Two new board members on the Swiss Music Council
Two new members of the Board of Directors were elected at the SMR's Extraordinary Delegates' Meeting on 1.9.2023.
Elections are/were not only on the federal level this fall. Two new seats had to be filled on the board of the Swiss Music Council: Karin Niederberger, President of the Swiss Yodelling Association, and Patrizia Lais, Swiss School Music Association, stepped down from their positions on the SMR. Before the new elections were held, President Rosmarie Quandranti thanked the retiring Board members for their work on the SMR Board. Several people stood for both places on the Board, making it an exciting election.
Yvonne Glur, President of accordeon.ch, was elected as Karin Niederberger's successor. She will therefore represent the amateur music sector on the Music Council. Yvonne Glur is an accordionist and teaches both at the regional music school in Zofingen and at the Lucerne University of Teacher Education. She is also active as a youth & music leader and trainer. She leads two formations of young accordionists on a voluntary basis.
Rico Gubler, Head of the Music Department at the Bern University of the Arts, was elected to the second position on the SMR Board (Education/Research/Science). Rico Gubler is both a professional musician (saxophone) and a qualified lawyer and has been a member of the Swiss Conference of Music Universities (KMHS) since this year.
To stay on the subject of elections: We still don't know who will be the new Minister of Culture in Switzerland... - although Federal Councillor Alain Berset used to say: "Switzerland doesn't have a Minister of Culture, only a Minister of the Interior.". It is generally known that he is very close to music and enjoys playing the piano in his private life. At the Swiss Music Awards ceremony in September, he did not miss the opportunity,
to play a jazz duet with the main winner, trumpet player Erik Truffaz! Which instrument will the future Swiss Minister of Culture play?
As every year in September, the Swiss Music Council met with colleagues from the music councils in Germany and Austria to exchange ideas. This year's meeting took place in Regensburg, Germany. In the joint "Regensburg Declaration", they call on the parliaments and governments of all federal levels of the DACH regions to set out the measures they intend to take to implement the UNESCO Mondiacult Declaration of 2022.
As a member of the board of trustees of the Swiss Music Encyclopedia (MLS), the SMR is involved in the conference "Music in Switzerland in the Past and Present: The Swiss Music Encyclopedia for the 21st Century" on November 23-24 at the University of Bern and is encouraging as many people interested in music as possible to take part in the workshop on November 25, which will help groups and individuals to document the local music culture with words, images and sounds.
