Jacques Demierre

Radical experimenter

Swiss music prize 2018

Born in Geneva in 1954, Jacques Demierre is one of Switzerland’s leading musical personalities in many areas. As a pianist, he has developed a tonal language that is as sensitive as it is eruptive, often taking on a noise-like quality, for example on “One Is Land”. As a free improviser, he performs with all manner of groups and plays a pivotal role in a still-young scene. Demierre is also an avid composer and has enjoyed success with free-form works like “Thirty Pianos” and “No Alarming Interstice”. As a sound poet, meanwhile, he collaborates with Vincent Barras to conjure up a radical poésie sonore of spoken word and rhythm.