The majority of the BKK thus follows the position of the Government Council. The development of a counter-proposal, which would have included an improvement in social security for cultural workers, failed because the demands of the initiative were not specific enough for an alternative proposal.

The Government Council is of the opinion that the implementation of the "tipping initiative" and the renewal of the cultural partnership with the canton of Basel-Landschaft as of 2022 have already introduced measures that significantly improve the conditions for independent music-making in the canton. It wants to wait and see their effect before deciding on further measures and recommends rejecting the initiative without a counter-proposal.

The trio consists of Matilde Michelozzi (cello), Emanuele Brilli (violin) and Sergio Costa (piano), who are studying chamber music with Patrick Jüdt in the Specialized Master's programme. Their mentor is Daniel Sepec, who will teach and rehearse with the trio in a course open to the public at the university.

The BUA announces further successes: Leo Cudré-Mauroux, Bachelor student in Patricia Pagny's piano class, has won 4th prize in the "American virtuoso international competition" and will play in the prizewinners' concert at Carnegie Hall in New York in September. Francisco Morais Fernandes, a student in Antoine Françoise's piano class, is one of the three current winners of the Fritz Gerber Award, which was established in 2015 by the Fritz Gerber Foundation and the Lucerne Festival.

According to the canton, the 2030 cultural strategy is flexible and adaptable. It was presented to the cultural partners and will be implemented together with all internal and external stakeholders in the canton of Valais.

In 2021 and 2022, 54 of 143 applications submitted in Valais were supported (34 in 2021, 20 in 2022). In total, the canton awarded just over CHF 7 million to cultural enterprises in Valais as part of transformation projects. Funding was provided in equal parts by the federal government and the canton.

More info

The team investigated the extent to which personal preferences for certain singing voices can be attributed to objective characteristics such as pitch accuracy or tempo and the extent to which the personal situation or individual characteristics determine preferences. To this end, they surveyed 326 people online and a further 42 in the Institute's laboratories.

In the introductory online experiment, a total of 96 a cappella vocal performances by 16 trained singers were rated according to personal preference. The evaluation showed that there was a wide range of liking and that there were major individual differences in the preferences of the test subjects. However, the team also found similarities in the average ratings, which in their opinion were - at least in part - due to the acoustic characteristics of the voices themselves.

However, this assumption was not confirmed after closer examination: the acoustic characteristics could only explain the ratings to a small extent. Instead, it was found that the preferences for certain voices were explained by the way in which the voices were perceived and interpreted by the listeners themselves.

Original publication:
Bruder, C., Poeppel, D., & Larrouy-Maestri, P. (2024). Perceptual (But Not Acoustic) Features Predict Singing Voice Preferences. Scientific Reports, 14,8977. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58924-9

The ticket tax has been levied in the city of Lucerne since 1920 and contributes to a large extent to the funds available for the promotion of culture and sport in the city. Since 1990, there have been regulations governing the earmarked use of ticket tax revenue. Thus, 15 percent each goes to the fund for the promotion and support of cultural activities and to the fund for the promotion of youth sports. The remaining 70 percent is earmarked for various cultural and sports promotion purposes (cultural part 2/3 and sports part 1/3).

According to the city's press release, the implementation of the various measures, including the promotion of diverse cultural activities, the independent scene as well as youth and popular sports, will be carried out with funds from the ticket tax. This leads to "a broad and diverse range of cultural and sporting activities for the population" in both areas. Without income from the ticket tax, around CHF 5 to 6 million would have to be financed from general tax revenue.

To simplify the system, the City Council plans to abolish the current four funds and replace them with a single fund. The fund will be financed by the income from the ticket tax. The solution with just one fund for culture and sport allows more flexibility in the use of the money. The target value is for around 60% to be paid out to culture and 40% to sport.

More info: https://www.stadtluzern.ch/aktuelles/newslist/2129119

Johannes Keller studied early music (majoring in harpsichord), basso continuo and ensemble conducting at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. He is co-founder of the basso continuo ensemble "Il Profondo" and the duo "L'Istante" (with violinist Anaïs Chen). He regularly collaborates with Andrea Marcon, including as assistant for opera productions at the Theater Basel, the Frankfurt Opera and the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence.

Ruedi Tobler is a musician and producer from Winterthur. In addition to band projects (John Gailo, Europa: Neue Leichtigkeit, etc.), he is on the road with his electronic solo project playmob.il and works as a music lecturer at the Winterthur Institute for Contemporary Music.

In addition to Keller and Tobler, the expert jury selected the following Thurgau artists from 68 applications: Sarah Hugentobler, video and performance artist, Bern, Isabelle Krieg, visual artist, Kreuzlingen, Bennett Smith, visual artist, Lucerne and Tabea Steiner, author, Zurich.

As part of the implementation of the task and financial reform of the Canton of Lucerne, the Department of Primary Education announced that it would cease subsidy payments to the Luzerner Kantorei association in 2023. The board of the Luzerner Kantorei association then decided not to renew the service contract with the city of Lucerne. To ensure that choral training in the city of Lucerne remains guaranteed for the currently more than 200 young singers, the choir will continue to operate as part of the Lucerne Music School from the 2024/25 school year. The City Council is requesting a special loan of CHF 1.73 million for this purpose.

