Spronk studied with Thomas Grossenbacher at the Zurich University of the Arts from 2012 to 2017. Since 2017, he has been studying at the Berlin University of the Arts with Jens Peter Maintz. He is a scholarship holder of the International Music Academy in the Principality of Liechtenstein and regularly takes part in intensive weeks and activities at the academy. In 2014, he won first prize with his clarinet trio at the Kiwanis Competition in Zurich. In 2019 he was a participant in the Verbier Festival Academy.

The Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1929 as one of the first radio symphony orchestras in Germany. It has been conducted by Eliahu Inbal, Dmitrij Kitajenko, Hugh Wolff, Paavo Järvi and Andrés Orozco-Estrada, among others. The current chief conductor is Alain Altinoglu.

The team of the transdisciplinary research center "C:POP. Transdisciplinary Research Center for Popular Music Cultures and Creative Economies" of the Faculty of Cultural Studies at Paderborn University were commissioned with the scientific implementation of the study. This should ultimately provide insights into the structural, economic, ecological and social significance of music festivals - from classical music to electronic dance music and heavy metal. The study was launched in November and the project is expected to run until the end of August 2024.

Under the leadership of Beate Flath and Christoph Jacke, who both form the Executive Directorate of C:POP and are members of the Board of Directors, a multi-perspective, transdisciplinary team will conduct the empirical study. A mix of online surveys and interviews will be used to record key economic figures, the social and cultural dimensions of music festivals and their significance in terms of sustainability, diversity and inclusion.

More info:
https://kw.uni-paderborn.de/cpop/aktuelle-forschungsprojekte/bundesweite-festivalstudie

The project is led by Christof Weiss at the Center for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science (CAIDAS). In his role as Professor of Computer Science (Computational Humanities) at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU), he combines two apparently very different subject areas: Mathematics and computer science meet art and culture.

As part of its Emmy Noether Program, the German Research Foundation (DFG) is now funding his work with 1.4 million euros. This will enable him to set up a new research group on computer-based analysis of music recordings. The aim is to fundamentally develop automated analysis methods for music recordings, which could be used in musicology and the computational humanities in the future.

More info:
https://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/aktuelles/pressemitteilungen/single/news/von-noten-und-neuronalen-netzen/

First prize went to the Trio Basilea. It was awarded a commissioned composition (financed by Pro Helvetia), a cash prize and concerts at the Swiss Chamber Music Festival, Pianotriofest.ch, Zunftkonzerte Zürich, Festival Musikdorf Ernen and the Gesellschaft für Musik und Literatur Kreuzlingen. The trio consists of Laurentiu Stoian, violin (MA P with Adelina Oprean), Marina Correia Martins, cello (MA P with Danjulo Ishizaka) and Zofia Grzelak, piano (alumna, MA P with Martínez Mehner and Ronald Brautigam).

Second prize goes to the Zarathoustra Trio, which receives a commissioned composition, a cash prize and a concert performance at the Swiss Chamber Music Festival and Festival Musikdorf Ernen. Its members are Thomas Briant (violin), Eliott Leridon (cello) and Théotime Gillot (piano, MA P with Claudio Martínez Mehner).

Third prize goes to the Trio Archai, which receives a commissioned composition, a cash prize and a concert at the Swiss Chamber Music Festival 2024. It consists of Ayla Şahin (violin, MA P with Rainer Schmidt and Alina Pogostkina), Finn Mannion (violoncello, BA instrumental with Danjulo Ishizaka) and others

The jury consisted of Heinz Holliger (chair), Benjamin Engeli, Chiara Enderle Samatanga, Sarah Rumer, Daniel Schädeli and Lisa Schatzman.

In 2022, consumption amounted to 20.1 hours, in 2023 to 20.7 hours. The increase corresponds to thirteen additional three-minute songs per week. At 20.9 hours, Germany is slightly above the global average. The figures are taken from the "Engaging with Music" 2023 report, the annual survey on global music consumption by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the umbrella organization of the German Music Industry Association (BVMI). The report is based on responses from more than 43,000 people in 26 countries.

