Born in 1976, Renaud Capuçon studied in Paris and Berlin with Thomas Brandis and Isaac Stern. In 1997, Claudio Abbado appointed him concertmaster of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra. He is Artistic Director of the Festival de Pâques in Aix-en-Provence, which he founded in 2013, and was appointed Artistic Director of the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad in 2016. He has been Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne since the 2021/22 season.

The Ordre national du Mérite is a French order of merit created in 1963. It is the fourth highest official award in the country.

The current Office for Cultural Affairs (SERAC) will be transformed into a Directorate-General for Culture (DGC). This will be attached to the Department of Culture, Infrastructure and Human Resources. It is intended to increase the visibility of cultural policy. To this end, it will consolidate the cultural offer of the entire canton, support the entire chain of professional creation and the conditions under which it is practiced and strengthen the cultural ecosystem, in particular through public-private partnerships.

The cultural policy guidelines will be presented to the public this spring. They will specify the major strategic axes and identify the fields of action for the individual sectors by the end of the legislative period. The implementation and consolidation of the guidelines and ultimately the canton's public cultural policy will be the task of the new Directorate General in consultation with the cultural sector. The position of Director General is being advertised with immediate effect, with the earliest possible start date being August 1, 2024.

In its 2022-2027 legislative program, the State Council has committed to consolidating the cultural and heritage offerings throughout the canton. In order to achieve this goal, several cross-divisional measures are required both within and outside the administration, writes the canton.

Boissière was previously Executive Director of the broadcaster Mezzo, Director of the production company EuroArts, General Director of the label Naïve and held various positions at Warner Music. Medici.tv has been a partner of the Verbier Festival since 2007.

The Verbier Festival was founded in 1994 by Swedish musician and concert organizer Martin Engstroem and attracts around 35,000 visitors every year. At its heart is the Verbier Festival Academy, where renowned teachers work together with young talents. Young artists can also gain experience under the direction of leading conductors in two Verbier Festival orchestras.

The festival is financially supported by the municipality of Val de Bagnes, the Loterie Romande, the canton of Valais and the Sandoz Family Foundation. The Verbier Festival has been a foundation since 2005.

Théotime Gillot is studying for a Master's degree in Performance in the class of Claudio Martínez Mehner. With his chamber music trio Zarathoustra, he recently won 2nd prize at the Orpheus Swiss Chamber Music Competition. In Bremen, he won first prize in the competition, the audience prize and the prize for the youngest person taking part in the semi-final.

The European Piano Competition Bremen (formerly the Bremen Piano Competition) has been giving young pianists the opportunity to showcase their skills to a broad, interested audience and present themselves to a qualified jury every two years since 1987. The competition program includes a commissioned composition for solo piano as a compulsory piece, which is premiered at the semi-final.

At the end of 2023, the city council increased subsidies to the Südpol association, the Kleintheater Luzern foundation and the Neubad Luzern network association. This was contrary to the city council's proposals and despite the indications that this would partly support services "that do not meet the criteria of cultural promotion", as the city writes in its press release.

The City Council has now looked again at the increases in subsidies to cultural venues granted by Parliament and has spoken out in favor of a partial increase in the subsidy contribution to the Südpol Luzern association and the Neubad network association. However, it excludes funding efforts that are not clearly related to the promotion of culture.

It reduces the contributions for the Südpol association by CHF 25,000 (requested cost-of-living adjustment, which all other institutions do not receive) and for the Neubad by CHF 25,000 (awareness project is the responsibility of the event venues). The Kleintheater Foundation will receive the full increase.

On this basis, the Südpol association will receive CHF 1,265,800 (instead of the special credit of CHF 1,290,800 approved by the Grand City Council) and the Neubad network association will receive CHF 325,000 (instead of the special credit of CHF 350,000 approved by the Grand City Council).

According to the Austrian newspaper der Standard, Poschner will leave the Linz orchestra in 2027. After studying in Munich, he initially worked as 1st Kapellmeister at the Komische Oper Berlin. From 2007 to 2017, he was GMD of the Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra. In July 2010, the University of Bremen appointed him honorary professor, as did the Anton Bruckner University in Linz in 2020.

Born in Munich, Poschner joined the Bruckner Orchestra Linz in 2017 after ten years as General Music Director in Bremen. He was recently awarded the Special Achievement Award of the International Classical Music Awards 2024 for the complete recording of all versions of Anton Bruckner's symphonies with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra (ORF). In 2025, after conducting the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana in Lugano for ten years, he will join the Basel Symphony Orchestra as chief conductor.

A recent survey conducted by the city of Lausanne revealed that the 200 or so independent theater groups in the canton of Vaud are struggling to find suitable and affordable rehearsal spaces. The City and Canton of Vaud have therefore decided to jointly provide two new rehearsal rooms in Lausanne on a permanent basis. The occupancy plan and the administrative and technical management will be entrusted to the association Les Compagnies Vaudoises.

The Salle du Martinet, which covers over 200 square meters, will be converted and equipped with stage and technical equipment to meet the needs of rehearsal work. It will primarily be accessible to the Petit Théâtre and independent Vaud theater groups at a preferential rate. The installation of the hall was made possible thanks to a grant of CHF 50,000 from the City of Lausanne, which also ensures the operation of the project through an annual subsidy of CHF 30,000 with a deficit guarantee of CHF 20,000. The 45 square meter room 5bis, which was created as part of the Covid measures, can be used free of charge for research and brainstorming.

