"You have to be there" - Interview with Brigitte Scholl
Central President of the SSPM since 2008, Brigitte Scholl handed in her mandate at the last Delegates' Meeting. The singer looks back on five eventful years for the SSPM, and talks about the challenges facing the association in the coming years.
Lucas Bennett: How did you get into music?
Brigitte Scholl: On a whim! I was about five years old when I heard the Biel Symphony Orchestra at a summer concert - and I knew then that I wanted to become a musician.
I started out playing the cello, and later went on to study cello. At the same time, I began to study singing, which I eventually completed.
LB: What prompted you to become actively involved in the SSPM?
BS: My grandparents were watchmakers, and my father was a railroad employee. For them, involvement in their industry's professional association was a matter of course. When the former president of the SSPM in Berne, Hans-Eugen Frischknecht, asked me if I wanted to work as a delegate for the SSPM, I agreed. It was as simple as that...
LB: What did your work at the Bern branch consist of, and how did you come to join the Central Committee?
BS: At first, I was in charge of continuing education, and a year later I became president. We were beginning to realize that the association needed to expand its network of contacts, for example with the Bernese Association of Music Schools. Later, as President of the Conference of Section Presidents, I was asked by the central association to act as an extraordinary deputy auditor. In this context, I had to ask a few critical questions, as there was still room for improvement in a number of areas. As a result, I was asked if I wanted to join the central committee. That was in 2004, a rather turbulent time for the association - I'll just mention the tragic death of committee member Martin Imfeld.
LB: In 2008, you became president of the SSPM. What projects did you inherit and what were your priorities?
BS: During Professor Jakob Stämpfli's presidency, I was treasurer of the SSPM. We had inherited 150,000 francs in book debts. It was clear that we had to outsource professional training and entrust it to a debt-free foundation. First, we had to bail out the SSPM's finances; between 2005 and 2008, we did little more than clean up, and had to impose strict budget restrictions on ourselves. Thanks to Jakob Stämpfli, these measures were successfully implemented. In 2008, I took over an association with no capital of its own, but which was at least debt-free. From 2008 onwards, I also concentrated on rebuilding and expanding the SSPM's networks. In addition, we systematically pursued the professionalization of the administration begun under the presidency of Jakob Stämpfli.
LB: You mentioned networking - what are the most important points in this area?
BS: The most important thing is to attend the meetings. Very often, important decisions are made at personal meetings, or sometimes over drinks afterwards. The big associations are professionally managed and hold their meetings during normal working hours, so we have to organize ourselves accordingly, which is a big challenge. The rest is simple: we exist, we are perceived and listened to. But to do that, you have to be present.
LB: How did you feel the atmosphere within the association during your five years as president?
BS: In my opinion, two things have significantly improved the atmosphere. The first was the decision to provide simultaneous translation of the Delegates' Meeting. The second was to provide detailed, transparent documentation and arguments in advance of the DM and Presidents' Conference. These measures have ensured that no one feels left out or unable to make themselves heard, as was regularly the case in the past, not least for linguistic reasons.
LB: Today, the SSPM is once again well established and has achieved a great deal, especially in cooperation with other associations. However, we are feeling the weight of demographic change, which is having an impact on membership numbers, as is the professionalization of the major associations. Financially speaking, we're operating at the limits of our possibilities. What do we need to do to overcome these difficulties? Will the SSPM have to become more expensive in the foreseeable future?
BS: It's important to differentiate between the two. Today, increased professionalism has become unavoidable. But we have to find the right balance. Above all, it's important to avoid duplication: which tasks could be performed by a Music Council, for example, and which should we take over in return? In this case, as in others, it's essential to work together, which is also why networks are so important. We can't increase our membership fees as we see fit, as our clientele in general would not be able to afford it, and is also very heterogeneous - which is why we must never lose sight of what is bearable for our most financially fragile members. But in the medium term, a moderate increase should be possible and acceptable.
LB: It's still hard to find people to join the committee. What do we need to do to make this job more attractive?
BS: Committee work should be simplified as much as possible and distributed as efficiently as possible. Meetings should be reduced to the bare essentials, using the possibilities offered by electronic media, not least to meet the demands of our young members' professional lives.
LB: What challenges do you see the SSPM facing over the next few years? What substantive priorities can it set now that professional training has been outsourced?
BS: The first thing I think about is demographic change. If the SSPM wants to be taken seriously in political circles, it has to be big enough. I see two problems here: on the one hand, there are fewer recruitable members than in the past, due to increased international mobility. On the other hand, our members will be faced with profound changes. Percentages of positions will inevitably disappear because there are fewer children, and the clientele of music teachers will change, which will also represent a major challenge for our association. These scenarios could be further exacerbated by a global economic crisis impacting the entire middle class. Whatever the case, there will be major challenges ahead. Having said that, I'd like to point out that the SSPM, according to a USS study on membership fluctuation, is doing relatively well compared with other organizations - which means that the work done by our association isn't all that bad, and that the traditionally heterogeneous composition of members and areas of activity has proved its worth.
