104th Annual General Meeting
On 1 December 2023, SMG members met in Basel for the annual general meeting, which was organized in collaboration with the Paul Sacher Foundation.
As always, the Annual General Meeting was accompanied by an additional program. First, members were invited to visit the newly opened "Ligeti Labyrinth" exhibition at the Basel Music Museum. Heidy Zimmermann, curator of the exhibition and the Ligeti Collection at the Paul Sacher Foundation, gave an interesting introduction to the life and work of György Ligeti, for whose 100th birthday the exhibition was conceived. The impressive selection of music manuscripts, sound recordings and other documents from Ligeti's life provided plenty to talk about among the members.
After the exhibition, a short walk through Basel's old town led to the Münsterhügel, where the Annual General Meeting took place in the hall of the Allgemeine Lesegesellschaft.
SMG Annual General Meeting
Cristina Urchueguía, Central President of the SMG, chaired the 104th Annual General Meeting of the Central Society and reported on the past year. Following the difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic, all events were able to run smoothly again. Three projects in the SMG's diverse program in 2023 were particularly highlighted:
On November 17-18, the conference "Taking the necessary steps." Karl Nef (1873-1935) and Musicology - Workshop to Celebrate 100 Years of Full Professorship at the University of Basel" was held at the Basel Musicology Department. The conference highlighted the importance of the infrastructure to which Karl Nef had made a significant contribution and for which he had lobbied, such as the music department of the University Library Basel and the instrument collection of the Historical Museum
Basel.
From November 23-25, the conference "Music in Switzerland in the past and present: The Swiss music lexicon for the 21st century" and a related workshop took place at the University of Bern. The conference was an important step in the direction of a new, modern and networked music lexicon.
In the course of 2023, the archive holdings of the Bern, Lucerne and Zurich sections and the head office were transferred to the Basel University Library. The historical documents of the Basel section, which date back to a predecessor society founded in 1899, were already held there. The archives of the Ticino sections are already stored in public archives (Bellinzona, Geneva). Thanks to the voluntary work of students, SMG members, the Central President and the Managing Director of the SMG, it was possible to prepare the material for the archive in advance and pack it appropriately, so that cataloging and provision is already underway.
As is customary for all associations, the annual accounts were also presented to the SMG members and put to the vote. Following the report by Treasurer Christoph Ballmer, the Board of Directors was unanimously discharged. The assembled members thanked Christoph Ballmer for his excellent work.
Amendments to the Articles of Association
Last year, the Board of Directors discussed the Articles of Association in order to update them where necessary. This resulted in two proposed changes to the statutes. Firstly, the term "local groups" should be changed to "sections", as local ties are no longer the main reason for membership, and secondly, the Executive Board (Central Society) should be referred to as the Central Board to avoid confusion between the Central Board and the section boards. The proposed amendments to the Articles of Association were approved by the members. In addition, the proposal to dissolve the Dissertation Fund in favor of the Editions Fund was unanimously approved.
Further messages
Cristina Urchueguía informed the members of the death of Angelika Salge, Head of the Music Department of the Zurich Central Library and member of the SMG Editorial Commission, and paid tribute to her as a highly esteemed colleague. Cristina Urchueguía expressed her heartfelt condolences to her family and colleagues on behalf of the SMG. The members stood for a minute's silence in memory of Angelika Salge.
After three terms as Central President of the SMG-SSM, Cristina Urchueguía will be standing down from her position at the next Annual General Meeting. If no one comes forward for the presidency, she will continue in office.
The next Annual General Meeting will take place in fall 2024.
