Against the backdrop of a growing shortage of specialists due to declining student numbers, unfilled or eliminated positions and a lack of support for church music associations, there is an urgent need for action. In order to secure the future of church music, a joint commitment and strategy is needed from those responsible in churches and society.

Recent surveys by the German Music Information Center (miz) confirm the high social relevance of church music: of the 16.3 million amateur musicians nationwide, 23% make music in church and of amateur musicians aged 16 and over, 23% say they have come into closer contact with music through churches. 3300 full-time professionals form the backbone of voluntary musical engagement and support cultural life in church congregations and communities with concerts, rehearsals and music education.

The whole statement: 
https://www.musikrat.de/fileadmin/redaktion/news/2026/01_2026/2026_01_21_DMR_Positionspapier_Zukunft_der_Kirchenmusik_sichern.pdf

Born in London in 1954, Arman was educated in his home city at Trinity College of Music. From 1983 to 2000, he conducted the Salzburg Bach Choir, with whom he first appeared at the Salzburg Festival in 1995. From 1998 to 2013, Howard Arman served as Artistic Director of the MDR Radio Choir in Leipzig and from 2011 to 2016 as Music Director at the Lucerne Theater. He will take up his new post in Munich from the 2026/27 season.

The Munich Bach Academy arose from the desire to continuously cultivate the music of Johann Sebastian Bach in Munich at a high artistic level. Since its foundation, it has developed into a permanent fixture in the city's musical life with concerts, projects and music education work. From the very beginning, its history has combined historical performance practice with the aim of presenting Bach's music in a new and lively way.

She will take up the new position on August 1, 2026, succeeding Felix Baumann, who will hand over the profile management at the end of the spring semester. He has been closely associated with the ZHdK for over 30 years and will retire in July 2026. With Daniella Gerszt, the Department of Music has gained an experienced specialist with proven expertise, particularly in music theory, writes the ZHdK.

Daniella Gerszt comes from Chur and studied piano and music theory at the Lucerne School of Music. Further piano studies took her to the Royal Academy of Music in London. She was a lecturer in music theory at the State University of Music Trossingen (Germany) and has been a lecturer in music theory at the Lucerne School of Music since 2011, where she has been study coordinator for Composition, Music Theory, Music Research, Artistic Research and Music and Digital Creation since 2020. She has been teaching music theory / aural training at Zurich University of the Arts since 2013 and is now taking over the management of the profile.

The Symphony No. 5 was the first to be released as part of the orchestra's Mahler cycle. It has already been awarded the German Record Critics‘ Award 3/25. According to the ICMA jury, the recording is characterized by «unparalleled precision, wonderful harmony and perfectly coordinated tempi».

In addition to the Tonhalle Orchestra, the ICMA (International Classical Music Awards) will also be showing the documentary film «The Alchemy of Music» by director Jan Schmidt-Garre and Swiss pianist Francesco Piemontesi, in which Piemontesi's older colleagues provide insights into the secrets of piano playing.

The ICMA have been awarded annually since 2011. They are awarded by independent media professionals. The ICMA awards ceremony always takes place in different countries, this year on March 18, 2026 in the Keilberth Hall in Bamberg.

Franz Manser began playing the Schwyzerörgeli as a primary school pupil, but soon switched to the hand organ and gave his first public performance at the age of 14. Since then, he has played in various formations and, according to the canton's press release, has become an integral part of the folk music scene. As a composer, he has written around 70 to 80 pieces, including numerous waltzes, Schottisch and Ruggusseli, which are now an integral part of the Appenzell repertoire.

His unmistakable style combined tradition with a lively joy of playing and made folk music famous far beyond the canton's borders, the canton added. In addition to his musical activities, Franz Manser ran a road construction business and ran a restaurant.

With this award, the Republic is honoring a conductor whose artistic integrity, intellectual depth and human greatness have shaped musical life far beyond Austria and will continue to do so, according to the laudation. Jordan combines precision with deep musical feeling, human greatness with artistic passion in his work. In his work at the Vienna State Opera, at the Paris Opera and on the world's great stages, he embodies a rare balance of analytical clarity and deeply felt, organic music-making.

Jordan was chief conductor of the Graz Opera House from 2001 to 2004 and of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra from 2014 to 2020. From 2020 to June 2025, Philippe Jordan was Music Director of the Vienna State Opera. At the beginning of the 2027/28 season, he will take over the position of Music Director at the Orchestre National de France.

In a personal message, Coll writes, according to the online magazine Slipped Disc, that he must step down from the management of his opera due to a recent mild transient ischemic attack. Enemy of the people at the Teatro Real in Madrid. However, he is recovering well and hopes to return to the podium once he has made a full recovery.

Coll served as composer-in-residence with Camerata Bern in 2018–19, a position that culminated in the world premiere of the double concerto Illuminated Pleasures with Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Sol Gabetta as soloists and the composer himself as conductor. A violin concerto for Kopatchinskaja, commissioned by the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, the NTR Zaterdag Matinee and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, was premiered in February 2020. His Cello Concerto was premiered in 2022 with Sol Gabetta at the Philharmonie de Paris conducted by the composer and had its UK premiere at the BBC Proms 2024 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Tianyi Lu.

From now on, all opera and ballet productions of the Grand Théâtre will take place on the stage of the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices (BFM), Place des Volontaires 2, in Geneva. Activities related to the La Plage program will take place at various locations in collaboration with other local institutions. Ticket sales and the reception of the Grand Théâtre will remain in the current building on Place de Neuve.

