The Eastern Switzerland Soloist and Ensemble Competition (OSEW) was founded in 2001 by some proactive members of the Liberty Brass Band Eastern Switzerland. Due to the constantly increasing number of participants, the OSEW has become one of the largest music competitions in Switzerland. In order to secure the future of the competition, the OSEW association was founded on February 9, 2010.

The company had originally planned to celebrate its 20th anniversary in September 2020, but coronavirus put a spanner in the works. The celebration will now take place on September 11, if circumstances permit.

Despite the difficult conditions, the 2020 music competition was a great success. The aim is to build on this again. The board and music committee have made some changes from last year; for example, the ranking announcements will take place during the day. The call for entries for the competition runs until May 31. You can register directly via www.osew.ch log in.

We are still looking for three Board members. In particular for the accounting office, which should be filled by a person with an affinity for IT. Further information and contact addresses can be found on the Website.

In March, 366 of over 1000 candidates qualified for the final. The young talents play as soloists or in chamber music formations and are judged by expert juries.
The timetables are available on the SJMW website (Link).

For the final, the Swiss Youth Music Competition works together with the Südpol, the Music School of the City of Lucerne, the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and the Orchestra House of the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra.

According to the SJMW, the preludes will take place without an audience, but will be recorded in sound and vision. The final concert will be broadcast later on SRF2 and on the SJMW website.

According to Maurice Steger, President of the Classical Music Committee, the musical level of the participants was pleasingly high.
 

The manuscript contains the complete first violin part for two orchestral dances, No. 4 of the Five Contredances K. 609, and No. 1 of the Two Quadrilles (Minuets with Contredances) K. 463 (448c), as well as three sketches for the program of his famous concert in the old Vienna Burgtheater on 23 March 1783. The manuscript seems to be unknown to Mozart scholars and is not recorded in the literature.

According to the auction house, the document comes from a 19th century German private collection. It was refurbished by John Arthur, Perranwell Station, Great Britain.

The Klanghaus is being built on the current site of the Hotel Seegüetli on Lake Schwendi above Unterwasser. Compared to the hotel, it will be built further away from the lake. The first step will therefore be to relocate the current road and demolish the Hotel Seegüetli. The road construction work will start in summer 2021.

The new Klanghaus will be a musical and architectural center for natural sound music. With its unique acoustics, it will attract both professional musicians and amateurs for rehearsals, courses and experiments.

More info:
https://www.sg.ch/news/sgch_allgemein/2021/04/kanton-reicht-baugesuch-fuer-das-klanghaus-ein.html

The cross-genre composition, in which Sisera's jazz quintet Roofer meets a classical orchestra, is intended to "transcend entrenched boundaries and unite musicians of different styles in a major project". The world premiere of the composition in collaboration with the Kammerphilharmonie Graubünden and the JazzChur association is scheduled for September 2022.

Born in Chur in 1975, Luca Sisera is well-known on the Swiss jazz and improv scene as a bassist. With the quintet Luca Sisera Roofer, founded in 2013, he has also attracted international attention as a composer. Tours and concerts have already taken him to China, India, Russia, Guatemala, Jordan, Egypt, the USA and across Europe. Sisera's work has also been documented on over forty recordings to date. His artistic work has been supported and honored several times with scholarships and awards.

Every year, the city of Chur awards a literary work grant in the amount of CHF 10,000 to enable concentrated work on a longer-term cultural project. The work grant is primarily intended to provide financial support for authors, composers or screenwriters. A total of six applications were submitted for the 2021 work grant.

At its meeting today, the Federal Council took account of people's urgent need for live culture, according to the Music Council's communiqué. This is gratifying and important. We all need encounters, social meeting places such as cultural events, restaurants or bars. Events with 50 people inside and 100 people outside are therefore an important first step.

However, for many cultural event organizers, creative artists and agencies, the specific requirements mean that they are still unable to work normally and earn a living:

● There are still no prospects for larger events (e.g. festivals);
● For many medium-sized and small venues, the maximum half-occupancy requirement makes it virtually impossible to organize events;

There are also still severe restrictions in the non-professional sector:
● Performances in front of an audience are still prohibited, many brass bands are effectively unable to rehearse (25 m2/person).

