Tune In

Interview with David Chan, Concertmaster at the Metropolitan Opera New York ENGLISH For 20 years now, David Chan has been concertmaster at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where his wife also plays violin. Some years ago he founded a music festival in Burgundy (France) and is professor at the Juilliard School of Music, where he

ENGLISH Stingy Christians «On Sunday not much comes in the way of tips and so we prefer to avoid working then», say the serving staff in a restaurant, «for at noon on Sunday the Christians come to us after church». An upside-down world! It is precisely when they come out of the church that Christians

IN THIS MOMENT  – a cooperation between St.Peter’s church in New York City and Crescendo Jazz ENGLISH Because of the pandemic, many people today are in a crisis. They need practical help, comfort, personal attention and prayer. And they also need art! In times of crisis, it always becomes clear how important art is. This is

Delvyn Case, composer, scholar and writer. He is also on the steering committee of  Crescendo North America Delvyn Case ist Komponist, Forscher und Autor. Er ist auch im erweiterten Leitungsteam von Crescendo Nordamerika. ENGLISH «Lord, teach us to pray», the disciples said to Jesus. He answered with the “Our Father”. In times of uncertainty, in which we

«St. François d’Assise» Theater Basel October, 2020 ENGLISH Messiaen – deconstructed Mixed feelings after an evening at the theatre – who isn’t familiar with this? Last week it was the same again. After attending Olivier Messiaen’s opera «St. François d’Assise», we left the theatre uplifted by the wonderful music and the profound texts, but irritated

Per Olov Enqvist (1934-2020) ENGLISH Thesis 9 on «Art and Church»:  The church understands itself to be a sending church, and therefore it also sends artists into the world. The Congo and the art world as mission fields «In order to become a missionary or a poet, one must receive a call and then be

Wilhelm Busch (1832-1908) ENGLISH Thesis 8 on «Church and Art» Churches (and Christian artists’ fellowships) provide a space in which artists can be freed from competitive pressure and the stress of originality. Last week, a composition student said this to me: «We are repeatedly told that we have to create our own identity». Create your own identity, be

ENGLISH Thesis 7 on «Art and Church»:  «Churches (and Christian organisations) are open for artists who bring with them independent, original and creative ideas. At the same time, artists should not celebrate their originality, and churches should not celebrate any kind of uniform culture.» In the blog by the woman pastor Ulrike Bittner I read

Die Kindheit ist die Oase, die wir verloren haben. Die Kindheit ist die Oase, die wir su­­chen. In einem Auge, das keine Kindheit zeigt, ist nichts Gutes. Vertraue nie einem Geschöpf, in dessen Auge du nicht eine Kindheit findest! Ibrahim al-Koni, Die verheissene Stadt, arabisch 1997. Wenn er von Oasen schreibt, weiss er, was er

ENGLISH The 6th thesis in our series on «art and church»: «Churches which nurture the various gifts of the believers should also create room for art.» Where are the gifts in the church? In the New Testament we read a great deal about the various gifts and offices of the first Christians (e.g. in Rom.

In 1348, the Black Death raged throughout Italy. Probably half the population of Florence died, and in the years 1347-1351 the disease claimed one third of the population of Europe, radically changing society. “Social distancing” was practised by those who could afford it, that is , by leaving the towns to stay in country houses.

We invite to visit the online TUNE INs put together for the summer break by our team. They are addressed not only to participants in the “Crescendo Summer Institute”, who had to stay at home this year and could not experience the daily TUNE IN sessions live.

Let us look at the fifth thesis in our series on “Art and Church”: In the churches, it can be seen how “beautiful” Christian fellowship is. It is not easy, but important, that artists, too, should be part of the “Body of Christ” and should be set on fire with the longing for Christian fellowship.

When working on his Bible translation, Martin Luther looked at “the people’s jaws”. He noted the language of the people around him in order to make the message understandable. Today, too, the churches should constantly strive to make themselves understood. This inevitably leads to the question of defining “aesthetics and art”. Modern churches for the

ENGLISH A year ago, the Swiss branch of ARTS+ invited artists and theologians to a symposium. One of the topics was the relationship linking art, artists and church. They also discussed 20 theses on the subject of “art, artists and church”. For this and the next editions of our TUNE INs we have reformulated these theses and