Association of Saarland Music Associations
The Bund Saarländischer Musikvereine eV ( BSM for short ) is the largest music association in Saarland with around 200 member associations . In addition to awarding various prizes and organizing competition games , the association is particularly concerned with promoting and further training young musicians.
history
The association was founded on January 9, 1955 to support and organize the musical culture in Saarland, which flourished again after the Second World War . It was founded at the urging of the Ministry of Culture and Josef Müller-Blattau , who at the time was the chairman of the Saar Singing Association . Just a few months later, the association had 60 member clubs.
Just two years after its founding, i.e. in 1957, the BSM organized competition games for the first time, in which the member clubs could compete in different categories.
To celebrate its five-year anniversary, the BSM organized the Federal Music Festival in 1960 , in which around 140 ensembles from all over the world took part.
By 1962, the number of member clubs grew to 177, to which a total of around 4,000 active musicians belonged. At that time, there were 27 youth ensembles within the association with around 700 active young people.
Robert Klein Prize
Since 1994, the association has awarded five of its member associations the Robert Klein Prize for special services in the field of youth work every year .