The continuation and rapid payment of compensation in the cultural sector is therefore essential. For larger events, a protective shield is needed that is implemented quickly and uniformly throughout Switzerland.

By gradually opening up, the cultural sector will be able to prove that it has suitable protection concepts that focus on the safety of visitors, performers and the entire crew. This in turn will give the Federal Council the opportunity to quickly decide on further steps towards opening up.

Press release of the Federal Council:
https://www.admin.ch/gov/de/start/dokumentation/medienmitteilungen.msg-id-83106.html

With pointed questions, the online portal #seinodernichtsein, launched in March 2021, invites you to visit www.sein-oder-nichtsein.ch of the Swiss Performers' Foundation SIS and the Swissperformers' rights society Swissperform to take an active interest in their pension provision. For each question, you will find information covering the relevant aspects of social security: Old-age provision, unemployment, taxes, social insurance, self-employment, budgeting, family law and much more. The information is checked and updated on an ongoing basis.

Anyone who needs more in-depth advice after an initial overview on the portal will find further links as well as a network of experienced ambassadors who offer a free consultation. These contact persons were selected in collaboration with the cultural departments of various cantons and are remunerated for their commitment. To ensure the quality of their advice, they regularly take part in further training. The two cantons of Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Appenzell Innerrhoden share the costs of one ambassador.

Link to the pension portal: #to be or not to be

According to the BVMI, the draft law provides for a separate regulatory construct for Germany, which weakens the legal position of artists and the music companies working in partnership with them, while further strengthening the online platforms in some cases. In addition, special regulations in individual countries per se contradict the aim of the DSM Directive to create harmonized copyright law in the European digital single market.

The system of so-called presumed permitted uses would effectively incapacitate creatives and their partner companies because they would no longer be able to determine what essential and valuable parts of their content can be used for, how and by whom.

In future, up to 15 seconds of a piece of music, film or moving image, up to 160 characters of text, 125 kilobytes for photos and graphics could be used publicly in Germany free of permission and liability in return for a (low) collectively agreed flat-rate fee.

Original article:
https://www.musikindustrie.de/presse/presseinformationen/umsetzung-der-urheberrechtsrichtlinie-in-deutschland

It did seem a little spooky when only the musicians of the Graubünden Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra applauded. Especially as they were in the opening piece of the Tuns Contemporans had also been on stage. But without an audience in the hall, they were at the end of the applause chain. And what the soprano Irina Ungureanu had done shortly before during the world premiere of David Sontòn Caflisch's Isopor Oss simply demanded an ovation.

We learn to live with such disconcerting moments, as they are merely side effects of efforts to make the best of the current situation. And whether streaming concerts in front of empty seats is a solution is debatable in view of works that were written for a concert hall with an audience. But for a festival that was only launched two years ago and is now in its second edition, it is essential. Young plants need to be nurtured, especially those with a certain level of ambition. Not taking place is not an option.

The two professional orchestras of the canton of Graubünden, the Ensemble ö! and the Graubünden Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra, formulated several ambitious goals. Artistic directors Philippe Bach and David Sontòn Caflisch wanted to set an example for more diversity in the still heavily male-dominated music scene with a call for scores aimed exclusively at female composers. In addition, commissions were issued to three generations of Graubünden composers, whose works were juxtaposed with pieces by Swiss and international greats, including the Englishman Thomas Adès, the South Korean Unsuk Chin and the Finn Magnus Lindberg. And last but not least, contemporary music was to be reintegrated into everyday concert life as a matter of course.

It is right to set high goals. And the fact that Magnus Lindberg, a star of the scene, could be won over as composer in residence confirms the organizers' high expectations. The only irritating aspect was the number of themes, as there were only four concerts spread over the weekend. This meant that virtually every concert had to cover or tick off all the topics, which seemed somewhat forced. But programs, no matter how coherent they may seem, lose their meaning anyway in view of the sounding reality of the music. What counts are the works and their interpretation, and here Tuns Contemporans much to offer.

