourt (2007), Ton Koopman (2006), Sir John Eliot Gardiner (2005), Helmuth Rilling (2004) and Gustav Leonhardt (2003).

The researchers focused on the question of what happens when customers change their music streaming subscriptions to services such as Spotify, Apple Music or Deezer - i.e. take out, upgrade, downgrade or cancel a subscription. Are they more willing to spend additional money on live concerts or analog or physical music albums after a conversion? These so-called spillover effects are particularly relevant in the current market environment, as the payouts from music streaming services are low for many artists.

There were positive consequences for the live market. The switch from no or a free streaming service to a premium subscription led to a particularly strong increase in the willingness to pay and demand for live events. Cancelling the subscription, on the other hand, caused them to drop significantly.

However, the change in music subscriptions had no impact on analog or digital album purchases. This could indicate that live music usefully complements the consumption of music subscriptions in the streaming sector from the customer's perspective, while albums tend to serve other segments and are therefore not influenced by music subscriptions.

Original article:  https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10949968231186950

The mirror is a calculation aid for planning your own projects and should be used when submitting funding applications in the field of music. These are fee ranges - the hourly rate can therefore vary depending on professional experience and project context.
can be determined individually.

The recommended hourly rates refer to the labor costs, i.e. the contractor's wage. They include fees, social security, taxes and duties as well as average vacation and sick days, but do not include VAT.

An overpayment is possible and is also customary in the market, especially for managerial positions. The salary scheme of the trade union GPA für Vereine / Leitfaden für faire Bezahlung in der bildenden Kunst (Basissätze in der selbständigen Arbeit) serves as the basis for calculation.

More info:
https://oemr.at/wp-content/uploads/OeMR_Fair-Pay-Honorarkatalog_veroeffentlicht_110124.pdf 

The work contribution enables creative people to carry out research, "develop ideas, experiment with forms and formats and increasingly engage in an open-ended process", as the city writes. It is intended as a lump-sum contribution that can be used to cover fees, expenses or living costs, for example.

The work grant is aimed at individuals and groups and will initially be introduced in 2024 in the three areas of jazz/rock/pop, classical/new music and literature. CHF 700,000 is available annually for this purpose. The monthly rate of CHF 5,000 per person serves as the basis for calculating the amount of the contribution. The maximum amount for a work contribution is CHF 20,000.

At the same time, the Culture Department has updated the formal and content-related criteria for funding applications. They are no longer part of the cultural mission statement, but are integrated into the guidelines of the respective departments. They are intended to "take better account of current social and artistic conditions" and help to "increase the transparency and comprehensibility of procedures and funding decisions".

As part of a public tendering process, the cantons of St. Gallen, Thurgau, Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Glarus have put the communication mandates for the overall project "kklick - Kulturvermittlung Ostschweiz" as well as for the St. Gallen/Appenzell Ausserrhoden office and the Thurgau office out to tender for the period 2024-2027, according to a coordinated press release. The contract for all three mandates was awarded to Wirkpunkt GmbH headed by Kati Michalk, Richi Küttel and Rebecca C. Schnyder.

This will not change anything for the cantons of St. Gallen and Appenzell Ausserrhoden, as their joint office was already managed by Wirkpunkt. The mandate for the office of the Canton of Glarus was not put out to tender and will continue to be managed by Danièle Florence Perrin. Stefanie Kasper, who managed the office of the Canton of Thurgau for ten years, did not apply for the vacancy and has left kklick at the end of December 2023 to pursue new challenges. The new contact person for the canton of Thurgau is Richi Küttel from Wirkpunkt.

kklick - Kulturvermittlung Ostschweiz is a cooperation project between the cultural offices of the cantons of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Glarus, St. Gallen and Thurgau. The intercantonal platform for cultural mediation has been online since August 2014 and is active as a contact point for questions relating to the topic of cultural mediation in schools in the region. kklick communicates cultural mediation offers from cultural providers (institutions such as museums, theaters, cinemas or individuals such as cultural mediators or artists), bundles information on cultural mediation and promotes the use of cultural education offers in schools.