At the end of 2017, the Chur City Council adopted the cultural strategy 2020 - 2025, a key element of which is to address the most urgent shortcomings in cultural spaces. As a proposed solution, the city council drew up the "Target image for cultural spaces". In it, it outlines how it intends to address the lack of rehearsal spaces for various cultural disciplines in the city of Chur. On June 21, 2021, the municipal council took note of the target vision. The city council was instructed to press ahead with the work and to include the necessary funds in the budget processes for 2022 and subsequent years.

According to the city's press release, implementation took place in stages. After a six-month participatory process with the city's cultural department and in collaboration with cultural professionals from all sectors, the corresponding umbrella organization was founded in May 2022 in the form of the "Kulturraumnetzwerk Chur" association. The purpose of the association is the central rental, coordination, organization and operation of new, additional rehearsal and production spaces, which are arranged and rented to cultural professionals of different generations and disciplines. The focus is also on networking and the multiple use of individual rooms by different parties.

The City of Zurich places "a focus on fair and attractive working conditions in the cultural sector". In the new guiding principles period, the city will increasingly design its funding instruments in such a way that "as many creative phases as possible are taken into account and that in funded projects at least the salaries and fees recommended by the professional associations for cultural workers are paid".

The diversity of the city's population is not yet adequately reflected in Zurich's cultural scene, the city writes. It is therefore working to ensure that the cultural offerings reflect the diversity of Zurich's population more strongly: in the audience, but also in the people, projects and organizations supported.

The search for affordable spaces in the city remains a challenge for Zurich's cultural practitioners. The city is therefore committed to providing more spaces for the production and experience of culture. It wants to "secure existing spaces, create new ones, test new approaches and optimize existing allocation practices where necessary". Consideration of the city's climate target of "net zero by 2040" will also be decisive for the promotion of culture.

More info:
https://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/content/prd/de/index/ueber_das_departement/medien/medienmitteilungen/2023/juni/230628a.html

The premiere took place in Munich's Herkulessaal. The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra played under the direction of Matthias Hermann. As a part of the Trio Recherche program was cancelled two days before the concert due to illness, the two guitarists were asked to present Helmut Lachenmann's epochal work "Salut für Caudwell" (1977) to the concert audience in addition to the world premiere.

According to the Basel University of Music, the extremely last-minute preparation and organization to bring this almost 30-minute work to concert maturity was an additional adventure. The composer and the two soloists appeared relaxed and happy about the successful performance after the concert.

More info:
https://www.fhnw.ch/de/die-fhnw/hochschulen/musik/aktuelles-hochschule-fuer-musik-basel/wir-gratulieren-stephan-schmidt

The singer from the city of St.Gallen has long been known to insiders. Ragu inspires "with a mix of rhythm and blues, soul, hip-hop and traditional Tamil music", writes the canton of St. Gallen. In 2021, she played at the Montreux Jazz Festival and performed at the Open Air St.Gallen. According to Ragu, her songs are about challenging stereotypes that Sri Lankan people are essentially all cooks, cleaners or salespeople. People who are looked down upon. People who are rarely envied or desired. She is proud of who she is. And her music celebrates that.

Peter Surber has been "the epitome of a cultural journalist" in the canton of St.Gallen and its neighboring cantons for four decades, the canton writes further. With "precise, honest and well-founded reviews, commentaries and interventions", he has made significant contributions to cultural life.

The St.Gallen Cultural Foundation has revised and redesigned its foundation regulations and its awarding of prizes. The sponsorship prizes are now awarded annually according to pre-selected categories. The culture prize is now called the art prize, is endowed with CHF 25,000 and still honors special achievements by artists from all disciplines.

Original article:
Art and Recognition Award for Priya Ragu and Peter Surber

The members of the Karl Amadeus Hartmann Society unanimously decided to award Patricia Kopatchinskaja honorary membership in 2023 for her outstanding services to Hartmann's work. Patricia Kopatchinskaja has "dedicated herself to the work of Karl Amadeus Hartmann and his humanitarian, humanistic and cosmopolitan ideal with verve and passion for many years". In particular, her exceptional performances of Hartmann's Violin Concerto Concerto funebre would lead to moving events worldwide in their individual interpretation.

Alongside conductors Kirill Petrenko, Ingo Metzmacher and Fabio Luisi, violinist Ingolf Turban, the Munich Chamber Orchestra and the late composer and conductor Pierre Boulez, Patricia Kopatchinskaja is the seventh honorary member of the Karl Amadeus Hartmann Society.

With four recognition prizes, the city honors at least ten years of cultural work that is important for Chur and its immediate surroundings. Two of them go to the rapper LIV and the music producer Geesbeatz. Their releases have titles such as "Churer Gschichta", "Lacuna" and "Giacometti". Gion Andrea Casanova, solo bassoonist with the Graubünden Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra and singer with the well-known band "Furbaz", and performance artist Ines Marita Schärer, who lives in Chur and Brussels, will also receive a recognition award.

