Ma\u00ebl Graa, a professional tenor who lives at the foot of the Vaud Jura, holds a master\u2019s degree in humanities from the University of Lausanne (2021) and a master\u2019s degree in opera singing from the Lausanne Conservatory of Music (2025). He performs as a chorus member and soloist in several major ensembles in French-speaking Switzerland, such as the Ensemble Vocal de Lausanne and the Acad\u00e9mie vocale de Suisse romande, as well as in the choruses of the Op\u00e9ra de Lausanne and the Grand Th\u00e9\u00e2tre de Gen\u00e8ve. In addition to his artistic work, he serves as coordinator of the Geneva Conservatory of Music\u2019s alumni network and is committed to advancing his profession. He is a co-founder and secretary of the \u00abAssociation romande des choristes et solistes\u00bb (ARCS) and, in this role, supports initiatives and actions aimed at improving the working conditions of professional singers in French-speaking Switzerland.<\/p>\n
Ma\u00ebl, what motivates you to serve on the Central Executive Board?<\/em><\/p>\n I would like to share my experience and knowledge of the arts community and its organizations with my colleagues. It is very important to me to bring their voices\u2014and especially those of low-income individuals\u2014into a constructive dialogue among the various stakeholders in the music community.<\/p>\n What are the specific challenges that freelance singers face compared to instrumentalists?<\/em><\/p>\n Generally speaking, since singers hold the same degree and (roughly) practice the same profession as instrumentalists, they tend to be respected less, and their working conditions are less than ideal. On top of that, permanent positions are, as is well known, very rare. For me, this is partly explained by a tradition of amateur choral singing, which is of a very high standard in Switzerland. We\u2019re very often asked what our actual profession is (I know that some instrumentalists hear this too) or whether we play an instrument. Incidentally, there are some facts worth highlighting that are particularly related to the professional practice of singers\u2014such as health, recovery time, or the connection to the stage\u2014as well as the challenges that affect all musicians.<\/p>\n What else can the SMV do to support freelancers?<\/em><\/p>\n The SMV already plays a crucial role in representation and providing information. It can continue to address issues related to status, compensation, and social security, and carry on its work of raising awareness among cultural partners to help them understand the realities of freelance work, which affect a large proportion of professional musicians in Switzerland.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The next issue will feature an article about Cristian Vasile, who, after 22 years on the Central Executive Committee, has stepped down to make way for Ma\u00ebl Graa, whom we introduce here.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":43673,"featured_media":75196,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[5821,5822],"class_list":["post-75192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-smv","tag-mael-graa","tag-zentralvorstandsmitglied"],"acf":{"author":"Laurent Mettraux ; \u00dcbersetzung Daniel Lienhard "},"yoast_head":"\n