Every year the Federal Office of Culture, by means of music experts and a jury, shortlists 15 artists of various music styles and from different regions of Switzerland for the Swiss Music Prize. One significant Swiss artist among these will receive the Swiss Grand Award for Music.

The 15 nominees of the 2016 Swiss Music Prize are: 

Susanne Abbuehl, Laurent Aubert, Sophie Hunger, Philippe Jordan, Tobias Jundt, Matthieu Michel, Fabian Müller, Peter Kernel (Barbara Lehnhoff & Aris Bassetti), Nadja Räss, Mathias Rüegg, Hansheinz Schneeberger, Colin Vallon, Hans Wüthrich, Lingling Yu and Alfred Zimmerlin.

Among the nominees, the art-punk band from Ticino, Peter Kernel that I interviewed at Paléo last year and Bonaparte‘s singer Tobias Jundt. 

The ceremony and the unveiling of the winner of the Swiss Grand Award for Music will take place on Thursday 15th September 2016 at the Salle Métropole in Lausanne, the day before 3 days full of Swiss music for Label Suisse.