On Saturday, June 17, around 100 people from all over Switzerland traveled to Central Switzerland to take part in the 103rd EOV Delegates' Assembly. The orchestra delegates and other guests were welcomed to Sarnen with a cheerful generational matinée. The host Sarnen Orchestra Association presented an entertaining program together with the Ensemble Vivace, the youth orchestra and the youngest Suzuki students from the Obwalden music schools.

After lunch, the short statutory part of the Delegates' Meeting, which was chaired with aplomb by Vice President Bernadette Wiederkehr, went off without a hitch. The minutes of the 2022 AGM, the President's annual report, the annual accounts with auditors' report and the 2023 budget were approved unanimously by the 78 voters from 53 orchestras. A minimal amendment to the Articles of Association, which now sets the Association's registered office as Bern and no longer makes it dependent on the President's place of residence, was also approved without discussion.

Afterwards, the delegates and guests continued their education in interesting instrument care workshops or got to know the picturesque capital of Obwalden better on an exciting tour of the village.

Conclusion with a leisurely boat trip
The delegates rounded off the eventful day with a leisurely cruise on Lake Sarnen on the "Seestern", a boat specially hired by the EOV. Over a delicious aperitif, the delegates engaged in informal conversation and enjoyed the glorious summer weather and breathtaking scenery.

We would like to sincerely thank the organizing team from the Sarnen Orchestra Association and those responsible for the AGM from the EOV Board for their great commitment and the all-round success of the event. The next AGM will take place in Chur in spring 2024. We will announce the exact date at a later date.

Course weeks for folk music, alphorn and Bohemian brass band are particularly popular. If you would still like to attend a course, you can find all the information about the courses, registration and free places on the website musikkurswochen.ch. Some courses are already fully booked.

20 different master classes Arosa

Under the label "Meisterkurse Arosa - Masterclasses Arosa", Arosa Kultur bundles all those courses of the Arosa Music Course Weeks that offer the level of masterclasses. In total, there are around 20 individual courses for various instruments. A special offer within the masterclasses is the "AROSA MUSIC ACADEMY", which combines individual lessons with intensive chamber music lessons. 

Lecturers at the master classes include well-known musicians such as Maurice Steger, Simon Fuchs, Priya Mitchell, Lars Mlekusch, Markus Fleck, Sarah O'Brien and many others.

Attractive awards for participants in the master classes

Arosa Culture has created attractive awards for participants in the master classes. The Hans Schaeuble Award is presented to a maximum of nine participants. One award includes a concert engagement as part of the Arosa Klassik festival in the following winter. Arosa Kultur offers the opportunity for chamber music performances with renowned musicians. 

The award can be presented thanks to the financial and non-material support of the Hans Schaeuble Foundation. 

The Villa Musica Foundation from Rhineland-Palatinate DE awards attractive and coveted scholarships to selected music students. Participants in the arosa music academy for string players have the opportunity to audition exclusively for a Villa Musica scholarship. 

All information about the Meisterkrusen can be found at masterclassesarosa.ch.

Arosa cultural summer with a wide range of cultural activities

This summer, Arosa Culture is showing two exhibitions: "Uff än Ggaffi" in the Arosa Museum of Local History presents 15 women from Schanfigg and "Vo Plumpa und Schella" in a stable below the Bergkirchli presents the bell collection of Arosa mountain farmer Markus Lütscher and its use throughout the year. 

The musical program is also varied and of a high standard. Songs from Naples, folk songs from the mountains, Chur hard rock, folk music, readings, classical music and the French operetta "Le dernier sorcier" invite you to enjoy.

Every Tuesday from June 20 to October 10, the Tuesday concerts take place at 5 p.m. with many Graubünden musicians and course instructors from the Arosa Music Course Weeks.

Convenient: for some events, the train journey Chur-Arosa-Chur is included in the ticket. And when the weather is fine, many of the events take place on the open-air Waldbühne Arosa. 

The Waldbühne is also the venue for Arosa Kultur's children's events on Mondays in July and August. 

Tickets for the Kultursommer can be reserved:

+41 (0)81 353 87 50 or ticketing@arosakultur.ch.

 All information is available on www.arosakultur.ch to find.

Although we are often unaware of it, AI technology is already being used in many areas of our daily lives, including communication, the world of work, healthcare, transportation and entertainment. And it is very likely that this technology will increasingly contribute to solving various challenges facing our society in the future, such as climate change or increasing economic productivity.

However, everyone has been talking about AI since December 2022, when the US company OpenAI launched the online platform ChatGPT. ChatGPT understands what a user writes in text form, is capable of learning, answers questions or writes text passages with natural-sounding, almost error-free conversions in real time.

Rapid development

At present, however, development is still at an early stage, so the statements made by ChatGPT should be taken with extreme caution, as according to various AI experts, they are somewhere between "brilliant" and "breathtakingly stupid". However, given the rapid pace of development, it can be assumed that this will certainly change quickly.

And at the latest after it was announced in January 2023 that ChatGPT had passed a Master of Business Administration (MBA) at an elite university with a sufficient grade, there is a lively debate not only at universities and colleges about how to deal with this new challenge.

Solutions vary: where AI is not completely prohibited as an aid by the regulations, for example, its use must be documented transparently and the declaration of independence is supplemented by a note that AI was only used as an aid and not to find a solution.

Apart from the certainly exciting philosophical discourse about the origin of an idea (or in this case the solution to a problem) when using AI, proving that someone has not adhered to this requirement is likely to be quite difficult (at least at the moment).

For example, it is not yet certain whether advanced plagiarism software will be able to recognize whether a text was written by the author or generated by a "ghostwriter", which is what AI is in this case.