For the first time this year, the report also includes a chapter on artificial intelligence (AI), the development of which presents both opportunities and challenges for the music industry. According to the German music industry association Bundesverband Musikindustrie e.V., this shows that people value authenticity: Eight out of ten people (79 percent) believe that human creativity is central to the creation of music. For 76 percent, the music or vocals of an artist should not be used or adopted by an AI without permission.

With an overall occupancy rate of 89.2 percent for 326 performances and 241,507 admissions, Zurich Opera House is in an exceptionally good position by international standards, according to a press release. The opera division recorded 146,963 admissions in the 161 performances and thus achieved an occupancy rate of 87.5 percent. Eight productions were at 99 percent capacity. The most successful production was Tchaikovsky's Yevgeny Onegin with one hundred percent capacity utilization for five performances. The major project, which will run for several seasons The Ring of the Nibelung was 97.1 percent in favor of The Valkyrie and 98.9 percent for Siegfried was also extremely well attended.

Ballett Zürich thrilled 61,631 people with its 62 performances and achieved a very good attendance rate of 95.4 percent. The most successful production here was the ballet Anna Karenina by Christian Spuck with eight performances at 99.4 percent. The 46 events for children and families were attended 14,808 times.

Sponsorship income once again exceeded the CHF 10 million mark. Income from performances in the 2022/23 season amounted to CHF 2 million. To cushion the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, a provision of CHF 2.49 million was set aside for the 2022 season, which was released in full. This resulted in an annual profit of 954,569 francs. This profit fully compensates for the losses of the three previous coronavirus seasons. The Zurich Opera House has thus survived the pandemic with no impact on earnings.

The 37-year-old Bringuier, who comes from Nice himself, will take over the position until the end of the 2024/2025 season. He succeeds Daniele Callegari, who has led the orchestra since September 2021. Bringuier has been Artiste Associé with the orchestra since the 2019/20 season. He can look back on a long history with the ensemble: he played with the orchestra as a cellist at the age of 13 and conducted it for the first time two years later.

In November 2011 and June 2012, Bringuier was guest conductor of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich. In the 2014/2015 season, he succeeded David Zinman as conductor and music director of the orchestra. However, his contract was not renewed.

The Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice was founded in 1945 as L'Orchestre Symphonique Municipal de la Ville de Nice. It consists of up to 120 musicians. It regularly takes part in the Printemps des Arts in Monte Carlo and has also performed at the Chorégies d'Orange, the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence and the Musiques au Cœur d'Antibes.

De Forceville studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Paris with Olivier Charlier, where she has been teaching as an assistant to Philippe Graffin since 2021, and continued her studies in Germany with Antje Weithaas and Mihaela Martin. She plays a violin by Lorenzo Storioni from 1777, on loan from the Boubo-Music Foundation. She will take up her post in Lausanne definitively in March 2024.

Founded in 1942 by Victor Desarzens, the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne (OCL) is now led by French violinist Renaud Capuçon after six years under the artistic direction of American conductor Joshua Weilerstein. It consists of around 40 musicians and has a repertoire ranging from early Baroque to contemporary works.

Julia Hagen was born in Salzburg in 1995 and initially studied with Enrico Bronzi in Salzburg, Reinhard Latzko and Heinrich Schiff in Vienna and finally with Jens Peter Maintz at the University of the Arts in Berlin and Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt at Kronberg Academy.

The jury, chaired by Lucerne Festival Director Michael Haefliger, announced that the Austrian musician would receive the award after the final at the Vienna Musikverein. The prize is being awarded for the twelfth time and includes prize money and a concert with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra at the Lucerne Summer Festival. Previous winners of the award include Patricia Kopatchinskaja (2002), Sol Gabetta (2004) and Vilde Frang (2012).

The prize is an initiative of the Lucerne Festival, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Gesellschaft für Musikfreunde Wien and the Credit Suisse Foundation. It is awarded every two years (alternating with the Prix Credit Suisse Jeunes Solistes).

The German Research Foundation (DFG) has selected the research project of Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences and Arts with the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media (HMTMH) and the University of Sydney, Australia, as one of the first projects at universities of applied sciences for funding. The aim is to improve the health of music professionals and to develop the new discipline of musician physiotherapy.

