Violinist Esther Hoppe receives Swiss Music Prize

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Switzerland’s Federal Office of Culture has announced the recipients for its Swiss Music Prizes for 2026. The prizes are presented to eleven Swiss music professionals, collectives and institutions and recognise outstanding achievements in Swiss music each year.

Among this year’s recipients is violinist Esther Hoppe. She is one of seven recipients of a Swiss Music Prize, worth CHF 40,000 (£38,000). 

Born in Zug in 1978, Hoppe has pursued an international career as a soloist, chamber musician and pedagogue for over two decades. She studied in Basel, Philadelphia, London and Zurich and has won, among other prizes, the International Mozart Competition in Salzburg and the ARD Competition in Munich.

She has recorded the complete solo works for violin by Bach. She has served as professor of violin at the Mozarteum in Salzburg since 2013. In 2025, Hoppe returned to Switzerland to take over as artistic director of the Camerata Zürich. 

The jury said of Hoppe: ’As an interpreter of the highest level, Esther Hoppe enjoys great recognition in the classical music scene and serves as a bridge between the stage and teaching.’

The other recipients of the Swiss Music Prize are Domi Chansorn, Ensemble ö!, Amina Cadelli’s project Flèche Love, Louis Schild and Patricia Draeger.

The yodeler and cultural mediator Nadja Räss received the Swiss Grand Music Prize for lifetime achievement, worth CHF 100,000 (£94,000).

Three Special Prizes for Music, worth CHF 25,000 (£23,000), went to Café Bar Mokka, Intakt Records and La Via Lattea, for their significant contributions to the Swiss music scene.

This year’s jury was chaired by Gian-Andrea Costa and comprised Sandro Bernasconi, Kate Espasandin, Lea Hagmann, Peter Kraut, Nadia Mitic and Béatrice Zawodnik.

The awards will be presented on 19 September 2026 at the Label Suisse festival in Lausanne.