An examination board is most likely to find out whether a student's own work and thoughts are actually involved in a purely personal, scientific discussion (the so-called colloquium). 

AI in music studies

But how could AI - apart from its use in theoretical subjects of music studies or for writing a CD booklet or concert program - directly influence music?

In order to touch the audience with a live performance at a concert, I as a musician primarily need two things: emotions and a mature instrumental or vocal technique that allows me to express my feelings.

It seems likely that a machine will be able to copy, for example, an interpretation of a Chopin etude from a human model and play it to a high technical and musical standard.

But at best, this creates a good copy without an independent, artistic statement and vision. And let's not forget: the audience also wants to participate in the real lives of real musicians. 

What about composition? Today, there are already some composition machines (such as AIVA) that have been fed with countless music data and are able to analyze the key structures of music (i.e. rhythm, melody and harmony) and generate note sequences that are statistically the most probable - with sometimes astonishing results.

But statistical probability will only ever lead to mediocrity at best. AI will change many areas of music production and the fact that AI composes melodies that are used as background music or game soundtracks is already a reality today. 

AI and pedagogy

And will AI change pedagogical work? The fact that musical interpretations can be uploaded, analyzed by AI and then used to provide valuable suggestions seems to be a reality in the near future - not least because the research department at the Kalaidos University of Music is also working intensively on this development in cooperation with ETH Zurich, the pianist Ingolf Wunder and his company. Whether such a tool will completely replace personal music lessons seems very unlikely.

Successful pedagogy is about working with a student's individual abilities, weaknesses or feelings so that very personal musical statements and visions can emerge. Will AI ever be able to imitate these typically human characteristics?

Either way, even experts find it difficult to estimate what AI will be capable of. But music will probably never get by without humans.

Annual meetings of associations and initiatives are usually rather dry, exhausting compulsory programs. Not so with FMD, ForumMusikDiversität Schweiz. For a few years now, it has become something of a tradition that the annual members' meeting is used as an opportunity to present works by female composers to the public. "Because we are female musicians, we naturally also want to facilitate cultural exchange in practice," explains the current president of the FMD Anmari Mëtsa Yabi Wili, "it's about getting to know more music by women." The FMD, founded in Bern in 1982, is an initiative of artists and their environment that persistently campaigns for female presence and more diversity in musical life.

The current FMD concert in Basel on June 25 with Le Donne Ideali and Guest offers a wide range of different stylistic perspectives and aesthetic concepts. Unbridled curiosity, the joy of playfulness and experimentation have always characterized the concerts organized by the FMD. In the 41st year of the FMD, the musicians closely associated with the initiative have selected solo pieces from four decades for flute, cello, harp and keys that are particularly close to their hearts. Seraina Ramseier will play music for solo flute from two very different artistic positions: "Envol", a late work by Caroline Charrière, one of Switzerland's most prominent female composers, who died too early in 2018, and the piece "East Wind", written in 1987 by Tel Aviv-born composer Shulamit Ran, which transfers twists and turns from traditional music and folklore into the expressive spectrum of contemporary music. In addition to the recently premiered cello piece "Fält" by the Swedish-French composer Madeleine Isaksson, performed by Karolina Öhman, there will also be the work "Baroque Flamenco" by the Californian Deborah Henson-Conant, which Julia Wacker, harpist in the ensemble, will contribute. She particularly likes the fact that the piece is "uninhibitedly on the border between serious and popular music", says Wacker, "Henson-Conant, who is also active in jazz, makes uninhibited use of early music and invents new techniques that come from flamenco guitar practice. This has an incredible sound effect and at the same time enables an emotional approach."

Anmari Mëtsa Yabi Wili, founder of Donne Ideali, interprets the piece "Public Privacy #5 Aria" for sampler, voice and video by the German-Austrian composer Brigitta Muntendorf. She was born in 1982, exactly the year the FMD was founded. "Brigitta Muntendorf is constantly pushing boundaries creatively in her works," enthuses Wili. Such an intermedial approach defines the entire evening in Basel: "We are opening up the concert format even further with the poem 'Penelope, angefressen' by Austrian poet Elfriede Gerstl, which will resonate through the hall as an audio-visual intervention," says Wili. The title of this poem, an angry Penelope, is the motto of the entire evening. After all, there is still a lot of room for improvement when it comes to equality. Anmari Mëtsa Yabi Wili: "In the contemporary field, it is largely no longer a question of whether female or male composers are played, neither among young musicians nor among university graduates. Something good has developed there, but only in the field of contemporary chamber music. When we go to the opera or symphony orchestra, the repertoire of female composers is still thin on the ground. It is also still difficult for women at management levels, for example at music academies. And: there are so many female conductors worldwide, it is incomprehensible to me that there are still entire annual programs in Switzerland without female conductors. In this respect, Switzerland is lagging far behind." At the end of the FMD concert, all participants will come together for the refreshing concept piece "Futures" by Chlöe Herington. The score of this work works like tarot cards. With this, the musicians will look to the future with a united strong voice. This also applies to the FMD: further networking and interdisciplinary projects are on the agenda.

Penelope, pissed off

Sunday, June 25, 2023, 6:30 p.m.
Kasernenhof 8, 4058 Basel
+41 77 481 00 72
info@khaus.ch
info@musicdiversity.ch

musicdiversity.ch/post/penelope-angefressen

musicdiversity.ch 

I was able to talk to Lukas Hering, President of the Jazz&Pop Expert Commission, about the reasons for this and possible measures to counteract it.

