Ludmilla Mercier is a director, performer, and composer. Her works combine musical theater, movement, and visual elements. According to the Canton of Bern, the artist explores everyday phenomena in her creative work. She combines seemingly mundane elements with absurd ones, thereby examining the relationship between reality and perception.

The duo Lo & Leduc, consisting of Lorenz Häberli and Luc Oggier, has been a fixture on the Swiss music scene for years. In addition to their past chart successes, such as the cult hit 079 According to the canton, the duo is distinguished by its artistic and social stance.

Musician and performance artist Rebecca Solari delivers outstanding performances through her vocal presence as the character Fulmine. Solari channels the same energy with her electro-punk duo, Crème Solaire.

Conductor and violinist Droujelub Yanakiew has made a name for himself both at home and abroad. He combines classical music with a wide variety of art forms and musical genres, including collaborations with Bonaparte, the Kummerbuben, Steff la Cheffe, Nemo, and Michael von der Heide.

The prize money for the Bern Music Awards is 15,000 francs each. The «Coup de cœur» award for emerging artists, worth 3,000 francs, goes to the rap collective ETO.

Severin Barmettler, 38, completed his studies in cultural management at the University of Zurich with an Executive Master’s degree in Arts Administration. Prior to that, he studied classical double bass at the Bern University of the Arts. He currently works as a cultural funding specialist for the City of Lucerne, serving, among other roles, as executive director of the FUKA Commission, which decides on funding measures for individual projects.

Prior to his current position in the City of Lucerne’s cultural funding department, he served, among other roles, as head of marketing and communications at the Lucerne Theater and as executive director of IG Kultur Zug. Various freelance engagements in the cultural sector—including as a jury member for the Canton of Aargau’s «Kultur macht Schule» program, as a double bassist, and as a cultural educator—round out his activities.

Within the Department of Culture, Barmettler will head the Division of Cultural Promotion and Outreach and, together with his team, will support cultural professionals and organizations. He succeeds Hannes Gut, who is leaving Lucerne’s Division of Cultural Promotion and Outreach this month to take over as executive director of the Aargau Kuratorium.

Rio Goto participated in the Louis Spohr Foundation’s master classes in Kassel and impressed the audience at the final participants’ concert with her musical talent and exceptional dedication, according to the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK).

Rio Goto, born in Tokyo in 2012, won first prize in the junior category of the 32nd Japan International Harp Competition at the age of eight, becoming the youngest winner in the competition’s history. She also received first prize at the 30th Japan Classical Music Competition. In addition, she won first prize at the 8th International Harp Competition in Hong Kong as well as at the 10th VDH Competition, organized by the German Harp Association. She also received First Prize in both the regional and national chamber music categories at the Austrian «Prima la Musica» competition.

As part of the International Louis Spohr Festival, talented young musicians will have the opportunity to learn, practice, and showcase their solo skills in master classes led by renowned instructors. According to a statement from the ZhdK, the Irma and Karl Jansa Prize, awarded by the Förderverein Louis Spohr Stiftung e.V., honors young musicians with particularly high potential for development.

In the «Light Music» category, the choir’s male voices took first place, and in the «Classical Music» category, they took second. They outperformed choirs from Belgium, Bulgaria, and Greece, among others. In both categories, the Lucerne choir also received the audience award. A special prize was awarded to the choir for its particularly successful interpretation of a Swiss folk song. Another prize went to conductor Andreas Wiedmer, who was named the festival’s best conductor.

Founded in 2011, the Boys Choir Lucerne—divided into boys’ and men’s voices—brings together singers from the Lucerne region. In 2025, the men’s section won five gold medals at the European Choir Games in Aarhus and were crowned European champions in the youth choir category with the highest score. In 2023, they won their category at the International Choir Competition in Toulon as well as the Grand Prix for the entire competition. They also won first prize at the European Youth Choir Festival in Belgium in 2022 and took first place at the Swiss Choir Competition in 2024.