The city also awards two sponsorship prizes. These will be awarded to the Chur rock band Okto Vulgaris and Val Minnig. Minnig completed his Master's degree in Fine Arts around three years ago. Both the recognition and sponsorship prizes are endowed with CHF 4000 each.

More info: https://www.chur.ch/aktuellesinformationen/1890989

The initiative "for more musical diversity" aims to support independent music creation in the canton of Basel-Stadt with at least one third of the total music funding budget each year. Contributions are to be awarded to freelance musicians as well as for program, venue and structural funding. In addition, the awarding processes for the entire independent music sector are to be standardized and funding structures adapted.

The Government Council is of the opinion that, as part of the renewal of the cultural partnership with the Canton of Basel-Landschaft as of 2022 and the implementation of the popular initiative "Trinkgeld-Initiative", measures have already been introduced that significantly improve the conditions for independent music creation in the Canton of Basel-Stadt and counteract the historically grown imbalance of genres. The government council rejects a further increase in the cultural budget in this context. It is of the opinion that the effects of the recently increased contributions should be awaited before deciding on further measures.

More info:
Canton of Basel-Stadt and City of Basel - Government Council recommends rejection of the "for more musical diversity" initiative

The researchers surveyed a representative sample of more than 2,000 people in Germany about their musical tastes. In their analysis, they focused on fans of five genres of Western music - European classical music, electronic dance music (EDM), metal, pop and rock - and for the first time systematically included sub-genres in a study.

Senior author Melanie Wald-Fuhrmann, Director at the MPIEA, developed a special questionnaire to take nuances into account. In this questionnaire, respondents were also asked to indicate how much they liked the sub-styles associated with the genres studied. By systematically recording likes and dislikes at genre and sub-genre level, the team ultimately obtained a more differentiated picture of individual musical tastes.

The evaluations revealed that very different subgroups can be found within fan groups, which differ according to their preferences for certain subgenres. A total of five subgroups emerged: According to Fuhrmann, three subgroups can be identified across all fan groups that like all sub-styles of a genre to roughly the same extent - either all very much, on average or rather less. However, two further subgroups differentiate: they either prefer subgenres that can be described as "harder" or more sophisticated, or the "softer" subgenres that can be classified as mainstream.

Original publication:
Siebrasse, A., & Wald-Fuhrmann, M. (2023). You Don't Know a Person('s Taste) When You Only Know Which Genre They Like: Taste Differences Within Five Popular Music Genres Based on Sub-Genres and Sub-Styles. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1062146. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1062146

According to its press release, 15 years ago the Schwyz Cultural Commission launched an information sheet in the form of a leporello, which had become outdated. The decision was therefore made to give it a completely new look: fresher, more colorful and in the format of a magazine; in addition, unlike today, much more use is made of images and shorter texts. A mix of journalistic forms on 20 pages invites you to read and provides information about the Commission's activities.

The first issue, which is included as a one-off promotion in all newspapers in the Canton of Schwyz, contains numerous references to current and future cultural events, as well as articles on the School Theater Days at the Goldau University of Teacher Education, the Central Switzerland Artists' Studio in Berlin and a report on the Einsiedeln filmmaker Franz Kälin.

In future, "szene", as the Kulturblatt is now known, will be positioned as an independent publication that is sent to subscribers free of charge and appears twice a year. Subscription applications can be sent by e-mail to "szene@sz.ch" or by post to Kulturkommission Kanton Schwyz, P.O. Box 2202 in 6431 Schwyz.

The Master's degree program is aimed (subject to approval by the University of Applied Sciences Council) at music students with a Bachelor's degree who want to explore and expand their performance skills. In a community of teachers, lecturers and coaches from the fields of choreography, directing, theater and so on, students experiment with their own projects and search for new ways of experiencing music.

The course enables contact with local and international institutions, festivals and venues, the realization of own scenic projects and diverse artistic experiences. It sees itself as a "community of peers, mentors and lecturers who support graduates in the realization of their individual artistic vision".

More info: https://www.fhnw.ch/de/studium/musik/musik-und-szene-in-transformation

Bjørn Sagstad has been Professor of Wind Orchestra Conducting at the Basel University of Music FHNW since September 2021. He graduated from the conservatories in Bergen, Trondheim, Tromsø and the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and is Associate Professor of Conducting at the Grieg Academy of Music/UiB in Bergen. He is also course coordinator and mentor for the Maestra program. Maestra is a Norwegian initiative to promote female conductors.