Jazz and competition are not fundamentally mutually exclusive, in fact they are not even alien to each other. Jazz history tells us that the cakewalk - a forerunner of jazz - owes its name to dance competitions. And the legendary Zurich Jazz Festival in the 1950s motivated an entire generation of jazz musicians throughout Switzerland to take up jazz with its competition. 

However, it is also undisputed that the jazz and classical music scenes are different. The youth music competition also takes this into account: in classical music, the preliminary decision is called Entrada and takes place live in a concert hall, while the preselection, the equivalent in jazz, has so far been based on video presentations. The classical final is usually a classical performance in the auditorium of a music academy, while the jazz final is a set in a jazz club. 

What both types of competition have in common is that they are not about scoring and ranking solo performances, but about supporting and advising talented young musicians, regardless of their chosen style. At Entrada, Preselection, Come Together and Finale, the performers receive feedback from competent representatives of the scene. Contact with colleagues who have similar interests provides the opportunity to network, and in some cases a studio recording or a performance in a professional setting even opens a door to the professional scene. 

It is important to know that "Jazz&Pop" is a kind of placeholder for all styles outside of classical music, or as it is formulated on the homepage: "Jazz, improvised music, pop, rock, hip hop, electronic music etc." However, jazz and electronic music are probably less popular among the target age group of ten to twenty-year-olds than pop or rock.

As Lukas Hering assures us, we are open to a wide range of styles and are always curious about original projects. For projects that go beyond the scope, there is also the opportunity to take part in the composition or free space competition.

While the number of registrations for the classical music competition has remained stable at a high level for years, there is still free capacity in the jazz & pop competition. For this reason, the competition was evaluated and refined five years after its introduction in 2017. This was reflected in growing registration numbers in the following two years, although these stagnated again from 2020 as a result of the pandemic. 

The procedure will be reconsidered for 2024. Regional preliminary rounds in Jazz&Pop in the form of the classical entradas are being considered. About the intensified  Cooperation with various music schools should further improve the responsibility and visibility of the competition.

A jazz & pop music competition in the age of inflationary competitions, talent and casting shows? The Swiss Music Competition has drawn on decades of experience in classical music to create a jazz & pop variant that is closer to the participants and the scene than almost any other competition. It is to be hoped that this tool will soon be fully utilized by young musicians.

The registration dates and formalities can be found at
sjmw.ch.

The host orchestra association Sarnen (OVS) and the students of the Obwalden music schools are delighted to welcome the delegates to the 103rd EOV Delegates' Assembly in Sarnen on June 17 with a cheerful matinee concert. Playing music together with youngsters and adults at the Hotel Krone will be a wonderful demonstration of what an enriching and intergenerational hobby orchestral playing can be. Doris Estermann-Renzler, director of the youth orchestra and the children's ensembles, and Luca Fiorini, conductor of the Sarnen OV, will give a short performance together and also play their instruments.

The youngest performers learn to play the violin with Estermann-Renzler according to the Suzuki method, which uses the principles of native language acquisition.  The cornerstones of this method are an early start, learning by ear, weekly individual and group lessons from the very beginning, as well as support for the learning process from an accompanying adult. Some of these children are only four to five years old and only started lessons a few months ago.

Orchestral concerts and masses

The Sarnen Orchestra Association, on the other hand, is somewhat older. Its roots go back to 1930. At that time, it was part of the Harmonie Sarnen music society, which consisted of a church choir, orchestra and field band. The first orchestra society was formed in 1939. However, the outbreak of war put an end to the project. In 1952, Richard Voegeli was elected as the new music director in Sarnen. He began to systematically build up the orchestra and held well-prepared orchestral concerts every year. The orchestra was also called upon to perform at orchestral masses and church concerts. In 1964, the current orchestra society was founded by establishing statutes. After the retirement of Richard Voegeli in 1980, Josef Gnos, who also successfully conducted the Sarnen field music for more than 20 years, took over the orchestra society and led it until the end of 2006. From 2007 to 2008, it was under the leadership of Dominik Kiefer and since 2009 Luca Fiorini has been at the conductor's desk. 

The orchestra association has 28 active members in the current association year 2023. The youngest have only recently joined us from the youth orchestra, while some of the older generation have been involved in the association for 60 years or more. Even founding members are still with us. Many players have remained loyal to the OVS for decades. Without them, the OVS would no longer exist in its current form.

We perform two concerts every year; one in spring or summer and a traditional Advent concert always on December 8th in the beautiful church in Stalden. The concerts are usually very well attended and the generous collections cover at least part of our expenses.

Since 2009 with conductor Luca Fiorini

In addition to the difficulty of reaching and integrating young talent, the club is also increasingly burdened by financial concerns. That is why we are always on the lookout for sponsors, patrons and patronage members. The corona years have also taken their toll on the OVS, and we are glad that we were able to overcome these difficult times together.

It is very important to the board and all members of the association that our association continues to exist and that we can inspire people in the Obwalden region with our music. We have already had the pleasure of having young musicians, mostly from the Sarnen music school, perform with us as soloists at many concerts. We also continue to accompany the Harmonie Sarnen church choir at four orchestral masses a year and engage wind players and other musicians from the region for our concerts.

Since 2009, we have been able to call Luca Fiorini, a thoroughbred musician, our conductor. He challenges and encourages us with his professional, humorous manner and drives us to peak performance. We are enormously grateful to him for all the time and patience he invests in the orchestra and for always making the long journey from Basel. We also always enjoy performing his own compositions or orchestral arrangements. 

Jonathan Gaus has also been our esteemed concertmaster since 2009. As a professional musician
He not only teaches at various music schools, but also plays actively in many formations such as the 21st Century Orchestra and the
LED Farmers with. We really appreciate his calm and positive manner.