The interdisciplinary team includes participants from the fields of physiotherapy, medicine, computer science and musicology. In addition to an eleven-strong team from Osnabrück, a scientist from the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media (HMTMH) and a scientist from the University of Sydney, Australia, are also involved. The cooperation with the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) also integrates the field of artificial intelligence.

The team was able to gain the German Music and Orchestra Association (UNISONO), the German Society for Music Physiology and Musicians' Medicine (DGfMM), the Performing Arts Medicine Association (PAMA) and the Australian Society for Performing Arts Healthcare (ASPAH) as practice partners.

More info:
https://www.hs-osnabrueck.de/nachrichten/2023/12/bundesweit-unter-den-besten-zehn-forschungsvorhaben-deutsche-forschungsgemeinschaft-dfg-foerdert-projekt-der-hochschule-osnabrueck/

Vlček was awarded the special prize for the best interpretation of the Penderecki Viola Concerto in the version for cello. Vilém completed his MA SP Soloist in Danjulo Ishizaka's cello class at the Basel University of Music in summer 2023. Born in the Czech Republic in 1998, he was a scholarship holder of the Rahn Kulturfonds in 2020 and 2022 after numerous other awards and winner of the first prize cello of the Rahn Music Prize.

The International Krzysztof Penderecki Cello Competition is held every five years by the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Krakow to mark the composer's milestone birthdays. This year's jury consisted of Elżbieta Penderecka (director), Zdzisław Łapiński, Julius Berger, Anne Gastinel, Liwu Ji, Kangho Lee, Ivan Monighetti, Arto Noras, Csaba Onczay and Amit Peled.

Wojciech Chałupka was born in Kluczbork in 1999. He began his training in his home town in Szymon Binek's saxophone class. In 2012, he became a student of Bernard Steuer in Katowice. In 2017, he moved to Warsaw, where he continued his studies with Pawel Gusnar and Alicja Wolynczyk as well as the composer Dariusz Przybylski. He has been a student of Lars Miekusch at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) since 2019.

Andrzej Koszewski, who died in 2015, was a Polish composer, musicologist and music teacher. He is considered Poland's most important choral composer of the 20th century.

The 43-year-old musician and composer won over the jury with his "Sarnersee" project, according to the press release from the two half-cantons. The starting point was a night-time panoramic photograph of the shoreline, on which only scattered points of light could be seen in the darkness. The structure of this image is transferred to a barrel organ perforated tape and thus defines the tonal basis of the composition based on it. The work will ultimately be performed with the participation of a "wild orchestra" consisting of musicians from the Lake Sarnen region.

Britschgi grew up in Wilen and trained as a blacksmith and wagon maker. He attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and Krakow and has worked as a freelance artist, conceptual designer, composer and musician. Since this year he is responsible for the musical program of the Obwald Festival.

Every year, talented musicians from the Musikschule Konservatorium Zürich (MKZ) take part in the competition. Four solo acts and three bands qualified for the final at the Moods jazz club via video casting. There they sang and played in front of a packed house and faced the five-member jury.

19-year-old Ambraze (real name: Anaïs Nowik) was the winner in the solo category. She began singing lessons at MKZ in the sixth grade. She is currently studying at MKZ's Pre-College with Anna Känzig. The Gian Rungger Quartet came out on top in the band category. The four young musicians presented two original compositions. The quartet, led by Christoph Irniger, has been playing together in this line-up since 2022.

The prizes of the Förderstiftung Musik und Musikschule Konservatorium Zürich (FMZ) are awarded annually for "outstanding artistic achievement". In view of the very high standard of the competition, the jury's decision was not an easy one. All participants receive professional coaching to further their careers.

More info:
https://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/content/ssd/de/index/departement_schul_sport/medien/medienmitteilungen/2023/dezember/231204a.html

Under Minder's leadership, the Vaud Culture Agency (SERAC) was reorganized and expanded in order to implement new laws on cultural life and artistic creation as well as on movable and intangible cultural heritage. In particular, this has led to a strengthening of cultural promotion, writes the canton. This includes support for cultural creation with new calls for projects and grants as well as the development of cultural mediation, including in institutions.

Nicole Minder took office in 2015 and has been actively involved in strengthening intercantonal policy, including the arrangements of the Conference of Heads of Service and Delegates for Cultural Affairs such as Cinéforom and the Observatoire romand de la culture.