Klangspektrum BW: Musical artwork in times of Corona

Up to 1,000 musicians of various styles are invited to take part in a major musical artwork. For a reward, the musicians upload a video of a new piece of music or a new interpretation to an online platform. In this way, all artists will be part of a unique video sound installation that will be publicly accessible online from autumn.

Many musicians are still suffering severely from the consequences of the corona pandemic. The associations of the German music industry expect nationwide sales losses in the billions this year. In cooperation with the Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation, the Baden-Württemberg Foundation has therefore launched a program in which up to 1,000 Baden-Württemberg musicians from a wide variety of styles send their latest, previously commercially unpublished musical works and interpretations for a fee Present and send video. The result is a unique documentation of the musical diversity and wealth of ideas in Baden-Württemberg: the BW sound spectrum. The program is implemented in cooperation with Südwestrundfunk (SWR) Baden-Württemberg.

“The global corona pandemic has also hit the cultural landscape in Baden-Württemberg hard. The musicians in particular have lost essential aspects of their work: their performances and their audience, ”says Christoph Dahl, Managing Director of the Baden-Württemberg Foundation. "With Klangspektrum BW we would like to give the musicians in the state the opportunity to contribute their creativity and commitment to an overarching art project and at least offer them a digital stage."

“The promotion of art and culture in Baden-Württemberg has been very important to me for years. In the current difficult situation, this task is more important than ever, ”adds Eva Mayr-Stihl, founder and chairwoman of the foundation of the same name.

Funding program and music competition

Klangspektrum BW is aimed at self-employed musicians who have their main tax residence in Baden-Württemberg and who also meet at least one of the following criteria: University degree from a music college or music conservatory, enrollment at a music college or music conservatory, VAT exemption for artists or membership in the artists' social insurance fund, the Tonkünstlerverband, the GEMA, the Union of German Jazz Musicians (UdJ) or another comparable music association. The first 1,000 musicians who meet the conditions of participation will receive a one-time fee of 1,500 euros for their contribution. Each entry must be able to be assigned to one of the five categories of classical, jazz, popular music styles, cultural diversity as well as brass and folk music, so that the entire range of musical styles is covered. In autumn 2020, a jury will also award a main prize of 3,000 euros for each category. Klangspektrum BW is a funding program and competition at the same time. It pays to be quick: The submission deadline ends on September 15, 2020 at the latest or as soon as 1,000 qualified submissions have been received. All information about the program, including conditions of participation and registration options, is available at WWW.KLANGSPEKTRUM-BW.DE. All videos sent in can be seen on this page from autumn.

Media support from the SWR

The SWR accompanies the Klangspektrum BW in its programs and online offers. The SWR program director for culture, Anke Mai, will coordinate the implementation: “The SWR supports this wonderful campaign with great pleasure, because we can still see how culture is suffering from the consequences of the corona pandemic. I hope that this will give us another impetus for those working in culture in our region. They need our media attention, but also financial support. With this project, both are happening. ”The SWR will send specialized music editors to the jury for the main prize and participate in the design of a winners' concert that complies with the applicable Corona regulations. In addition, all submitted works will be published in a large video clip on the Internet - at WWW.SWR.DE/FUEREUCHDA.