Regional competitions
SJMW
Sponsorship area
Education and training
Sponsorship amount
CHF 50,000 / year
Sponsorship term
2012 - 2020
Discovering young talent
Every year, more than 1000 enthusiastic music lovers between the ages of 8 and 20 take part in the Swiss Youth Music Competition. The competition is the most important annual event for young musicians in Switzerland. The founder of the Swiss Youth Music Competition in 1975 was Gerd Albrecht, who was then Music Director of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich.
Regional competitions in classical music and jazz/rock/pop will be held in all the language regions of Switzerland in alternating locations. The winners of the regional competitions are invited to the national finals. Not only is winning a prize an important performance indicator for a future music student and professional musician, but it also provides an insight into the performance capabilities of a young person per se.
Former prize winners often pursue careers as soloists and chamber musicians or become members of prestigious orchestras.
International reputation
Today, the Swiss Youth Music Competition remains the only national competition that offers well over 1000 young music lovers between the ages of 8 and 22 the opportunity to enter a harmonious competition each year.
Outstanding first prize winners at the finals get the opportunity to compete at international competitions with young people from all over Europe, or even from all over the world, or to demonstrate their talents on the podium at concerts.
Crossing borders
The competition plays a key role in the integration of young people living abroad. By playing music collectively, they acquire their first experience with other musicians of the same age from Switzerland and together they not only achieve an appealing result in terms of music, they also become better acquainted with each other when it comes to living together in society.
Finally, and like similar events in sports, the competition is an important forum where young people can exchange their experiences. They get to know their peers with similar interests and talents and in doing so they discover their own individual personalities.
