ISCM Switzerland

Biography

The Swiss Society for Contemporary Music (SSCM/ISCM Switzerland); Société Suisse de Musique Contemporaine (SSMC); Società Svizzera per la Musica Contemporanea (SSMC) is the national section of the ISCM and promotes the national and international exchange of contemporary music with a special focus on Swiss composers. Members of the SSCM are regional ISCM groups and ensembles, notably from Basle, Bern, Lausanne, Neuchâtel, St.Gallen, Lucerne, Zentralschweiz and Valais. The ISCM's yearly festival, the ISCM World New Music Days, have been hosted 6 times in Switzerland so far : 1926 (Zürich), 1929 (Genève), 1957 (Zürich), 1970 (Basel), 1991 (Zürich), 2004 (Switzerland).

The SSCM is a member of its parent society, the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM). As one of the most important societies for Contemporary Music, the ISCM was founded on an initiative of the second Viennese School during the „Salzburger Festspiele“ in 1922. Founding members were the composers Bartok, Hindemith, Honegger, Milhaud, Ravel, Berg, Schönberg, Strawinsky and Webern. The ISCM comprises currently 66 independant sections. Every year it organises a Festival for contemporary music, the World Music Days. Currently Glenda Keam is president of the ISCM.