We are all looking forward to working with the young musicians at the DV of the EOV and hope that we can enchant all guests with our music.

Angelika Marugg
... is a board member and violinist with the Sarnen Orchestra Association.

Doris Estermann-Renzler
... is a violinist, director of the youth orchestra of the canton of Obwalden and teaches according to the Suzuki method.

The Sarnen Orchestra Association and pupils of the Obwalden music schools will musically welcome the delegates to the 103rd Delegates' Assembly of the EOV on Sat, 17.06.2023 at 10.30 am at the Hotel Krone in Sarnen.

www.orchesterverein-sarnen.ch

"You have to put more pressure on the bow," explains Plamena Nikitassova to the 30 or so string players of the Baar Chamber Orchestra and has them repeat a passage. "That was already better. But it needs even more pressure. It has to really scratch." Violinist and early music specialist Nikitassova introduces the members of the Baar Chamber Orchestra (BKO) to the sounds and bowing techniques of the Baroque period on a Saturday afternoon in April at the Bahnmatt Pavilion in Baar. The BKO rehearses the well-known Four seasons by Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) for his spring concerts in mid-May.

Many amateur musicians have probably played this famous work before. However, unlike most amateur orchestras, the Baarers do not play with their normal bows, but instead practice historical performance practice, as is usually the case with professional ensembles. The Baar Chamber Orchestra has rented baroque bows for the entire ensemble for the duration of the project, which will last just under four months. And they play very differently with these than with modern bows.
More pressure and more precisely shaped tones

Short, light bow, more precisely shaped notes

"You have to get used to the light weight and the shortness of the baroque bow," says Eva Schlumpf, member of the orchestra board and violinist in the BKO. "At the beginning, I always 'ran out of bow'." To produce and change the sound, you have to work much more with weight than with bow speed. It's not all that easy, as the episode quoted at the beginning illustrates. A lot has to be learned anew and differently.

The rehearsal with Nikitassova, which took place in Vivaldi's Seasons will take on the solo violin part is a bit like a violin lesson for a whole orchestra. That is intentional. Conductor Manuel Oswald, initiator of the project and himself a trained violinist, has agreed with Nikitassova that she will teach the amateur players the baroque technique in several rehearsals. "With the baroque bows, the individual notes can be shaped much more precisely and in greater detail," says Oswald, who conducts a total of four EOV orchestras. It opens up a new world with unimagined possibilities that remain closed with the bows commonly used today. Oswald wants his string players in Baar to experience this additional dimension. At the same time, the training in differentiated articulation also helps with "normal" violin playing, so that the orchestra members can benefit beyond the baroque project.

Baroque vs. modern sound contrasts in concert

Finding 30 baroque bows to rent was not easy, says Eva Schlumpf. However, thanks to the help of the husband of a cellist, a violin maker, the Baarers were finally able to rent bows for the entire orchestra. The rent is 15 francs per month per bow. "We are currently trying to find a foundation that will cover the rental costs of around CHF 2,000 in total," says Schlumpf. Only if no funding could be found would the orchestra members have to pay the rent themselves.

The extra time and money invested is bearing fruit. Even at the rehearsal weekend, Vivaldi sounds different - one is almost tempted to say better - than one usually hears played by amateurs. Light. Intense. Dynamic.

You can look forward to the concerts with anticipation, as the BKO still has a month to rehearse after the EOV editors' visit. The concert program "Lifetimes" complements baroque music with works from later eras, which are played with modern bows. This direct juxtaposition will allow the audience to experience the contrasting sounds.

"Lifetimes" concert by the Baar Chamber Orchestra with works by Vivaldi (played with baroque bows), Rachmaninov, Elgar and the Danish String Quartet. Sat, 12 and Sun, 13.05.2023, both at 7.30 pm, Church of St. Thomas, Inwil near Baar. Admission free, collection. www.baarerkammerorchester.ch

Kalaidos Musikhochschule asks an employee how she organizes her everyday life and what would have to change to make it easier to reconcile her professional and private life.

Annette Kappeler, musicians in particular often have too little free time. How would you describe your satisfaction in terms of your work-life balance?
Not quite ideal: as a musician, I'm often busy at the weekend, and during the week I work for the Kalaidos University of Music and the Bern University of the Arts, so sometimes I don't have a day off. At the same time, I have the great privilege of being able to organize my time freely.

You had a child five months ago, which we are extremely happy about! How do you combine everyday life with your partner and child with your professional activities?
We share work, care and housework equally. Our employers are very cooperative and flexible when it comes to planning our return to work.

When do you spend time with your partner and your child?
For example, I try to take Mondays off after concert weekends and then really enjoy the tent at home. During the week, I try not to have too long working days so that I have time from 4pm onwards.

What forms of childcare do you have experience with? How satisfied are you with them?
Our child is now five months old and goes to daycare for two and a half days. We also have friends who enjoy spending time with him. We are very happy with both forms of childcare, and I also think that they complement each other perfectly - with one-to-one childcare, you can give your child unlimited attention, and in a group of children, an enormous learning process takes place in terms of social behavior.

What needs to change in Switzerland with regard to parenthood so that working life and care work are more compatible?
There's a lot to do, to name just a few points: Paid parental leave of a few months, freely divisible between both parents - or preferably even more flexible - freely divisible between the people who want to take intensive care of a child, i.e. also grandparents or other caregivers! Part-time work for parents (or caregivers) and affordable childcare for everyone!

