Earlier this week I had the opportunity of speaking in front of the Committee of Cultural Affairs in the Berlin House of Representatives. I appeared as a spokesperson for my association Tonkünstlerverband Berlin in a consultation of experts and cultural administration, discussing questions of how to fund and recruit more permanent positions on the faculty of Berlin’s public music schools. In my statement I advocated for fair payment of all persons in music education and equal treatment of teachers in state and private institutions, as well as freelance educators. Please find a link to the recording of the committee meeting here (my contributions start at timecode 51:37 and timecode 2:09:36).
Working at Berlin Music Schools
I wrote a statement for Tonkünstlerverband Berlin on the Berlin Senate’s current employment policy at music schools. We acknowledge the coalition‘s intention to install more permanent positions at public institutions; yet the current plans will be insufficient to ensure a sustainable and comprehensive supply with instrumental and voice lessons all over the city. We speak from a differentiated perspective, taking into account that the providers of music education in Berlin are not only public music schools, but also private institutions and freelance teachers. As a professional body, we represent the interests of musicians and educators in all of these sections, and advocate for fair payment in every mode and form of work and employment. You can read the full statement here.
Happy holidays everybody, and have a good transition into the new year!
Audio Feature on Excellency in the Classical Music Business
During the last summer I had the pleasure of participating in an audio feature on the topic of excellency in the classical music business, and related contexts such as educational structures, competition, demands in professional work, as well as aesthetic and artistic ideals. With her questions, the author Judith Rauwald prompted me to revisit and newly reflect on some of these issues. With her courtesy, I present a montage of the feature (45 minutes in total) containing only the passages in which my contributions are heard. Thank you for the productive collaboration!
Music, Copyright Law, and Open Education
Yesterday I participated in a fascinating conference of that title, hosted by the Open Music Academy and Hochschule für Musik und Theater München at Saal X, Gasteig München. The event featured a stunning line-up of artists, lecturers, and legal experts, and I thoroughly enjoyed the exchange of thoughts with colleagues from all over Germany. There were papers by Frédéric Döhl, Friederike von Franqué, and Fabian Rack, as well as an intriguing panel discussion with contributions from Matthias Hornschuh, Ulrich Kaiser, Renate Schmid, and others. I myself had the pleasure of leading a workshop on the possibilities of the platform Open Music Academy and its potential for teaching music theory. Many thanks to all the organizers, in particular Ilka Mestemacher and Shinta Walker from the OMA team!
New Fee Guidelines by TKV Berlin
My association of musicians, Tonkünstlerverband Berlin, has issued a new edition of their fee guidelines for freelance gigs, rehearsals, and teaching without public funding. The recommended fees have been moderately adjusted due to inflation in comparison to the first edition of 2023. Even though these standards might not be attainable immediately or in the near future, they can serve as a point of reference for the value of the work of professionally trained musicians and as a basis for fee negotiations. Freelancers in music and their customers need to be made aware of how fair payment and sufficient remuneration should look like to be able to make a living in the music business. Please feel free to pass on the guidelines and inform your friends and colleagues!