Swiss Music Prize 2018 Award Ceremony

The highlight of the Label Suisse festival is the award ceremony for the Swiss Music Prize 2018 by the Federal Office of Culture.

Chosen by a jury consisting of seven musicians, critics and promoters, this year’s main award of sFr. 100’000.- goes to the truly legendary Irène Schweizer. Strongly influenced by the Blue Notes, a group of South African jazz musicians who, fleeing from apartheid, spent many months in Zurich, Schweizer developed her own unmistakable, often strongly percussive piano style to become an artist of genuine world renown as well as a leading participant in Zurich’s richly varied improvised music scene. Having recorded countless solo and collaborative albums with the likes of Andrew Cyrille, Han Bennink, Pierre Favre, Louis Moholo and Joelle Léandre, she remains a hugely innovative and enjoyable live performer today.

Fourteen other musicians will receive a prize of sFr. 25’000.- Amongst these are the endlessly shape-shifting singer/songwriter Evelinn Trouble, Baze, a rapper from Berne who writes lyrics in the dialect of his home town, and the many-facetted elektro-musician Laure Betris aka Kassette.

Other award winners are Noldi Alder, Dieter Ammann, Pierre Audétat, Sylvie Courvoisier, Jacques Demierre, Ganesh Geymeier, Marcello Giuliani, Thomas Kessler, Mondrian Ensemble, Luca Pianca, and Willy Valotti.

Swiss Music Prize 2018
Federal Office of Culture
Irène Schweizer
Baze
Evelinn Trouble
Laure Betris