Further professionalization

In recent years, CHEMS has become more and more visible to the public. Now, with the creation of a general secretariat, a further step has been taken towards raising public awareness and professionalization.

What were the considerations when the General Secretariat was set up?

NR: The most important aspect is the ability of CHEMS to develop and create links, synergies and cooperation between the various music schools that make it up. This new structure contributes to
ainsi sans l'ombre d'un doute à avancer en ce sens.

VG : In this intensified cooperation, the new structure should also make it possible to focus even better on strategic issues and coordinate them with institutional and political partners.

Antoine Gilliéron, you have been the new General Secretary of CHEMS since March 1 - what are the challenges you are facing and how do you intend to tackle them?

AG: Above all, it is an immense pleasure and a great honor for me to take on new roles in this prestigious assembly. Among other things, she has successfully contributed to harmonizing the higher education of music with the impetus of
Bologne and to respond in a highly effective and intelligent way to common concerns from a social, administrative and political point of view. I am taking action by way of consequence, head in hand with the new presidency and the
members of CHEMS, to make this commitment fruitful and to coordinate as best as possible the magnificent forces present in order to project the association towards new horizons.

What impression did you have of the Hautes Écoles de Musique suisses as a student, and what has changed in your mind?

AG: It's true that I studied in the pre-professional field in Geneva, then a Bachelor's degree (interpretation) and a Master's degree (pedagogy) in Lausanne and a second Master's degree (contemporary music) in Lucerne. This is because I have learned to know the institutions
suisses d'enseignement supérieur de la musique, couplé au fait que j'ai été engagé dans différentes missions d'accréditation et de gestion de la qualité pour l'Association Européenne des Conservatoires. In this way, I have been able to measure the immense opportunity that we have to benefit from an equally fine and qualitative territorial mobility in terms of tertiary musical education. My view is therefore very positive, even in the order of things, and it is only in this sense that it is aimed and measured
de mes pérégrinations. A principle of reciprocity has always guided me: once you've received a lot, it's probably better to give at least as much in return - this enthusiastic energy is never too much for the challenges
à relever se trouvent être aussi stimulants qu'exigeants !

You are an extremely versatile person: musician, music manager, essayist - why not tell us a few words about you and your professional career?

AG: My career path, both personal and professional, is characterized by my openness to the world and to the knowledge that I seek to transmit to the best of my ability, considering myself first and foremost as a passeur. I currently divide my time between teaching, direction
d'institutions et de projets ainsi que la création, qu'elle soit musicale ou poétique. In parallel to my musical studies, I completed a degree in modern literature (philosophy, linguistics, French and comparative literature) and a CAS in the management of cultural and musical projects, as well as a Master of Public Administration.
I also had the pleasure of becoming the director of the Académie Musicale de Morges for 25 years, where I pragmatically developed a new humanism adapted to music,
Aspiration séculaire qui peutêtre constitue à la fois la cohérence et le fil fil rouge de ma vie jusqu'alors.

CHEMS has published a series of articles in the Revue Musicale Suisse in recent years. Will this series be continued and what will be the subject of these articles in the future?

AG : Yes, this will be continued. I am in charge of editing this series of articles and proposing an editorial edition to an internal committee at theCHEMS. The idea is to make
évoluer cette vitrine des hautes écoles de musique suisses en valorisant les projets de recherche innovants qui sont menés et les éléments qui nous rassemblant tout en contribuant au débat public par le prisme de la mise en relief de problématiques communes.

Valentin Gloor, in one of our last conversations you said that the specialist conferences need to redefine their role due to the legislative processes, including the SMHS. How can the General Secretariat help with this role definition?

VG : The General Secretariat will support the KMHS in bundling and advancing KMHS work, be it political concerns, joint content-related
projects or topics from the areas of administration and finance. A more proactive positioning of the KMHS can help it to position itself even better.
in the long-term processes of cultural and educational policy.

In Switzerland, linguistic regions play an important role, as do relations with other countries. According to the CHEMS, there have been efforts or a demand for a
médiation dans le pays ?

NR : The cultural richness of Switzerland is probably due in large part to the diversity of its linguistic regions. As a national institution, the CHEMS
is striving to be the center of attention. Our ties with the international community are also very close, especially in a diplomatic vein of openness to the world that characterizes it and its ability to renew a constructive dialogue with the countries abroad, and even beyond.

What does the exchange with other music associations in Switzerland actually look like?

VG : This exchange is already very strong on three levels: At the level of each individual conservatoire in its regional and national network, at the level of the KMHS in direct and project-related exchange with associations to address very specific concerns and in the Swiss Music Council, of which the KMHS is a member.

In November you were still talking about your vision for KMHS, what does it look like in concrete terms now?

NR: For the past nine months, I can see that my vision and my motivation for CHEMS have remained intact or even been strengthened by the adversity that the health crisis has brought us
traverser: I still believe as strongly that we must continue to work together to defend the interests not only of our schools, but also of the musicians of tomorrow. The need to valorize our missions of teaching and dissemination of music in a world in evolution where the arts must imperatively be part of the debate and of social priorities. This is made even more critical by the difficulties that the arts have had to face during these long months of quasi-privation
de concerts : l'art compte, lamusique est essentielle. Our schools must serve as an incubator for the development of innovative concert forms and pedagogical approaches so that music can regain its momentum!

The COVID crisis continues to dominate our everyday lives, including music academies
has been hit by this paralysis, even though students also saw creative opportunities. Can the KMHS learn a lesson from this crisis or assess how it can help music universities to overcome it?

AG : Beyond the need to place humanity perhaps even more at the heart of all our activities, the biggest lesson that CHEMS can learn from this health crisis is the mutualization of its forces and the movement of different axes of action, as concerted as possible, from the
flexibilization of the courses towards the articulation between the cycles of studies (precollege, BA/MA, doctorate, formation continue), passing through the promotion of music within the
political sphere and the development of a form of digitalization that is as ethical as it is ecological, fundamentally at the service of art. These few examples, among many others, will contribute to the full development of our two music colleges
suisses dans le 21e siècle qui a véritablement démarré avec cette crise historique - à instar de ce qu'avté été le début du 20e et le surgissement de la Première Guerre
global - a reflection that seems to me to be one of the cornerstones of our work. There is inevitably a before and an after COVID that must be strategically transformed.

NR: During this crisis, we have felt a certain lack of solidarity and the need to come together in a common space for reflection. Avoiding the time to reflect on the future and to approach it positively in a form of collective intelligence is another value of our association, which I hope will continue to make more quality contributions to the higher education of music and to all that it has to offer
à la société.