Process of renewal
Raphael Baader is the new General Secretary of the General Cecilia Association
Raphael Baader, a Master's student from Weimar, is the new full-time General Secretary of the Allgemeiner Cäcilienverband für Deutschland e. V. (ACV). Following an application process in October 2023, he was appointed by the association's board. The General Assembly confirmed the appointment through its election.
The ACV sees itself as the umbrella organization of Catholic church music in Germany and represents it and its approximately 300,000 members in this function vis-à-vis the Federal Government, the Protestant Church, the German Music Council (DMR) and the Federal Music Association Choir & Orchestra (BMCO), among others.
His aim is to promote church music with the help of projects, specialist conferences, research and composition commissions and publications. As General Secretary, Raphael Baader would like to "continue the process of renewal and transformation that has already begun and shape the ACV into a sustainable umbrella organization".
ACV President Monsignore Markus Bosbach expressed his delight at the appointment: "We are delighted that in Raphael Baader we have gained a General Secretary with outstanding qualifications in both church music and cultural management. With his enthusiasm and vision, he will work together with the honorary board to further advance the profile and goals of the ACV and thus church music in Germany."
Raphael Baader, born in 1996, completed a Bachelor of Arts in a combination of musicology, history, religious studies and medieval studies at the Universities of Freiburg and Regensburg. At the same time, he completed a Bachelor of Music "Catholic Church Music with a focus on Music Theory" at the HfKM Regensburg. In 2021, he began a Master's degree in "Music Theory, Musicology and Cultural Management" at the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar, which he completes in January 2024.
During his master's degree, Raphael Baader gained international experience through Erasmus stays at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (UK) and the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. In 2021 he completed the VOD organ expert training. In the same year, he was appointed Managing Director of the "Dachverband der Studierenden der Musikwissenschaften e.V."
[12 December 2023]