During a renovation of the Grand Théâtre de Genève in the 1990s, a new stage was built in the machine hall of a former hydroelectric power station in downtown Geneva. The 945-seat hall is called the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices or Salle Théodore Turrettini, after the builder of the hydroelectric power station. Initially planned as a temporary stage, this hall is now normally used for ballet performances, chamber operas, and baroque operas.

Graf studied flute with André Jaunet in Switzerland and at the Paris Conservatory with Marcel Moyse and Roger Cortet. In addition to his instrumental studies, he also trained as a conductor. He was particularly attached to the French flute tradition influenced by Moyse, but also maintained strong ties to German-speaking musical culture.

As an educator, he was a lecturer at the Basel Academy of Music for many years, where he trained generations of flutists who went on to pursue international careers. His discography as a flutist and conductor includes recordings of the core flute repertoire as well as lesser-known works. In addition to numerous prestigious international awards, he was also presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Flute Association in the United States in recognition of his lasting influence on flute playing and flute education worldwide.

According to Fischer's announcement on his own website, he intends to place particular emphasis on strengthening the international presence of the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo (Osesp) through tours, artist residencies, and strategic collaborations with leading soloists, conductors, composers, and cultural institutions worldwide. Experimenting with new concert formats and closer dialogue with digital platforms will also play a role in expanding the orchestra's reach.

Fischer began his musical career as principal flutist in Hamburg and at the Zurich Opera House. As music director of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, he performed annually at the BBC Proms. He was music director of the Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra and the Utah Symphony Orchestra, as well as principal guest conductor of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. He has been Music Director of the Osesp since 2020 and of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León since 2022.

The Osesp was founded in 1954 and was led by Brazilian conductor John Neschling from 1997 to 2008. Neschling was succeeded in 2009 by Yan Pascal Tortelier, who led the orchestra until 2011. He was followed by Marin Alsop and, from 2016, Thierry Fischer, initially as guest conductor. Since 1999, the orchestra has played in the Sala São Paulo, which has since become the orchestra's home venue and is renowned for its outstanding acoustics.

Sarah Saviet is a violinist who specializes in performing contemporary music, according to the Basel Academy of Music. She performs as a soloist and chamber musician and is a member of the Saviet/Houston Duo and the Ensemble Mosaik. Her most recent performances include the world premiere of a 90-minute full-length duo by Sarah Hennies at the Donaueschingen Music Days and at hcmf//, as well as concerts at Eclat Stuttgart, Ultraschall Berlin, the Witten Days for New Chamber Music, Eavesdropping, and the Aldeburgh Festival.

Saviet has been a guest artist at the Berlin University of the Arts, the Hanover University of Music, the University of Huddersfield, the University of Chicago, and the University of California, San Diego. In addition to her artistic activities, she teaches violin at the Darmstadt Summer Courses and holds a teaching position at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts – Music in the Institute for New Music, Composition, and Theory. She will begin teaching in Basel in the fall semester of 2026/27.

Born in Lausanne into a Franco-Italian family of musicians, Viotti 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.

In 2021, Viotti took on the dual role of chief conductor of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam. At the start of the 2026–2027 season, he will assume the position of music director of the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. In Zurich, he will succeed Gianandrea Noseda, who has held the position since 2021.

The methodological developments, which are co-funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, are being implemented in collaboration with nursing homes in Kriens. According to a statement from the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU), the nursing homes already offer music-based activities and are open to new experiments, which is a stroke of luck for the project. Singing and making music together are already part of everyday life at the nursing homes. The project wanted to go a step further: to bring people into contact with each other through creative, acoustic moments.

The tried-and-tested offerings were expressly aimed at all interested residents, regardless of their previous musical experience and their reasons for living in the Kriens homes.

Original article:
https://www.hslu.ch/de-ch/hochschule-luzern/ueber-uns/medien/medienmitteilungen/2025/12/18/zuhoeren-als-intervention/

Experts in Berlin and a team from the Institute of Musicology at the University of Vienna have examined contemporary reports from newspapers, music magazines, and private diaries, and analyzed etchings, engravings, floor plans, and blueprints of concert halls. In the process, they also discovered music events that were previously unknown.

As part of the project «Concert Life in Vienna 1780–1830,» funded by the German Research Foundation, a database of all musical performances that took place in the European music metropolis at that time has been created. In addition to texts and historical images, it also contains 3D models of the individual performance venues.

More info: 
https://www.tu.berlin/news/pressemitteilung/musikalische-zeitreisen

Catherine Huth is distinguished by her extensive and diverse cultural engagement in a wide range of cultural fields, writes the canton. With her commitment to cultural policy issues and concerns, the cultural mediator, production manager, artist, and cultural organizer has played a key role in shaping and influencing Lucerne's cultural landscape for many years.

In addition to her own artistic work in her studio, Catherine Huth has always been actively involved in the Lucerne cultural scene. During her long tenure as managing director of IG Kultur from 2009 to 2014, Huth worked tirelessly to represent the interests of independent artists and cultural workers. In 2012, she founded her own office, «fürimfall,» where she has managed various cultural projects and taken on mandates on a freelance basis. Since 2024, she has been involved in the Stanser Musiktage festival as a member of the festival management team.

Each year, the Cultural Promotion Commission awards this prize to individuals who have made a special contribution to cultural life in the canton of Lucerne through their work, activities, or in other ways.