Irène Schweizer

Brilliant jazz pioneer

Winner Swiss Grand Award for music 2018

Irène Schweizer, who was born in Schaffhausen in 1941, is a leading female pianist in modern jazz. Brilliant and entirely self-taught, she has amassed an oeuvre that is beyond compare. Besides concert performances around the globe, she has released ground-breaking albums, both on her own and in duos with Pierre Favre, Joey Baron and others. She has been a standard-bearer for women in European music, for example with Les Diaboliques, and co-founded the Taktlos festival and the jazz label Intakt Records. She plays like no other, with impeccable skill and perfect clarity, her charisma creating a unique musical signature.