This was already apparent after the aforementioned first piece and even more so after the entire opening concert. This was followed by the extremely expressive Isopor Oss with Thomas Adès' Lieux retrouvés for cello and orchestra is a piece of a completely different kind. Thanks to his relatively catchy works, Adès is one of the most successful protagonists of the profession. However, cellist Karolina Öhmann proved with her interpretation that this is not simply soft-spoken new music, as one might assume. The third movement in particular may be an example of this: The solo cello plays a constantly varied four-note motif throughout, two notes up / two notes down, developing a vibrating urgency. Impressive in its expressive economy.

You can see from Saturday's concert just how big the arc was that was spanned from Chur. On the one side Gougalōn by Unsuk Chin, a South Korean living in Berlin. In this extremely colorful, humorous and sometimes wild piece, the atmosphere of the markets from her childhood is evoked. The colorful hustle and bustle with street musicians and jugglers finds its counterpart in a duo for bottles and cans, among other things. But despite all the hustle and bustle, the mysteriously romantic also has its place: the second movement comes across as a barcarole with a Far Eastern touch, almost kitschy, were it not for the recurring dissonant chordal beats of the ensemble.

This tonal grab bag was contrasted by the world premiere of Martin Derungs' Changements. The composer once again impressed as a magician who knows how to develop larger forms from short figures. The title proved to be the program, the thoughts are in a constant flow, without ever swelling into the much-invoked stream. Rather, Derungs treats his material with extreme caution and restraint. As someone who knows that the sound figures he has devised work by themselves, if only they are given the space to unfold.

It was a pity that the works of the three winners of the Call for Scores were somewhat lost in the densely structured program. Vera Ivanovas Still Images had to hold their own between Chin and Derungs, which is no easy task. They virtually became victims of the high standard of the whole festival. A quiet criticism that one would wish on every event.

With this new format between master class and sponsorship award, the Festival da Jazz support up-and-coming talents as they take the step into professional music life. Two bands or solo acts can look forward to an invitation to St. Moritz. This includes a master class, a concert with video recording and prize money of 5000 francs. At the festival, contacts can be made with international agencies and managers and concerts can be attended free of charge.

Applications are possible until May 9, 2021.

Further information and registration:
www.jazzlab.ch
 

In its communication of April 9, 2021, the Culture Taskforce comments on the outcome of the spring session: key concerns have been addressed, but important problems remain. The statement in full:

"Freelancers - employees with frequently changing fixed-term employment contracts - are commonplace in the cultural sector. It is therefore important that this group of cases is also recognized and explicitly mentioned in both the law and the ordinance. The definition chosen by the legislator, according to which freelancers must have a total of at least four fixed-term employment contracts with at least two different employers since 2018, is justifiable, even if there are fixed-term, project-related employment contracts with only one employer, without this constituting an inadmissible chain employment contract. It is only logical that the explicit definition of the years 2018 and 2019 is introduced as the basis for calculating the loss of earnings compensation.

On December 18, 2020, loss compensation for cultural professionals was reintroduced for financial losses from December 19, 2020. The amendment to the ordinance implements a retroactive effect that Parliament decided on in the spring session: Loss compensation can be applied for for the loss period from November 1, 2020. This means that since March 2020, cultural professionals have been able to receive compensation without interruption, as was already the case for cultural enterprises.

For emergency aid, the amendments to the Cultural Ordinance simplify the overall processing of applications, close important gaps and prevent abrupt rejections in individual cases. Among other things, an income allowance of CHF 1,000 per month now applies. Only freely disposable assets are taken into account when checking eligibility - for example, properties owned by the applicant are not included. In addition, the asset allowance will be increased slightly to CHF 60,000 and to CHF 20,000 per dependent child. Overall, this should result in a substantial improvement to the important instrument of emergency assistance for people who are already in very tight financial circumstances.

The extension of cultural support measures to the area of cultural education, as called for by the task force, has incomprehensibly failed to materialize. As a result, operators of private dance schools, for example, but also theater groups that offer school performances, continue to fall through the cracks in all support measures without this being objectively justified. Nevertheless, the federal government points out that the cantons have the opportunity to close this loophole. Fortunately, a few cantons have so far recognized this need, but of course a nationwide solution is urgently needed. Without appropriate support, the professional training of young artists in Switzerland - just like the numerous companies and professionals in this field - is seriously at risk.