According to the HfMDK's press release, the university is thus honoring "in particular Eschenbach's extraordinary commitment to young artists, to the development of talent and to the most diverse pedagogical and didactic forms of music education". As the highlight of the musical program, students from the HfMDK and Kronberg Academy under the direction of Christoph Eschenbach jointly presented the Chamber Music No. 1 by Paul Hindemith.

Born in Breslau in 1940, Eschenbach won the International Clara Haskil Piano Competition in Lucerne in 1965 and was chief conductor of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich from 1982 to 1985.

Christoph Eschenbach is closely associated with the bachelor's and master's degree programs run jointly by Kronberg Academy and the HfMDK. In addition to his work as an artistic advisor and lecturer at Kronberg Academy, he is a regular guest of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and has been the Paul Hindemith Prize winner of the city of Hanau since 2016.

In 2003, Lysy took up the position of Professor of Cello at the University of California in Los Angeles. Before moving to the United States, he held a professorship at McGill University in Montréal. He was also a visiting professor at the International Menuhin Music Academy in Switzerland for several years. He lived with his family in Los Angeles.

Lysy's more recent projects have included a Bach solo recital at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, two programs with Vladimir Ashkenazy and his sons in Lugano, a concert with the American Youth Symphony Orchestra in Los Angeles and a tour of the USA, Canada, Italy and Argentina with the show "Te Amo, Argentina".

Article in The Strad

There were 27 applications from all over the world for the piano competition. Ten young talents were admitted to the final by the jury and four were ultimately awarded a prize. The first and second prize winners will perform as soloists at the KKL Lucerne. The first prize is endowed with CHF 12,000, the second with CHF 8,000 and the third with CHF 4,000.

The first prize was won by Laura Mota Pello (Spain), the second by Francesco Granata (Italy) and the third was awarded ex aequo to Manoush Ruken Toth (Switzerland) and Zhiqiao Zhang (China).

The Rahn Kulturfonds association has been awarding the Rahn Music Prize for the promotion of students at Swiss music academies for over 45 years. The competition is held every two years, alternating between piano and string instruments.

According to the city's press release, the same requirements apply to all applicants and the same funding criteria apply to all cultural projects. The merger is also "an important step towards fair and transparent working conditions for all". Sectors in which extremely precarious conditions prevail today would be directly compared with sectors that "have known and adhered to clear and comprehensible guidelines for years". From now on, the City of Bern will "only support projects that guarantee fair wages, salaries and fees as well as social security contributions".

A cross-divisional cultural commission has been created from the previous divisional commissions, with additional expertise from areas that were not previously represented. The municipal council has elected 39 people to the cultural commission, 32 of whom are members of the previous divisional commissions.

More info:
https://www.bern.ch/mediencenter/medienmitteilungen/aktuell_ptk/neue-kulturkommission-nimmt-arbeit-auf

The four manuscripts in the hand of Bach's pupil Heinrich Nikolaus Gerber are on display in the treasury of the Bach Museum Leipzig. The copies made by Bach's private pupil in Leipzig around 1724/25 are of particular importance: they are the earliest known sources of the compositions, which must have been created directly under the eyes of the Thomaskantor.

Gerber's manuscripts were considered lost for decades. They were later found in the private possession of the British pharmacologist, musician, Bach lover and patron Sir Ralph Kohn (1927-2016), who was born in Leipzig as the child of a Jewish Orthodox textile merchant. In 1933, Ralph Kohn and his family had to flee Leipzig to escape the Nazis, but remained emotionally attached to his native city and its rich musical tradition throughout his life. Thanks to a donation from the Kohn family, the manuscripts are now together in Leipzig.

According to a press release from the German Music and Orchestra Association (Deutsche Musik- und Orchestervereinigung unisono), the number of reported musician positions in the 129 professional orchestras has risen slightly to 9770.65 positions. In 2022, 9749 positions were still reported. The situation of professional orchestras in Germany has largely consolidated after decades of structural adjustments. In 1992, there were still 168 orchestras. However, "the growing uncertainties surrounding the financing of public broadcasting" were a cause for concern. These concern the future of all radio orchestras, including the seven radio choirs and four big bands.

36% report a deterioration in the staffing situation over the past ten years. The effort involved is also increasing, as only just under 21% of orchestras manage to fill vacancies in one application process. 36% need 12 months or longer to fill a vacancy.

More info:
https://uni-sono.org/presse_meldungen/mehr-musikerstellen-in-deutschen-berufsorchestern/

The Brazilian mezzo-soprano Marcela Rahal studied singing in Leipzig with Roland Schubert and in São Paulo with Francisco Campos. She will make her debut at the Lucerne Theater in spring 2024 in the title role of Antonio Vivaldi's opera "Giustino": from 2 March, she can be seen and heard as Brünnhilde in the world premiere of Samuel Penderbayne's new stage work "Siegfried!" based on Richard Wagner.

The Tenor Viñas Competition is one of the most important in the genres of opera, oratorio and song. Every year, young singers from all over the world take part. The international jury consists of experts from the Metropolitan Opera New York, La Scala Milan, the Teatro Real Madrid, the Royal Opera House London and other major opera houses.

Jun Märkl has been Music Director of the Malaysia Philharmonic Orchestra since 2021 and has held the same position with the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan since 2022. He was Artistic Advisor to the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of the Residentie Orkest in The Hague and the Oregon Symphony Orchestra. Märkl took over the position in Indianapolis after Krzysztof Urbanski became Music Director there. Urbanski, in turn, will become chief conductor of the Bern Symphony Orchestra from the 24/25 season.

The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1930 by Ferdinand Schaefer. From 2002 to 2009, Urbanski's predecessor in Bern, Mario Venzago, conducted the orchestra.