What would you do about the weekly working hours?
A reduction in working hours would certainly be desirable - nobody is creative and productive over forty hours a week, and most people are sick more often and more dissatisfied when they work so much. We are in the privileged position of being able to afford to work less than 100%, but this is by no means possible for everyone. Ultimately, a basic income would probably be the best option to enable everyone to achieve a good balance between leisure time, work for a community, further education and care work.

And what would you improve with regard to the working situation of musicians?
There should be a binding minimum wage for the work of musicians, they should be covered by social insurance for every engagement. At the moment, we are often not paid when we are ill, and many ensembles do not pay pension insurance for their employees.
Art is often described as an expensive luxury, but at the same time we have experienced during the lockdown that it is one of the first things we miss. At one of my first concerts after the lockdowns, people in the audience cried with joy at being able to hear a live concert again in a country where people usually only cry in the movies and at football stadiums!
I think this kind of luxury should be worth fair wages and working conditions!

Interview with Rico Gubler, the new Head of the Music Department at Bern University of the Arts (HKB).

Rico Gubler, after three months, what are your priorities as Head of the Music Department at the BUA?
There are fundamental priorities for the management of a conservatoire. It is important to constantly cultivate and combine the two (apparent) poles between high artistic standards - i.e. the deepening of the "ivory tower" in a positive sense - and the active opening into the society that supports a university, right up to the concrete shaping of socially relevant topics, e.g. cultural policy or socio-cultural issues. Related to this is the constant discourse on the changing concept of music and the strategic, sometimes only tactical steps derived from this.

Thirdly, it is important to cultivate a culture of discourse, decision-making and communication in the modern music university system that is both music-specific, university-specific and socially compatible. Specifically, I am currently touring the university, Bern and Switzerland in order to get to know as many of the inspiring and diverse personalities at our university, our partner institutions and cooperation partners as possible. In Switzerland, you learn "warte, uege, lose, laufe" in elementary school - I haven't forgotten that abroad either, with two small but significant differences: I don't want to wait, and "lose" comes before "luege".

As you are also a lawyer, to what extent does the connection between music and law influence your management style?
Firstly, it influenced my view of "looking at art" due to my focus in law school, the history of legal culture and in particular the diverse methods of interpretation. In my opinion, this made my approach to text of all kinds, including non-written fixed text, more flexible and broadened my perspectives and horizons.

My almost ten years in Germany have taught me that it is not only my legal training that has had a formative influence, but also specifically the way I deal with Swiss law. I have learned to understand laws and rules as a coagulated social agreement, as a shared history, which at best serve to achieve an overarching goal, but are usually at least helpful in dealing with a real field of tension and setting it in motion. It is always important to me that a clearly practiced structure is much more effective than a myriad of detailed rules that are as precise as possible, which normally only increase the number of borderline cases and exceptions.

In light of your experience as the council member responsible for the Pop and Jazz Platform (PJP) of the European Association of Conservatoires (AEC) and as a former member of the Rectors' Conference of German Music Universities (RKM), how important is a body like the KMHS for you in the Swiss context?
For me, the AEC has several advantages for Switzerland. The higher music education landscape in Europe is enormously diverse and the specific regional and national challenges motivate the universities to find very different and interesting solutions from which we could benefit with a little transfer creativity. For example, some countries are much further ahead in terms of music-specific quality management, others are driving the topic of "artistic citizenship" and yet other universities are breaking new ground in the areas of research or entrepreneurship. We Swiss, who are particularly accustomed to federalism, should be used to looking closely at what is being tried out in other structures in order to adapt "the good" and avoid "the bad".

The KMHS is both an echo chamber for the careful work of the university management in their institutions, as well as the place where important alliances must be forged in order to successfully address overarching issues such as the musicalization of society, the development and protection of the publicly funded university system and the position of music in the logic of Swiss universities of applied sciences.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges that Swiss conservatoires will have to face in the coming years?
A look at world events, to which small countries often react more sensitively or at least more quickly than larger nations, suggests - to use a northern German expression - high seas in the coming years. However, I am not only looking at this with concern, but also with great interest, because the dominant issues such as the scarcity of resources, migration, the question of cohesion in the social sphere or the effects of digitalization in the depths of society, which are yet to come, will also have a massive impact on the concept of art and the logic of public funding and the understanding of funding and reception, and new things will emerge from this. The traditional understanding of the role of composers has already changed fundamentally in just a few years. This is highly interesting, quite inspiring and also offers many opportunities.

Christoph Brunner is responsible for inclusion and equal opportunities at the Theater Orchester Biel Solothurn and the Bern University of the Arts.

Christoph Brunner, why are your positions needed in educational and cultural institutions?
Firstly, as a cultural center or university, we have a social responsibility to enable and expand participation at various levels of society. Secondly, our organizations are not at all diverse in many respects. The students at the university or the audience at the municipal theater are not representative of society. To achieve this, barriers need to be broken down, not just direct ones such as inaccessible buildings, but also the cultural barriers that make many people feel unwelcome at events or arts education. To achieve this, we need to be more comfortable in dealing with these issues, to develop an "artistic citizenship".

What formats and offers are being experimented with at TOBS to counter these problems and create more accessibility for everyone?
Until now, the focus has been on access aids such as audio description and sign language. In the last two years, services in simple language and relaxed performances have been added. These are usually shorter, without complete darkening and with slightly open doors. This means that they can also be visited by people who are sensitive to intense stimuli, for example, or who cannot sit for long periods of time. However, it has been shown that this form appeals to very different groups of people, including those who might not dare to attend a three-hour opera performance. For them, a short chamber piece can be a good introduction to the world of musical theater.
In this way, the cultural sector is primarily addressing accessibility and less the production as such, which could be completely different if the audience does not have all the usual sensory channels such as seeing or hearing available to them without restriction. That would actually be an interesting question: how could a music theater be conceived that completely dispenses with sound or image? What does a unison ballet look like if the dancers do not conform to the physical norm of opera house ensembles? Or can a baroque opera also be performed as a hip-hop piece? Such questioning of familiar forms has enormous social explosive power. However, they almost never happen in the big opera houses or concert halls, but at best in the independent scene.