The demand for compensation of 100 % of the effectively recognized damage suffered by creative artists and cultural enterprises and the abolition of competition-distorting cantonal caps in the ordinance, which was also supported by the Städtekonferenz Kultur SKK, was not heard. This is particularly incomprehensible from the point of view of cultural enterprises, as they are hardly ever in a position to plan events for the future under the current rules - the financial uncertainties and lack of planning security are too great.

Although a protective shield for public events of supracantonal importance between June 1, 2021 and April 30, 2022 was included in the Covid-19 Act in the form of Art. 11a, which could offset uncovered costs in the event of damage, many important questions remain unresolved for the time being. For example, the definition of "supracantonal significance" has not yet been clarified, nor has the problem that a cantonal permit must be granted, but this is often only issued shortly before the event, even in normal operations. It therefore remains to be seen to what extent this new instrument will actually bring relief - for the time being, a certain degree of skepticism is unfortunately appropriate and therefore the greatest entrepreneurial caution when planning cultural events. Last but not least, there is also the question of whether all cantons will get on board and whether there will be undesirable differences in implementation. Finally, it remains to be seen whether the cantons are even in a position to bear at least half of this additional expenditure within their tight budgets, as required by law.
 

Even if this does not affect the Cultural Ordinance and therefore not only the cultural sector, the fact that income compensation for self-employed persons will initially only be paid until June 30 represents a serious uncertainty for those affected. It is already foreseeable that the second half of the year will also be anything but normal in the cultural sector and that an extension of the entitlement for self-employed persons (corona income compensation) and also for employees (KAE Covid-19) is therefore absolutely necessary.

Finally, since the spring session, the Federal Council has had the option of extending the maximum duration of short-time working compensation from the current 18 months to a maximum of 24 months. It is clear to the Culture Taskforce that the Federal Council must make use of this option at its next meeting."
 

Rudolf Kelterborn, born in Basel in 1931, was one of the most influential composers, teachers and music publicists of our time, according to a laudatory speech by the Federal Office of Culture. He studied in Basel and Salzburg and took part in the Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music.

Together with Heinz Holliger and Jürg Wyttenbach, he launched the Basel Music Forum in 1987. He taught at several international music academies and was also active as a publicist. In the 1970s, he headed the music department of Radio DRS (now SRF) alongside the Schweizer Musikzeitung.

According to the national database Musinfo, his compositional oeuvre encompasses all musical genres and has been honored with numerous prizes (including the Composers' Prize of the Swiss Musicians' Association, the Art Prize of the City of Basel, the Bernhard Spengel Prize of German Industry, the Conrad Ferdinand Meyer Prize and the Zurich Radio Prize). Tonkünstlerverein, Kunstpreis der Stadt Basel, Bernhard Sprengel Preis der deutschen Industrie, Conrad Ferdinand Meyer Preis, Zürcher Radiopreis). His compositional work has also been recognized in numerous essays.

He passed away in Basel on March 24, 2021 at the age of 89.

Obituary by Thomas Meyer in issue 5/2021 (PDF)

According to international press reports, the Concertgebouw Orchestra is to realize a series of pilot projects to test out easing the restrictive corona regulations. Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24, KV 491 with soloist Víkingur Ólafsson and Schumann's Third Symphony, the Rhenish, are to be performed.

Anyone wishing to attend the concert must present a corona test that is not older than 48 hours in addition to an admission ticket. Tests can also be taken at the Concertgebouw itself. The results of the pilot projects will help determine the steps towards opening up Dutch cultural life.

Lionel Martin was born in Filderstadt near Stuttgart in 2003, then moved with his family to Perth, Australia, for two years. At the age of five, he began playing the cello with Joseph Hasten at the Tübingen Music School. Success came quickly and in large numbers: national prizes at Jugend musiziert, special prizes from various foundations, including the German Foundation for Musical Life and, since 2017, support from the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation. In addition, there were concerts with major German symphony orchestras, appearances at important festivals and in famous concert halls such as the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg.

Every year, SWR2 selects an outstanding young musician for this support program. They have a connection to the SWR broadcasting area and are at the beginning of their professional music career. At the invitation of an expert jury, they present themselves live on location in a selection audition.

