General

This has been an issue to me ever since I started observing classical music: Singers tend to ignore a large portion of the repertoire composed for them. While common practice of vocalists seems to be limited to music from a period of some 250 years, most Renaissance, early Baroque, and 20th-century music is neglected. Read my full complaint on the Hello Stage blog.

To all Berlin-based musicians and music teachers: Please take notice of an extended article co-authored by Helge Harding and me, published on the website of the Tonkünstlerverband Berlin (DTKV). The essay is concerned with the current state of freelance musicianship and music education in Berlin, pleading for more professionalized activity and engagement. Feel free to read, share, and comment. We’d also appreciate you to get involved yourselves!

Classical music education in Germany is suffering from a severe prejudice. The notion that somebody with an instrumental or vocal major, focusing exclusively on his / her subject, is more appreciated than students and graduates of the pedagogical programmes (prospective teachers and music school staff) is widespread at universities and conservatories. Faculties, students, audiences and critiques are generally supportive of high-level performance while professional education is drastically underrated and underpaid. This is a fatal misdevelopment that discourages applicants to choose the profession of teaching music. We should promote Schulmusik and Instrumentalpädagogik because these fields are far more relevant for society and cultural welfare than the formation of an one-track artistic elite. Read more of my thoughts on the institutionalized misbalance between performing and teaching music at the Hello Stage Blog, and please share, comment, and object, if you feel like it.