LB: Brigitte, thank you very much for this interview.
Central President of the SSPM since 2008, Brigitte Scholl handed in her mandate at the last Delegates' Meeting. The singer looks back on five eventful years for the SSPM, and talks about the challenges facing the association in the coming years.
Lucas Bennett: How did you get into music?
Brigitte Scholl: On a whim! I was about five years old when I heard the Biel Symphony Orchestra at a summer concert - and I knew then that I wanted to become a musician.
I started out playing the cello, and later went on to study cello. At the same time, I began to study singing, which I eventually completed.
LB: What prompted you to become actively involved in the SSPM?
BS: My grandparents were watchmakers, and my father was a railroad employee. For them, involvement in their industry's professional association was a matter of course. When the former president of the SSPM in Berne, Hans-Eugen Frischknecht, asked me if I wanted to work as a delegate for the SSPM, I agreed. It was as simple as that...
LB: What did your work at the Bern branch consist of, and how did you come to join the Central Committee?
BS: At first, I was in charge of continuing education, and a year later I became president. We were beginning to realize that the association needed to expand its network of contacts, for example with the Bernese Association of Music Schools. Later, as President of the Conference of Section Presidents, I was asked by the central association to act as an extraordinary deputy auditor. In this context, I had to ask a few critical questions, as there was still room for improvement in a number of areas. As a result, I was asked if I wanted to join the central committee. That was in 2004, a rather turbulent time for the association - I'll just mention the tragic death of committee member Martin Imfeld.
LB: In 2008, you became president of the SSPM. What projects did you inherit and what were your priorities?
BS: During Professor Jakob Stämpfli's presidency, I was treasurer of the SSPM. We had inherited 150,000 francs in book debts. It was clear that we had to outsource professional training and entrust it to a debt-free foundation. First, we had to bail out the SSPM's finances; between 2005 and 2008, we did little more than clean up, and had to impose strict budget restrictions on ourselves. Thanks to Jakob Stämpfli, these measures were successfully implemented. In 2008, I took over an association with no capital of its own, but which was at least debt-free. From 2008 onwards, I also concentrated on rebuilding and expanding the SSPM's networks. In addition, we systematically pursued the professionalization of the administration begun under the presidency of Jakob Stämpfli.
LB: You mentioned networking - what are the most important points in this area?
BS: The most important thing is to attend the meetings. Very often, important decisions are made at personal meetings, or sometimes over drinks afterwards. The big associations are professionally managed and hold their meetings during normal working hours, so we have to organize ourselves accordingly, which is a big challenge. The rest is simple: we exist, we are perceived and listened to. But to do that, you have to be present.
LB: How did you feel the atmosphere within the association during your five years as president?
BS: In my opinion, two things have significantly improved the atmosphere. The first was the decision to provide simultaneous translation of the Delegates' Meeting. The second was to provide detailed, transparent documentation and arguments in advance of the DM and Presidents' Conference. These measures have ensured that no one feels left out or unable to make themselves heard, as was regularly the case in the past, not least for linguistic reasons.
LB: Today, the SSPM is once again well established and has achieved a great deal, especially in cooperation with other associations. However, we are feeling the weight of demographic change, which is having an impact on membership numbers, as is the professionalization of the major associations. Financially speaking, we're operating at the limits of our possibilities. What do we need to do to overcome these difficulties? Will the SSPM have to become more expensive in the foreseeable future?
BS: It's important to differentiate between the two. Today, increased professionalism has become unavoidable. But we have to find the right balance. Above all, it's important to avoid duplication: which tasks could be performed by a Music Council, for example, and which should we take over in return? In this case, as in others, it's essential to work together, which is also why networks are so important. We can't increase our membership fees as we see fit, as our clientele in general would not be able to afford it, and is also very heterogeneous - which is why we must never lose sight of what is bearable for our most financially fragile members. But in the medium term, a moderate increase should be possible and acceptable.
LB: It's still hard to find people to join the committee. What do we need to do to make this job more attractive?
BS: Committee work should be simplified as much as possible and distributed as efficiently as possible. Meetings should be reduced to the bare essentials, using the possibilities offered by electronic media, not least to meet the demands of our young members' professional lives.
LB: What challenges do you see the SSPM facing over the next few years? What substantive priorities can it set now that professional training has been outsourced?
BS: The first thing I think about is demographic change. If the SSPM wants to be taken seriously in political circles, it has to be big enough. I see two problems here: on the one hand, there are fewer recruitable members than in the past, due to increased international mobility. On the other hand, our members will be faced with profound changes. Percentages of positions will inevitably disappear because there are fewer children, and the clientele of music teachers will change, which will also represent a major challenge for our association. These scenarios could be further exacerbated by a global economic crisis impacting the entire middle class. Whatever the case, there will be major challenges ahead. Having said that, I'd like to point out that the SSPM, according to a USS study on membership fluctuation, is doing relatively well compared with other organizations - which means that the work done by our association isn't all that bad, and that the traditionally heterogeneous composition of members and areas of activity has proved its worth.
LB: Brigitte, thank you very much for this interview.
