Annual general meeting and archive processing
On November 17, 2022, the 103rd Annual General Meeting of the Swiss Music Research Society took place at the University of Bern. Numerous members gathered in the main building of the University of Bern for a lecture at the Bern Medieval Center, the Annual General Meeting
and for an aperitif.
This year's supporting program for the Annual General Meeting included a lecture by Irene Holzer, Professor of Musicology in Munich, entitled Militia est vita hominis. The inner war and the love of God as paths of knowledge in medieval choral singing. The lecture was part of the lecture series of the Bern Medieval Center with the topic Love and war in the Middle Ages.
At the subsequent Annual General Meeting, SMG President Cristina Urchueguía reported on the past year. Compared to 2020, numerous events were once again held in 2021 and 2022. One highlight was the 2nd SMG Study Day, which took place in fall 2022 in Basel at the Department of Musicology. The four lectures and two posters by students and doctoral students from all over Switzerland resulted in a multifaceted program. The highlight of the Study Day was the awarding of the Marta Walter Prize (formerly the Handschin Prize) to Stephan Klarer, who was selected by the jury for his work on Father Roman Bannwart at Einsiedeln Abbey.
New members of the Board of Directors
New elections were held at this year's Annual General Meeting: Lena van der Hoven, Professor of Music Theater at the University of Bern, Andrea Garavaglia, Professor of Musicology at the University of Fribourg and Florian Besthorn, Director of the Paul Sacher Foundation, stood for election to the SMG Central Board. All three candidates were unanimously elected for a four-year term of office. There were also two anniversaries to celebrate on the Board of Directors. Cristina Urchueguía has been Central President for 10 years and Christoph Ballmer has been Treasurer of the SMG Central Association for 20 years. We would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their great commitment.
SMG archive
With a minute's silence, the members paid tribute to the late Dorothea Baumann, President of the Zurich Section from 1985-2006. Dorothea Baumann had stored numerous SMG documents and archive material in her extensive private archive. These holdings have now arrived in Bern for viewing. The SMG has taken this as an opportunity to take stock of the archives of the head office and the sections. The focus is on finding a solution for the proper storage of the documents. Until now, most of the archives from the SMG's more than 100-year history have been stored in various locations and mostly inaccessible. Thanks to Cristina Urchueguía's initiative, SMG's archive material can be transferred to the holdings of Basel University Library. This means that the archives will be stored properly and will be accessible for research purposes.
Before these archives are transferred to the Basel University Library, the SMG must carry out an initial recording and inventory. To this end, the librarian at Basel University Library, who is receiving the holdings, will organize a workshop. The SMG is looking for volunteers who would like to delve into the history of the SMG, rummage through old files and take part in the inventory in January 2023. If you would like to help with the archive project, please contact the office info@smg-ssm.ch report.