For choral activities that go beyond the training offered by the music school, for example for camps, trips, competitions or large concerts, the choirs should be supported by a sponsoring association, similar to the wind orchestras of the music school. The report and proposal are expected to be discussed at the City Council meeting on June 13, 2024.

After a first edition, Salto! is preparing for its second season. The initiative, originally supported by a network of Valais concert halls for contemporary music, will be continued by the Valais Department of Culture in collaboration with the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music (EJMA-Valais).

The aim of this biennial support program, which is aimed at musicians and training courses in the field of contemporary music in Valais, is to develop professional skills while encouraging collaboration between the canton's cultural players and venues. Interested musicians and bands from Valais can apply until May 31, 2024.

On the one hand, the recommendations for the funding bodies aim to take the existing guideline tariffs into account when assessing funding applications and to apply them to all phases of cultural creation. Secondly, the professional associations should provide information on appropriate compensation for creative artists and raise awareness.

In 2021, the National Cultural Dialogue set up a working group on the topic of "Compensation for artists". Its aim was to develop a coherent practice for the compensation of artists by the municipalities, cities, cantons and the federal government that takes into account the interests of artists and their entitlement to appropriate compensation.

Link to the recommendations

Phoebe Bognár, born in Australia in 1997, studied at the Hochschule für Musik Basel and the International Ensemble Modern Academy (IEMA), among others. Her musical practice is characterized by a variety of genres, art forms and disciplines, including gestures, voice, various flutes, theater and electronics.

Santiago Villar Martín was born in Spain in 1998. He studied at the Frederyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw and currently at the Hochschule für Musik Basel. Villar Martín has already performed with ensembles such as Studio Musik Fabrik and the Basel Sinfonietta. He is also a co-founder of the experimental ICE 3 Ensemble and the Ex-Sentia Ensemble.

Born in Portugal in 1999, Francisco Morais Fernandes is currently completing his master's degree at the Bern University of the Arts (HKB). He has attended master classes with Katia Veekmans and Piotr Anderszewski, among others. Morais Fernandes is active as a soloist, ensemble and orchestral musician as well as a conductor.

Launched in 2015, the Fritz Gerber Award is awarded three times a year. The prize money amounts to CHF 10,000 each and also enables participation in the Lucerne Festival Academy in the amount of CHF 10,000 each. Candidates must have Swiss citizenship or have lived in Switzerland for at least three years. The competition is organized by the Lucerne Festival Academy. The jury is made up of Michael Haefliger, Director of the Lucerne Festival, and the composer and conductor Heinz Holliger.

All of the Zurich Jazz Orchestra's (ZJO) rehearsals, composition and administrative work now take place in the former craftsman's workshop at Heinrichstrasse 69. Thanks to a corresponding conversion, the Jazzhaus now has a two-storey rehearsal room, two smaller music rooms, recording facilities and a further room that serves as an office and meeting place. The premises can also be rented by other musicians, ensembles, bands and productions outside of rehearsals.

The costs for the renovation of the Jazzhaus amount to around 1.6 million francs. The Zurich Jazz Orchestra raised the majority of these funds itself: around 500,000 francs came from charitable foundations and private individuals, 380,000 francs from the Canton of Zurich's cultural fund and 125,000 francs from the City of Zurich. The remaining funds for the renovation were contributed by the Dr. Stephan à Porta Foundation.

Open day: Sunday, April 21, 2024, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., no registration required.

Ingrid Frauchiger studied singing and piano in Freiburg i. Br. As a concert and oratorio singer, she also championed Renaissance music (in historical performance practice) and New Music. She sang over 50 world premieres and many composers wrote new works for her, including Isang Yun, Heinz Holliger, Jürg Wyttenbach, Hans Ulrich Lehmann, Armin Schibler and Norbert Moret. She was also open to musical experiments and improvisations in collaboration with jazz musicians such as Pierre Favre, Jonas Helborg, Runo Erikson and David Dramm.

From 1972 she was professor of singing at the HMT Bern. Master classes took her to the Menuhin Academy in Gstaad and various American universities, among others. In 1986 she was Visiting Professor at the University of California (UCSB).

The Federal Folk Music Festival (EVMF) is the largest and most important folk music event in Switzerland. Every four years, the festival brings together over 1,100 musicians from all genres and around 50,000 to 60,000 visitors from all over Switzerland. The focus is on making music together and cultivating traditions.

In addition to the free music-making, there will also be musical performances throughout Altstätt town center, which will be judged by experts. Around 230 musical performances, including around 50 performances by young musicians, and a parade await the guests.

In the run-up to the EVMF, various events and activities will take place throughout the St. Gallen Rhine Valley. The region will also be involved during the festival: The car and touring car logistics on the Allmend in Altstätten will be used as a parking space for the numerous motorhomes and campers expected.