Showing what "music" is

Painting, drilling and fine-tuning are still taking place in the Great Hall of the Basel Music Academy. But everything is actually ready for the Jour de Fête on September 23. The history of today's music campus, which provides space for musical education in its most diverse forms on Leonhardsgraben in the heart of the city, began 150 years ago with the founding of the music school. This long history is documented in the commemorative publication Sound art goes to schooland the exhibition Avant-garde goes to school makes it visible and audible.

Around 1000 musicians will take part in 100 events on various stages on the festival day on September 23. As Stephan Schmidt, Director of Musik-Akademie Basel/Musikhochschulen FHNW, and Anna Brugnoni, Head of Musikschule Basel, explained at today's press conference, the aim is to show what "music" is and to provide an insight into the work that needs to be done in order to preserve music as a distinct form of thinking and feeling in the future. Basel's patrons and foundations are aware of the importance of this work - think of the Jazzcampus or the Vera Oeri Library, for example - and so, thanks to the generous support of Sabine Duschmalé-Oeri, the large hall will also be completed on time. On the one hand, it will be preserved as a historical gem, as the preservation order has accompanied the conversion process. On the other hand, state-of-the-art technology ensures that it can be used intensively and in a variety of ways - for the first time at the Jour de Fête.