The International Flanders Choir Festival was founded over 30 years ago as a choir competition in Maasmechelen. Over the course of its history, the biennial event has evolved from a competition alone into a multifaceted choir festival featuring top international choirs, concerts, and workshops. The long-standing event in Genk has recently been expanded to include modern genres such as light music.

Franziskus Theurillat has served as music director of the Basel Symphony Orchestra (SOB) since 2000. Among the developments he spearheaded were the ensemble’s separation from the Allgemeine Musikgesellschaft Basel and its subsequent transition to independence. As a result, the orchestra sharpened its profile and gained increasing international recognition, as evidenced by numerous tours and award-winning recordings. Other defining moments included navigating the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2025–26 anniversary season, during which the SOB celebrated its 150th anniversary.

Theurillat studied French horn at the Basel Academy of Music. From 1988 to 1990, he was a member of the Basel Radio Symphony Orchestra, and from 1990 to 1991, he served as principal horn with the St. Gallen City Orchestra. Starting in 1992, he rejoined the Basel Radio Symphony Orchestra, which became the Basel Symphony Orchestra following its merger with the Basel Symphony Orchestra in August 1997.

The early announcement of the resignation will allow sufficient time for a thorough succession process, the SOB states in its press release.

Jakub Przybycień grew up in Poland and was accepted into the European Union Youth Orchestra, where he worked with conductors such as Bernard Haitink and Manfred Honeck. He studied in Bern with Monika Urbaniak Lisik from 2014 to 2019 and completed both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees with honors. He subsequently earned a master’s degree in music performance in Zurich under Johannes Schlaefli and Christoph-Mathias Mueller.

Starting with the 2027–28 season, he has been appointed the new principal conductor of the Norwegian Arctic Philharmonic for an initial term of three years. In addition, beginning with the 2026–27 season, he will serve as assistant conductor with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under music director Andris Nelsons for two years.

The Arctic Philharmonic is the largest cultural institution in Northern Norway and is based in the cities of Bodø and Tromsø.  It performs 10 to 12 times a year as a full-sized symphony orchestra, but also regularly gives concerts as a sinfonietta in Bodø and as a chamber orchestra in Tromsø.

Lorenzo Viotti has been the music director of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra since 2024. He travels to Japan up to four times per season and spends a total of up to eight weeks conducting the orchestra. The ensemble was founded in 1946 as the Toho Symphony Orchestra and adopted its current name in 1951. It presents subscription concerts at Suntory Hall, Muza Kawasaki Symphony Hall, and the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall, and has been awarded nearly every major music prize in Japan.

Born in Lausanne into a Franco-Italian family of musicians, Viotti—according to the Zurich Opera House—first studied piano, voice, and percussion in Lyon before continuing his conducting studies in Vienna and Weimar. He gained international recognition by winning several major competitions, including the Nestlé Young Conductors Award at the Salzburg Festival, the MDR Symphony Orchestra Conducting Competition, and the Cadaqués International Conducting Competition.

According to figures published on Tuesday, Geneva invested the most in music during the year under review (2024)—namely, 375 francs per capita—while Lugano invested the least, at 99 francs. In Basel, the figure was 144 francs; in Bern, 179 francs; in Lausanne, 201 francs; and in Zurich, 236 francs. According to the compilation by the Music Diversity Initiative, approximately 82 percent—and in some cases as much as 96 percent—of public music funding goes to the same recipients year after year. The analysis takes into account municipal and cantonal funding as well as funds from the lottery. These funds were used to support venues, events, institutions, and projects in the field of independent music creation.

The «Classical» category accounted for over 70 percent of all funding in every city. By contrast, the share of funding allocated to other genres was minimal everywhere, according to the analysis. In Zurich, 95 percent of the funds went to the «Classical» category, and in Lausanne, 76 percent. Cities in French-speaking Switzerland provided proportionally significantly more support for contemporary music genres (pop, rock, jazz, hip-hop, and so on) than cities in German-speaking Switzerland. Geneva, for example, spent twice as much per capita on this as Basel and Bern.