Founded in 1924, the Nidarholm Music Society (Musikkforeningen Nidarholm) has around 75 members between the ages of 18 and 60, consisting of amateurs, music students and professionals. The band has achieved solid placings in the Norwegian national championships over the past ten years. In 2019, it won the Norwegian Janissary Championships, it was able to defend the title in 2022 after two years of very variable and sometimes low activity during the pandemic.

The federal government has taken the Covid crisis as an opportunity to analyze the challenges facing culture in Switzerland with the involvement of the cantons, cities and municipalities as well as cultural associations from all sectors. Based on this assessment, the Federal Office of Culture (FOC), Pro Helvetia and the Swiss National Museum are realigning the focus of their activities in the new cultural message, according to their press release. To this end, they have defined six fields of action:

• Culture as a world of work: The Confederation will contribute to the appropriate compensation and social security of professional cultural workers and advocate fair framework conditions and equal opportunities in the cultural sector.
• Updating cultural funding: The federal government is focusing more strongly on the work phases upstream and downstream of production.
• Digital transformation in culture: The federal government takes new digital and hybrid formats of production, dissemination and communication into account in its funding activities.
• Culture as a dimension of sustainability: The Confederation continues to develop the strategy for a high level of Baukultur and contributes to tackling climate change, protecting biodiversity and promoting renewable energies. It takes measures to support sustainability in the cultural sector and promotes social cohesion through broad access to culture, be it through the promotion of inclusion, new forms of cultural participation or the strengthening of amateur culture.
• Cultural heritage as a living memory: The Confederation is committed to a nationwide initiative for the appreciation and communication of Switzerland's tangible, intangible and digital cultural heritage. This commitment also includes promoting the professional and ethical handling of historically significant cultural heritage in Switzerland.
• Governance in the cultural sector: The Confederation is committed to greater cooperation and coordination in the cultural sector and with other sectors, is committed to a strong Swiss presence in international cultural policy and is developing a monitoring system with key figures on the cultural sector.

More info:
https://www.admin.ch/gov/de/start/dokumentation/medienmitteilungen.msg-id-95623.html

Kaija Saariaho studied composition in Helsinki, Freiburg (with Klaus Huber) and Paris, where she has lived since 1982 and conducted research at IRCAM. She has written operas and vocal works such as "Château de l'âme" (1996), "Oltra mar" (1999) and the oratorio "La Passion de Simone", which depicts the life and death of the philosopher Simone Weil.

Saariaho was the recipient of the Grawemeyer Award, the Polar Music Prize and the BBVA Foundation's Frontiers of Knowledge Award, among others, making her one of the most highly endowed composers of her time. In 2012, Saariaho was elected an honorary member of the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM).

In 2022, Saariaho's work "Vista" was performed at the Lucerne Festival by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Susanna Mälkki.

The Board of Trustees of the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana has appointed Barbara Widmer as Artistic Director and Samuel Flury as Administrative Director. The management has successfully led the foundation after the previous artistic and administrative director Christian Weidmann stepped down on October 1 last year after just over two years in office. The new management will take office on September 1.

After studying music and graduating in musicology and Italian literature at the University of Zurich, Barbara Widmer completed an MAS in cultural management at the Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana. After various activities in the cultural sector, she has been working for the Fondazione per l'Orchestra della Svizzera italiana since 2010, first as artistic assistant, then as head of artistic production. In January 2022, she was appointed a member of the FOSI management. Since October 1, 2022, she has held the position of Artistic Director ad interim.

Samuel Flury, born in 1981, comes from Schaffhausen and Graubünden and grew up in Lugano, where he completed his studies in business administration and business law at SUPSI. He joined the Fondazione per l'Orchestra della Svizzera italiana in 2019 as Head of Operations and Finance and was later appointed Deputy Director. Since October 1, 2022, he has held the position of Administrative Director ad interim. Samuel Flury is also a lecturer in the Master's degree program in Business Law and White Collar Crime at the University of Applied Sciences of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI).

Simon Blatter was born in Brig in 1995. He began trumpet lessons at the age of nine at the Oberwallis General Music School. After completing his music baccalaureate at the Kollegium Spiritus Sanctus in Brig, he attended the Zurich University of the Arts, and from 2017 he completed his studies at the Basel University of Music. He is principal trumpeter of the Danish Sønderjyllands Symfoniorkester and the Finnish Turku Philharmonic Orchestra. The prize is endowed with 10,000 Swiss francs.

Breaking isolation by sharing emotions in concerts and music workshops is the mission of the association "Les Concerts du Cœur". Founded in 2017 in Sierre by soprano Laure Barras, the association offers musical moments for people who have difficulty accessing concert halls, whether they are elderly, hospitalized, disabled or living in poverty.

The performances organized by the association "Les Concerts du Cœur" are part of a comprehensive cultural mediation. The various elements of the performances are designed for the different contexts and characteristics of the audience. The association also aims to open up new horizons for talented young musicians by introducing them to a social aspect of their profession.