Why not?
In my opinion, there are two reasons for this, combined I call it the "Traviata trap": On the one hand, there are the standardized expectations that make it difficult to attract 1000 people to the opera house with an unconventional format. In order to withstand these expectations, it is better to stage another La Traviata on. On the other hand, the structures of the homes are also standardized, with a lot of staff who have to come up with their number of services. It is this combination of standardized expectations and standardized structures that makes formal and substantive innovation difficult.

We will soon be holding a panel discussion on these topics. Should we talk more about inclusion in music theater in Academia?
Yes, absolutely! I would like to see the same from the research community as from the organizers and performers: more courage and curiosity in the choice of topics and forms of work, so that we can understand what framework conditions are really needed for the success of inclusive music theater practice.

Event information
Panel discussion on inclusion in (music) theater as part of the event series MUSIKTHEATER - MACHT - GESELLSCHAFT, organized by the Chair of Music Theatre at the University of Bern, 17 May, 18:30, Münstergasse Library, Bern. More information at:    musik.unibe.ch/forschung/ musiktheater__macht__gesellschaft/index_ger.html

Early music is practiced throughout Switzerland. (Anton Bruckner University)

Whether as a primary or secondary subject or through transversal modules, ancient music is widely practiced and taught in the Swiss tertiary music education system.

Tour d'horizon de l'offre très divers en musique ancienne proposée par les hautes écoles de musique suisses.

Discipline principale 

Le premier nom qui vient vient à l'esprit lorsque le thème de la musique ancienne - pouvant être définie, au-delà des questions posées quant aux limites de la period et aux caractéristiques des œuvres musicales qu'elle englobe, as the music composed before the XVIIe siècle en l'appréhendant dans un mouvement général de conception et d'interprétation historique-ment informées - is the Schola Cantorum de Bâle. Founded by Paul Sacher in 1933, this institution has been affiliated with the Haute École de Musique de Bâle since 2008, alongside the Institut Classique et Jazz, and thus allows students to choose ancient music as their main field of study.

In Geneva, too, an entire department is dedicated to this musical practice and allows students to complete a Bachelor's and/or Master's degree in this field. À l'instar de la Schola Cantorum, les disciplines principales enseignées sont le chant historique, le clavecin, le clavicorde, le forte-piano, le maestro al cem-balo, le luth, le violon baroque, le violoncelle baroque, la viole de gambe, la flûte à bec, le traverso, le hautbois baroque, le basson baroque, le cornet à bouquin, le sacqueboute et la musique médiévale. 

These two centers of expertise in ancient music also house collections of instruments and allow students enrolled in other training courses to benefit from the transversal range of these departments, particularly through open modules or optional courses. 

Discipline secondaire 

Pour se former en Suisse au level de la discipline secondaire, la Zürcher Hochschule der Künste propose une Minor in early music. Intitulée Historical performance practice, celle-ci permet d'approfondir les principes fondamentaux de la musique ancienne sur des instruments historiques issus de la branche principale.
Aspects such as articulation, phrasing and ornamentation play a role just as important as stylistic differentiation by period and region, as well as ensemble playing. This minor also exists in a specialized form: Advanced historical performance practice.

Modules transversaux 

Finally, all the higher music education institutions in different countries present an interdisciplinary approach to traditional music in their curricula. This may be in the form of partnerships with museums (such as the Bern University of the Arts - Music with the Sounding Museum or the Zurich University of the Arts with the Museum of Design) or through open modules, passerelles and optional courses (such as at the Haute École de Musique de Genève-Neuchâtel, at the Haute École de Musique Vaud - Valais - Fribourg, at the Hochschule für MusikBasel, at the Hochschule Luzern - Musik, at Kalaidos or at the Conservatorio della Svizerra Italiana).

Caroline Boissier-Butini, portrait by Firmin Massot (1766-1849), Geneva, c. 1808 (source: from private collection)

Music is the universal language of emotions. This is a widespread topos that is constantly gaining new impetus. But is it true? Can this be proven or disproven by empirical-analytical research methods? Melanie Wald-Fuhrmann is Professor and Director of the Music Department at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics and conducts research into music aesthetics, musical taste and various musical practices. In her lecture on March 7, she will outline the history of ideas behind this topos and present her own music-historical and ethnological study in relation to music and emotional expression. 

1000 years of Gregorian chant in Einsiedeln 

Einsiedeln Abbey has been a venue for musical events for centuries, especially Gregorian chant. In the 20th century, this long-standing tradition experienced a heyday with Father Roman Bannwart. On March 14, Stephan Klarer will talk about the thousand-year history of this liturgical music in Einsiedeln Abbey. Stephan Klarer is a lecturer in Gregorian chant at the ZhdK and won the Marta Walter Prize 2022 for his work on the same topic. He uses treasures from the monastery library to illustrate the musical history of Einsiedeln Abbey and discusses problems of performance practice today. 

Music, politics, patriotism

Caiti Hauck, Marie Skłodowska Curie Fellow at the Institute of Musicology at the University of Bern, will give an insight into her research project on choral life in the cities of Bern and Fribourg on April 4. In the 19th century, choral societies were an important part of musical life in the cities. The clubs often took part in singing festivals or organized concerts and other activities. What role did politics and patriotism play in choral societies and how did they promote a sense of togetherness among the singers? Documents such as newspapers and club reports provide information on how society was reflected in the singing clubs. 

