Eidgenössische Jury für Musik
Chairperson of the Jury, Ethnomusicologist, and Curator of Music Programmes
Loco (TI)
Johannes Rühl is an ethnomusicologist and curator of music programmes. He managed the cultural office in Basel and was responsible for socio-cultural centres in Husum and Heidelberg. In addition, he has also held management positions in the cultural departments of Rottweil and Freiburg im Breisgau.He was director of the Scuola Teatro Dimitri before working at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and teaching at a number of universities in Switzerland and abroad. His various research projects, which tend to focus on the sociology of music, concentrate on the musical traditions of the Alpine region and the conditions in which they have evolved to the present day. From 2009 to 2019, he was responsible for the programme of the Alpentöne international music festival in Altdorf. Johannes Rühl has also managed projects and music programmes for numerous cultural institutions and festivals, including the Freiburg Jazz Festival, Zwingli Jubilee in Zurich, Festival Neue Musik Rümlingen 2013 and 2023, Rudolstadt Festival, Festival de Música de Alturas in Lima, Pro Helvetia Cairo, Teatro San Materno Ascona, Label Suisse Lausanne and most recently the Theater Casino Zug. As part of SUISA100, he devised the project “40 for 100, music for the year 2123”. Johannes Rühl has lived for more than 15 years in Loco in the Onsernone valley in Ticino, where, in addition to his many other activities, he established the artist residence "casadirosa.ch".
Cultural Worker
Basel (BS)
Sandro Bernasconi has been active for over two decades as a musician, curator and cultural worker. His broad spectrum ranges from club sounds to experimental formats, regardless of genre, and often includes exchanges with musicians from North Africa. He is passionate about club culture and club sounds and was active in this field as co-founder of the bar club ABX from 2006 to 2009. He managed the music programme of the Kaserne Basel for over 12 years and was co-founder of the Polyfon Festival, which he oversaw as artistic director from 2009 to 2021. Before his many years as a cultural worker in the field of music, he was himself active as a musician and DJ, playing over 150 concerts and shows in Switzerland and neighbouring countries. In 2022, he co-founded the transdisciplinary Landskron festival, for which he is co-director and has responsibility for the musical programming and production. Also in 2022, he co-initiated the platforms Sable & Chaux and Transmitting Stones with partners from Switzerland, Algeria and Tunisia. These platforms host exchange projects, residencies and research formats in collaboration with musicians from Switzerland and Algerian and Tunisian musicians/creative artists.
Musician and Journalist
Lugano (TI)
Born in Lugano, Gian-Andrea Costa studied musicology at the University of Bologna and at the same time began a long-standing collaboration with Radiotelevisione svizzera di lingua italiana (RSI).
Initially he was an editor and radio presenter focusing on the regional and national independent music scene, and subsequently as a programme designer and producer.
From 2020 to 2023, he was head of music at RSI before taking on his current role as Secretary General of the Culture and Society Department.
He is an active bass player in a variety of genres, from jazz to metal, and combines an energetic concert schedule (around 500 performances in Switzerland, Europe, USA, UK, Russia, China, Japan, South Africa) with considerable recording activity (more than 200 tracks on around 20 albums and EPs).
Curator of Music Programmes
Vevey (VD)
Kate Espasandin holds a Bachelor of Music from Cambridge University (UK) and a Master of Musicology from McGill University (USA). In 2014, she co-founded the Jazz au Peuple Festival (Nyon) dedicated to promoting Swiss artists from the jazz and improvisation music scenes. In 2016, she joined the programming committee of the Cully Jazz Festival, taking over the contemporary jazz scenes of the OFF Festival with a focus on emerging Swiss musicians. In 2017, she went on to join the committee of Live in Vevey where, apart from her programming functions, she organises artists’ residencies for jazz and improvisation music at the Théâtre de l’Oriental. In the past, Kate has also worked with the committee of Suisse Diagonales Jazz and has been invited to sit on the juries and panels of experts for various awards and prizes (M4music, etc.).
Culture Mediator, Lecturer, University Manager and Author
Zurich (ZH) and Bern (BE)
Peter Kraut studied history, sociology, and political science; he works as a culture mediator, lecturer, university manager and author. His interest lies in the intersection of contemporary music, visual arts and pop culture. Peter Kraut’s career path has taken him from empirical social research to touring with an experimental rock band in Europe. Alongside, he programmed hundreds of concerts of cutting-edge music in the framework of "Taktlos Bern" (1980-2007). After working in the cultural programme of the Swiss National Library, he joined the Bern University of the Arts in 2002 where he is now deputy head of the music department.
Cultural Worker, Agent, Curator
Lausanne (VD)
After training as a teacher and completing a master's degree in literature, Nadia Mitic has dedicated herself to contemporary music since 2009. She is an agent and manager of artists in contemporary music, a co-founder and partner of the Swiss booking agency Glad We Met, a press officer and a programme manager. She has more than 10 years of professional experience and a solid network in all three language regions of Switzerland and abroad. She regularly shares her experience and expertise through training courses, expert appraisals and jury sessions for the FCMA, the HEMU, M4Music, Sonart, the cities of Neuchatel and Lausanne or the canton of Valais. In 2022, Nadia Mitic, who is committed to supporting, mentoring and training emerging Swiss artists, founded and coordinated a project to promote the professionalisation of artists from the canton of Valais. She also works as an agent and programme designer for contemporary music for the Garden Parties in Lausanne. Since August 2023, she has held the new position of artist mentor at the Case à Chocs in Neuchâtel.
Musician, Teacher, Artistic Curator and Manager
Geneva (GE)
Musician, performer, educator and experienced manager, Béatrice Zawodnik has pursued a committed and passionate career in the service of culture, artistic creation, and education.
She holds numerous degrees and accolades in the fields of music, education and management, including training in oboe performance and a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from IDHEAP. Béatrice has over 20 years of professional experience as a soloist, chamber musician, and oboe and music teacher. She has also co-founded several ensembles and has taken on both the artistic and administrative direction of Ensemble Vortex and Ensemble Vide.
From 2018 to 2021, she was responsible for coordinating teaching and served as a member of the management board at the Geneva University of Music (HEM), of which she has been the Director since 1 January 2022.
Prior to this, she headed the Lausanne classical campus of the Lausanne University of Music (HEMU) from 2013 to 2018 and was responsible for leading the pre-professional study programme at the Geneva University of Music (CEGM) from 2007 to 2013.