Orchestras, concert halls, and opera houses account for the largest share of funding

With its data, the Music Diversity Initiative demonstrates once again that classical music continues to receive the largest share of funding. This is primarily due to the costs associated with traditional institutions: orchestras, concert halls, and opera houses. There are historical reasons for this: until the end of the 20th century, these institutions were largely regarded as the only serious players in urban musical life. Contemporary music styles and folk culture, by contrast, were primarily supported through the more flexibly allocated funds from the lottery. The increased importance of rock, pop, jazz, and so on is still not reflected in the distribution of public funding.

The Basel-Stadt citizens« initiative »For Greater Musical Diversity” aimed to allocate at least one-third of the canton’s total annual music funding budget to support independent music creation in Basel-Stadt. It was decisively rejected in November 2024, with 64 percent of voters casting “no” votes.

Germán Echeverri has been a professor of Baroque violin at the ESMUC (Barcelona) since 2024. He comes from a family of musicians in Colombia and grew up in Spain. After studying with Raquel Castro and Pablo Valetti at ESMuC, he pursued a master’s degree with a major in Baroque violin at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis under Amandine Beyer, which he completed with honors in May 2012.

In 2011, he founded the ensemble with violinist Karoline Echeverri Klemm The Musical Garden. The ensemble won several international competitions in 2013 and recorded several CDs. Germán Echeverri serves as concertmaster in several ensembles, including Musica Fiorita, the Freitagsakademie Bern, and La Cetra Basel, and performs with various orchestras and ensembles, such as the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra.

Starting in the fall semester of 2024–25, students at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis were able, for the first time, to take subject-specific pedagogy courses for the violin in the historical scale as part of their music education program. This specialized didactics course will be permanently established at the Schola beginning in the fall semester of 26-27.

In the «World Premiere» category, the opera *L’Agamennone* by Salvatore Sciarrino (libretto: Sciarrino/Turroni) was nominated in the «World Premiere» category; it celebrated its world premiere on May 30, 2026, at Bühnen Bern, directed by David Hermann and conducted by Clément Lonca. In addition, Raimund Orfeo Voigt has been nominated in the “Designer” category. Voigt is currently responsible for the direction and set design of the new production of *La Traviata* as well as the revival of *Tosca* at Bühnen Bern.

The awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, November 21, 2026, at the MusikTheater an der Wien and will be live-streamed worldwide via the OperaVision platform. The award is considered one of the most prestigious international honors in the world of opera.

According to Christoph Louven of the Institute for Musicology and Music Education at the University of Osnabrück, about 30 percent of students were affected by physical pain related to playing music; about 27 percent suffered from performance anxiety that limited their performance. It has also become clear, Louven said, that despite these high prevalence rates, there are no programs or structures in place during the course of study to identify emerging problems in a timely manner. According to him, this increases the risk of developing crises that threaten one’s professional and personal well-being.

For the approximately 250 music students at the University of Osnabrück, a program of courses, workshops, and counseling will therefore be created to provide timely prevention of physical and mental health issues specific to musicians. It is also intended to enable students to continue making music in a healthy way throughout their lives. Furthermore, students are expected to pass on the skills they have acquired to their future students in their later careers as music teachers.

Entitled «Healthy Music-Making: Promoting Physical and Mental Health for Music Students,» the university’s research project aims to address these issues early on. The project is scheduled to last 2.5 years and is funded by Techniker Krankenkasse with 75,000 euros.

Original article:
https://www.uni-osnabrueck.de/campusleben/uni-news/detailseite-news/2026/09/gesund-musizieren-koerperliche-und-mentale-gesundheitsfoerderung-fuer-musikstudierende

According to a press release, the canton of Thurgau will focus on four areas of cultural policy over the next four years. These include the promotion of structures and projects, the further development of the cantonal museums and the canton’s museum landscape, cultural participation, and close collaboration with other cultural stakeholders. Overall, the planned funding contributions and withdrawals from the lottery fund for the years 2027 through 2030 will increase from the previous annual amount of 13.2 million Swiss francs to 17.2 million Swiss francs.