2020 fell m4music fell victim to the pandemic and the Migros Culture Percentage music festival could not be held with an audience on site this year either. "Around Christmas time, we definitely realized that it would be difficult to hold the hybrid event in March with an audience. So we decided to go for a purely digital edition instead," recalls Festival Director Philipp Schnyder von Wartensee. "We also came to the conclusion that the event was primarily aimed at professionals from the music industry." In other words: The focus of the 24th edition was on the conference section with discussion panels on topics such as increased Climate protection in the music industry or the Jungle of streaming license fees and the young talent competition Demotape Clinic.

Over 600 people from the music industry actively participated on the digital event platform, and several thousand joined the stream as an audience, which was in line with expectations, according to Schnyder. "The professionals were also extremely engaged and took the opportunity to continue the discussions on dedicated platforms after the panels." Schnyder admits that the digital realization of m4music does not bring the same emotions: "Live musical experiences simply have a different urgency."

In Nightlife in times of the pandemic Diego Dahinden, Managing Director of Bern's Kapitel Bollwerk club, told us about a successful crowdfunding campaign to keep the venue afloat. He explained that the future of the venue should be secured by the end of the year. This is not least thanks to the compensation for cultural workers granted by the canton of Bern, from which Kapitel Bollwerk also benefits.

Nathalie Brunner, better known as DJ Playlove, added that many people in this country are fighting for this kind of money. "But many fall between a chair and a bench." She also worried that numerous venues could fall victim to the pandemic: "Once they're gone, they're gone for good." In the meantime, she can no longer imagine what it will feel like when nightlife returns. "Even after the pandemic is over, it will be a long time before Covid-19 has disappeared from people's minds," she said. "However, I wouldn't be surprised if there was some kind of youth culture explosion."

Also dealing with the effects of the pandemic was the Green Pass, Politics, Patience: What Will Save Festival Culture? In view of the fact that numerous events such as those on the Gurten or in St. Gallen will not take place in 2021 due to Covid and the associated planning uncertainty, the question arises: What does their future look like?

Christof Huber, Festival Director of Open Air St. Gallen, emphasized that although he was not a supporter of mandatory vaccination in order to attend a festival, "A Green Pass confirming vaccination would give us and other major events a perspective." Huber particularly criticized the fact that in Switzerland - unlike in the UK, for example - there has been no real dialogue with the authorities about how to proceed. "The value of entertainment culture is underestimated in this country." Nevertheless, the eastern Swiss is optimistic: "According to a survey by the French festival Eurockéennes, 70 percent of potential visitors would be tested." Which gives him hope that in 2022, music can be enjoyed again at Open Air St. Gallen and elsewhere.

The desire to emit less CO2 has now also reached music culture: The newly founded association Vert le Future is therefore committed to a sustainable cultural and event industry. One of its co-founders, Moritz Meier, mentioned at the panel More climate protection in the music industry Figures from the Federal Office for the Environment show that the Swiss population consumes 2.8 times as many resources as are actually available to it. "And the music industry, which is based not least on a lot of traveling and touring, is no exception," explained Meier. "So we are part of the problem, but we can also be part of the solution." Kajo Frischknecht, Co-Managing Director of the Salzhaus concert venue in Winterthur, described what this could look like on a small scale: "The measures we have taken include compost behind the bar and a water tank instead of pet bottles in the band checkroom." His insight: "As soon as we're open, we generate emissions - so there's still a lot to do."

Incidentally, Philipp Schnyder mentioned that the topic of sustainability was also to be given greater consideration at m4music than just a few years ago. Although the festival has now had to take place without an audience for the second time, the commitment of the organizing Migros Culture Percentage has not changed. "The festival is one of our most important promotional measures." More than ever, m4music is striving to be present throughout the year and to offer the music scene and the public something new. For the future, there are plans to make the festival's platform available to other partners so that they can create their own content - as is already the case with Swiss Music Export. "Another new idea is to integrate jazz with links to pop culture into m4music," says Schnyder. More openness towards classical music is also conceivable. "We think it's very conceivable that a project could oscillate between pop, jazz and classical music."

It is still completely uncertain what the health situation will be like in 2022. Philipp Schnyder does not rule out the possibility that a "normal festival" will at least be conceivable again. However, one thing is already clear: in future, m4music wants to make a greater contribution to ensuring that the various music genres at the festival not only come together under one roof, but also find more points of contact.