Caroline Boissier-Butini 

Who knows the composer Caroline Boissier-Butini? Born in Geneva in 1786, she received musical training from Franz Liszt and others. Musicologist Irène Minder-Jeanneret researches this extraordinary Swiss composer and presents her concert tours, in particular her stay in Bern in 1811. The lecture will be followed by a short concert with works by Caroline Boissier Butini, played by Emma Saskia Bähler and an ad hoc orchestra. 

The first three lectures will take place at the Institute of Musicology, Mittelstrasse 43 and will also be made available via Zoom.

Melanie Wald-Fuhrmann: Music, the universal language of emotions? March 7, 6:30 p.m.

Stephan Klarer: 1000 years of Gregorian chant in Einsiedeln, March 14, 6.30 p.m. 

Caiti Hauck: Music, politics, patriotism: choral societies in the cities of Bern and Fribourg in the long 19th century, April 4, 6.30 p.m. 

Irène Minder-Jeanneret: Caroline Boissier-Butini, the Swiss composer who wrote six piano concertos, May 2, 6:30 p.m., Salon of the Grande Société (Theaterplatz) 

Bern Medieval Center in cooperation with the SMG: Aurelia Brandenburg: Is it realistic to eat the Pope? The Middle Ages in the digital game". March 2, 5.15 p.m., Lecture Hall 220, Main Building, University of Bern

When you think of hearing protection and music, many people probably immediately think of a rock band practising at a deafening volume in a small cellar, or a DJ spinning for hours with thumping bass in a disco. In such situations, hearing protection is obvious and probably understandable for everyone.

However, various measurements show that hearing protection would also be appropriate in areas or situations that are less obvious. 

The ear is an extremely sensitive sensory organ with which we can perceive the slightest noises or sounds - and that is precisely why it is also very delicate and vulnerable. 

One of the main challenges in hearing protection is probably that hearing damage is not announced by pain, as in the case of tendonitis, for example, but is a gradual process. If the hearing has been overloaded over a long period of time, it is often too late and irreversible hearing damage is the bitter reality. 

And it is precisely for this reason that aspiring professional musicians should be sensitized to and trained in the topic. 

Should! In a further survey, the Kalaidos University of Music investigated how and whether hearing protection is discussed and applied at Swiss conservatoires. The aim of this study was to numerically record the current use of hearing protection measures among lecturers at Swiss conservatoires and to determine the reasons (cognitive, social) for their use or non-use.

In summary, the study shows that sound hearing protection management is rarely part of professional music studies. 

Of the 111 participants in total, only 25 (23%) stated that they use hearing protection during lessons. In comparison, around 70 percent of professional orchestras use such protection (Chiller & Portner, 2020). However, this figure also corresponds to the practice at music schools, where only 26% of teachers use hearing protection (Hänni, 2021).

The study also shows that there are major differences in hearing protection practices between the various instruments:
while lecturers for drums, percussion and mallets use hearing protection in over 80 percent of cases, the figure for woodwind instruments and ensembles, orchestras or bands is around a third in each case; all others took hearing protection measures even less frequently. It is astonishing that none of the lecturers for loud wind instruments with a dB(A) above 90 (clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, horn) protected their hearing. Even if it must be taken into account here that only a few lecturers in this group took part in the study, this nevertheless gives an indication of how little hearing protection is used for these instruments.

The social climate among lecturers with regard to hearing protection was good, which was reflected in mutual understanding and few inhibitions in the use of hearing protection measures. However, awareness of their own risk was distorted and those who had an unfavorable risk assessment themselves were less likely to discuss hearing protection with students.

Underestimated risk

As with professional orchestras or amateur formations (see SMZ article 3/2022), the actual risk is subjectively underestimated in many cases. 

After all, teaching can also put your hearing under considerable strain:

In 61 percent of the cases evaluated here, the respondents were teaching an instrument with an average sound level of at least 86 dB(A), which is considered potentially hazardous according to Suva.

It was therefore less social and more cognitive factors (i.e. the extent to which one feels subjectively at risk) that determined hearing protection management at conservatoires. The majority of participating lecturers reported that their students hardly or never take measures to protect their hearing during lessons, even though hearing protection is discussed. And yet studies (Auchter & LePrell, 2014) confirm that it makes sense to learn how to use hearing protection at an early age.

There is therefore a need for action. And this has already been recognized by the Conference of Swiss Music Universities (KMHS), whose members are considering whether and how teachers can be made aware of the issue and how it can be integrated more strongly into music lessons. And that's a good thing, because after all, it's about protecting the hearing - and thus the capital of future musicians.

The detailed final report can also be found at
kalaidos-fh.ch/en-CH/Research/Faculty-Music/Focus on hearing protection

Bibliography

Auchter, M., & Le Prell, C. G. (2014). Hearing Loss Prevention Education Using Adopt-a-Band: Changes in Self-Reported Earplug 

Use in Two High School Marching Bands. American Journal of Audiology, 23(2), 211-226.

Chiller, S., & Portner, S. (2020a). Hearing protection in amateur music groups: Final report. Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences Switzerland.

Hänni, S. (2021), Hearing protection in music lessons. Bern University of the Arts.

For its thirteenth edition, the European Youth Choir Festival Basel (EJCF) has invited outstanding young choirs from eleven European countries as well as a guest choir from the Philippines. 

Over 30 high-quality choir concerts and a packed program for singing enthusiasts of all ages make the Ascension Days a great celebration of coming together and singing. 