In the field of music, the canton enters into performance agreements with the Kaff Cultural Association, the Kartause Ittingen/Ittinger Pfingstkonzerte Foundation, the Thurgau Cantonal Music Association, the Kreuzlingen Symphonic Wind Orchestra, the Thurgau Youth Orchestra, the Presswerk Cultural Association, the Arbon Symphony Orchestra, the Cantemus Vocal Ensemble, the Eastern Switzerland Concert Choir, the Thurgau Cantonal Choral Association, the Swiss Chamber Music Promotion Association, the Frauenfeld City Orchestra, the Amriswil Chamber Orchestra, the Frauenfeld Oratorio Choir, and the Kreuzlingen Oratorio Choir.

Enrico Bassi prevailed against his international competitors in the high-caliber bassoon competition and was awarded first prize. The prize is worth 15,000 euros.

Born in Parma in 2001, Bassi began his musical training at the «Arrigo Boito» Conservatory in his hometown. In 2024, he successfully completed the Master’s program in Specialized Performance (Soloist) at the Zurich University of the Arts under Matthias Rácz. That same year, accompanied by the Argovia Philharmonic Orchestra, he won «The Muri Competition.».

The ARD International Music Competition is one of the most prestigious and largest classical music competitions in the world. In its 75th anniversary year, young musicians from around the world competed in the categories of bassoon, organ, percussion, and string quartet.

Under the leadership of Numa Bischof Ullmann, the orchestra has undergone comprehensive development and expansion, the ensemble writes. With «a clear artistic vision, consistent internationalization, and structural expansion,» he has established it as one of Switzerland’s leading orchestras with international appeal. His tenure as artistic director will end at the close of June 2028 after 25 years. The Lucerne Symphony Orchestra (LSO) Association will «initiate the process of filling the artistic director position in a timely manner.».

Among the key milestones of Bischof’s tenure as music director are the expansion of the orchestra to its current size, guest performances in over 30 countries, numerous recordings and composition commissions, the founding and development of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra Foundation, the financing of the orchestra’s home, and the launch and artistic direction of the Le Piano Symphonique piano festival.

After his tenure as music director ends, Bischof will remain associated with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra. He will continue to serve as artistic director of the Le Piano Symphonique piano festival and will be responsible for managing the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra Foundation.

According to a press release from the Federal Statistical Office, the number of cultural enterprises stood at 69,441 in 2024. This represents a 1.8 percent increase compared to the previous year and marks a new high since the first year of data collection in 2011. Compared to 2019—that is, before the COVID-19 pandemic—Switzerland had 7.2 percent more cultural enterprises—and a quarter more than in 2011. By contrast, the number of enterprises in the overall economy has risen by only 15.6 percent since 2011. The share of cultural enterprises is also growing: while they accounted for 9.8 percent of all companies in 2011, that figure rose to 10.5 percent in 2019 and 10.7 percent in 2024.

The increase between 2023 and 2024 was noticeable in the cultural heritage and performing arts sectors, and was even striking in the creative fields of audiovisual and multimedia as well as advertising. In the arts and crafts sector, the number of companies declined slightly, while it fell significantly in the book and press sector. In the latter sector, there were 12.3 percent fewer companies in 2024 than in 2019, although this figure had already been declining steadily since 2015.

Compared to the overall economy, where the number of employees has grown more rapidly since 2011, the cultural sector has seen a slow decline: In 2011, the cultural sector still accounted for 4.7 percent of all employees; in 2019, the figure was 4.4 percent; and in 2024, it was 4.2 percent—despite a rising number of cultural enterprises. The ever-increasing number of enterprises in the cultural sector are thus becoming smaller and smaller.

More info: https://www.bfs.admin.ch/news/de/2026-0198