The Central President of the Swiss Choral Association, Gody W. Widmer from Sursee, is stepping down at the end of 2013. Claude-André Mani from Villeneuve was appointed as his successor at the SCV Delegates' Meeting on Sunday, April 14 in Vevey. The handover of office will take place on January 1, 2014.
According to the Swiss Choral Association (SCV), Gody Widmer had been a member of the SCV Executive Board since 1999 and was elected President in 2005. Highlights during his term of office included the organization of the 2008 Swiss Song Festival in Weinfelden and the launch of the next Swiss-wide festival in Meiringen in 2015. The Swiss Singing Competition was successfully held in Solothurn and Glarus and will take place again this November in Aarau. Gody Widmer was a strong advocate for the promotion of young talent and cooperation with other associations at national and European level. He was also a member of the Youth and Music Initiative Committee. Gody Widmer cites his increasing workload as the reason for his resignation.
The current Vice President Claude-André Mani currently also heads the Société Cantonale des Chanteurs Vaudois. He will relinquish his position as cantonal president next year. The SCV delegates elected Laurent Bovier from Valais as a new member of the Executive Board. He replaces Claude Maumary from Geneva, who is stepping down.
The Swiss Choral Association SCV is the largest association of amateur choirs in Switzerland with around 50,000 singers in over 1,800 singing formations of all kinds. It was formed in 1977 through the merger of the Swiss Federal Singers' Association (founded in 1842; male choirs), the Association of Swiss Women's and Daughters' Choirs and the Swiss Association of Mixed Choirs. The association promotes and develops singing in Switzerland. It supports the activities of the choirs in cooperation with the cantonal associations.