They are traveling from all directions. Eleven youth choirs from Belgium, Finland, France, Georgia, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Serbia and the Ukraine, a guest choir from the Philippines and seven youth choirs from various Swiss language regions. The choirs of the Basel Music Academy and the Basel Boys' and Girls' Choir are also taking part. Invitations were extended to those with outstanding musical abilities as well as stage presence and charisma. Over 30,000 visitors are expected to attend the 50 or so events.

Association President Maya Graf is already looking forward to it: "Unforgettable choir concerts, singing together and wonderful encounters between the local population, the many host families, volunteers and the young choir singers will once again enchant our region."

A firework display of choral music 

The EJCF opens its five-day program on the Wednesday evening before Ascension Day for the first time with a "Fulminant Choral Spectacle" in the St. Jakobshalle. More than 1000 young people from 13 countries will present music from their regions of origin and set the animated film "Circuit" to music with a new composition by Balz Aliesch, film music composer from Basel. Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider and Association President Maya Graf welcome the audience and the young people from all over Europe. The following days are packed with concerts in Basel and the region. Those who love to sing will get their money's worth at the festival, as will those who prefer to listen.

The choir ship now offers the opportunity to sing together with choirs from Israel, Belgium and Switzerland. Those interested in culture will have the opportunity to get to know the musical cultures of Georgia, the Philippines and Finland at first hand in the Stadtcasino. The Foyer Public of the Basel Theater will also host new Sing mit! events for the whole family. On Saturday afternoon, over 1000 young people perform on five open-air stages in Basel's city center at "Singe uf dr Strooss". The festival concludes on Sunday with the final concert at the Stadtcasino Basel. 

New program EJCF Atelier

Since the festival was founded in 1992, the focus of the EJCF has been on encounters as well as music. The new EJCF Atelier program strengthens the exchange between young people from different Swiss language regions. 23 choirs will train under the direction of internationally renowned experts on topics such as choreography, body percussion and Swiss folk songs. The results of their work will be performed on Saturday evening. 220 young people will also work on the multimedia symphony "Nordic Light" for choir, orchestra and pre-recorded sound and video projection in the presence of the well-known Latvian composer Eriks Ešenvalds and will give the work its Swiss premiere at the Stadtcasino. 

Overcoming cultural boundaries

This time, around 600 choir singers are staying with host families in the Basel region. In addition to music schools, parishes and secondary schools, committed individuals and the Basel-based organization Centrepoint are now also helping to find the many guest beds for the accommodation. Festival director Kathrin Renggli says: "Encounters between singers and with the general public help to discover the people behind the clichés. This has become particularly important again in socio-political terms." In general, the EJCF maintains countless collaborations with institutions and organizations of all kinds and works with over 400 volunteers. They supervise choirs or concerts, process old festival material into new souvenir items or work in the box office. 

Advance sales for the "Fulminante Chorspektakel" and the "Gala Dinner with Chorical" on the choir ship are already underway. 

Advance ticket sales for all other concerts start on Saturday, March 25, 2023. Information is now available online at www.ejcf.ch. 

ejcf.ch

facebook.com/youthchorfestival  

youtube.com/user/EJCFBasel 

instagram.com/ejcf_basel 

To exist as an amateur association for so many years is a challenge and requires a lot: a constant commitment of volunteers, putting together interesting musical programmes, the search for new members and soloists as well as the organization of rehearsals and association events. Many skills are needed from within the orchestra: Experts in finance, IT skills to create a homepage and graphic design skills to create concert programs and posters.

For interesting concert projects such as the performance of large symphonies, financial resources are also needed to fund newcomers and soloists. As with all amateur orchestras, creative solutions are always needed to attract sponsors and patrons. The Binningen Orchestra has managed to do all of this so far. The fact that it has even managed to give two major concerts during the coronavirus pandemic, which has put music societies to a special test, is not a matter of course.

Being open and cooperating with boys

In order to remain attractive to members and listeners over the years and in the vast sea of music associations, it is important to set special accents. For years, our specialty has been intensive collaboration with young soloists aged between ten and 25. These collaborations are beneficial for both sides: The budding professional musicians are given the opportunity to perform as soloists in an informal setting. The orchestra benefits because it can offer popular concerts.

The Binningen Orchestra also attaches great importance to being open to the outside world. In the past, it has repeatedly performed together with other music associations or choirs from the Basel region, such as "Opernklänge im Leimental" in 2015, a joint concert with a men's choir that was a great success. And there were not only regional projects. One particular highlight was a joint concert project with the Open Orchestra Arezzo from Italy in 2019, in which musicians from the Binningen orchestra took part in a concert in Arezzo and vice versa. Such projects strengthen social cohesion in particular. This plays an important role in the Binningen Orchestra and is promoted through regular aperitifs and club dinners.

The question of how the orchestra was able to survive for 100 years is not easy to answer from today's perspective, as this period spans many generations. Its foundation in 1923 was only possible because a conductor volunteered. From 1930 to 1950, there was a preference for operettas and opera concerts, which were organized in collaboration with the local choirs.

To mark this milestone anniversary, the Binningen Orchestra will be giving a major concert on October 22, 2023 and - in keeping with its tradition - will be involved in a major joint project with other music societies. The long-term goal is to survive for at least another 100 years, against all odds.

Interested musicians are cordially invited to take part in the big anniversary concert on October 22 with romantic works by Dvorak and Mendelssohn, among others. The prerequisite for this is to take part in the weekly rehearsals from June 1, 2023 at the latest. Contact and further information at:

www.orchester-binningen.ch