Our story.
Music:Eyes is a non-profit association based in Zurich, Switzerland.
Our mission is to use the power of music animations to support education in diverse settings ranging from the classroom to the concert hall.
Association Board
Etienne Abelin, Partnerships and Programs
Etienne is a Swiss conductor, violinist and cultural entrepreneur passionate about innovation in classical music. He was a musical collaborator of legendary conductor Claudio Abbado for 18 years, as a member of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and the principal second violin of the Orchestra Mozart Bologna. Among the organizations and formats he initiated are the Ynight – Classical in Club (“Best of 2013” Tagesanzeiger Zurich), the Apples & Olives Indie Classical Festival Zurich, Superar Suisse – Sistema inspired music learning in Switzerland and the Sistema Europe Youth Orchestra. He recorded with pianist Nik Bärtsch for ECM and with his ensemble BachSpace – Bach&Electronics for Neue Meister and has given two TEDx talks/performances. As a conductor, he has performed at Royal Festival Hall London, Birmingham Symphony Hall, Teatro Alla Scala Milano, at Beethovenfest Bonn and with numerous orchestras. Etienne holds an EMBA degree from the University of St. Gallen Business School HSG. Photo © Marco Caselli Nirmal
Lushen Wu, Technology and Operations
Lushen manages development of the Music:Eyes animation and education platform. Previously, he worked at Boston Consulting Group advising senior management for Fortune 500 clients. Earlier, he led the technical, program, and business development of Bienmoyo Foundation in East Africa for maternal health and rural school health programs. Lushen’s passion for music comes from 20+ years of playing the violin, while his grasp of visual media comes from years of interest and practice in the visual arts and photography. He studied neurobiology and painting at Harvard University.
Jan Fülscher, Strategy and Organization Development
Jan is a business developer and co-founder of various start-ups. He launched initiatives such as Startup Weekend Creative Business in Zurich or the Swiss ICT Investor Club and coaches various start-ups. Lecturer at the University of Zurich and the University of Bern, Switzerland. He is the former managing director of Business Angels Switzerland and currently the CEO/president of Senozon AG, a high-tech company.
Association Management
Etienne Abelin, General Management & Administration
Innovation
Stephen Malinowski, Co-Founder
Stephen is a musician, inventor, and software engineer. He pioneered computer-generated music animations in the style of graphical scores in the 1970s, and he has been innovating on various platforms ever since. Stephen’s “Music Animation Machine” YouTube channel has over 180,000 subscribers and more than 160 million views. His animations have been featured globally in live performances, exhibits, and numerous articles.
Education Team
Katarzyna Deja, Curriculum Design, Education Coordination
Katarzyna is a violinist and educator passionate about social change through music. As a performer, she is currently a member of the Baltic Sea Philharmonic Orchestra, and in recent years, she received training and collaborated with ensembles such as the National Forum of Music in Wroclaw, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Welsh National Opera or the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme. As a pedagogue, she worked in the UK and Poland at the Strings Club, the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Learning and Participation Ensemble, the Sistema Europe Youth Orchestra 2018, the Cracow International School, and the British International School of Cracow. She was delivering violin lessons, music workshops, and general music classes. Katarzyna holds a diploma from Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (BMus(Hons)) and Cracow Academy of Music (MMus).
Therese Condit, Education specialist
Therese has worked with teaching and learning centers at Harvard University and Columbia University, and as part of the education team at UNICEF. She has taught at community colleges, performed program evaluations for the New York Department of Education, and worked on teacher training and curriculum initiatives in the US, China and Mexico. In 2010, she co-founded a design firm offering technical apprenticeships to youth, and she recently spent 4 months researching the German apprenticeship model in Frankfurt and Berlin, Germany.
Oliver Hauser, Education & Project Manager
Oliver is an experienced music mediator, music teacher and conductor of symphonic wind music. He’s a.o. responsible for the programs „Young ZKO“ and „ZKO Teens“ with the Zürcher Kammerorchester ZKO Zurich, Switzerland and the education program of the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen, Germany.
Maximilian Whitcher, Education & Project Manager
Maximilian is a multi-instrumentalist and composer. Primarily a performing double bassist, he is also active as a cellist in the jazz, contemporary, and classical music scenes. As a composer and arranger, he has been commissioned to write for the Nizhny Novgorod Soloists, Ensemble Polygon, Ariel Quartet and the ensemble of the Musikkollegium Winterthur, to name a few. Together with his wife Marena Whitcher, Maximilian composes for and plays in «Marena & Maximilian Whitcher with ensemble».
Patronage board
Eric Booth
Leading American Arts Educator, Americans for the Arts 2015 award
Susan Boynton
Chair of Music Department, Columbia University New York
Michael Bühler
Former Executive Director Zürcher Kammerorchester ZKO
Mark Churchill
Dean Emeritus New England Conservatory, Founder El Sistema USA
Dieter Flury
Solo-Flutist and former CEO, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Felix Heri
Executive Director Basel Sinfonietta
Robin Hull
Principal of Hull’s School in Zürich, President Swiss Dyslexia Association
Matthias Röder
Managing Director, Eliette and Herbert von Karajan Institute
Samuel Roth
Executive and Artistic Director Musikkollegium Winterthur
Ilona Schmiel
Executive and Artistic Director Tonhalle-Orchestra Zürich
Steven Walter
Director of the Beethoven Festival (2021), Executive and Artistic Director PODIUM Festival Esslingen, Germany
Xavier Zuber
Executive and Artistic Director Konzert Theater Bern
Advisory board
Mara Corleoni
Head of Education Tonhalle-Orchestra Zurich
Demosthenes Dimitrakoulakos, PhD
Academic Leader of the Arts, International School Luxembourg, Luxembourg National Music Education Coordinator
Johannes Fleischmann
Soloist and Chamber musician, Vienna
Seung-Yeun Huh
Vice-Rector Music-Conservatory Zurich
Dr. James Isaacs
Head of Music Hull’s School Zurich
Anja Loosli
Director Education Bern Symphony Orchestra
Hanne Muthspiel
Head of Education program Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Prof. Stefanie Stadler-Elmer
Professor at the Psychological Institute of the Zurich University
Origins: Music Animation Machine
Music:Eyes evolves from the pioneering work of our co-founder Stephen Malinowski and his Music Animation Machine channel on YouTube, which has received more than 170 million views and 180,000 subscribers. Stephen pioneered computer-generated music animations in the style of graphical scores in the 1970s, and he has been innovating on various platforms ever since. His animations have been featured globally in live performances, exhibits, and articles.
