The Lyceum Club is a club for women interested in cultural areas such as the arts, music, literature, as well as sciences and social concerns. The international Lyceum Club of
Switzerland is the oldest cultural association for women in the country. It was founded in Geneva in 1912. It is part of the International Association of Lyceum Clubs, which is active in the northern and southern hemispheres.
The Swiss Federation includes at the moment more than 1250 members in 12 clubs , of French, German or Italian language. The music competition is its most important cultural event and represents its distinctive feature. It is largely financed by the Swiss Lyceum members.
The Lyceum Club of Switzerland has always aimed at promoting and supporting young talented artists. The creation of a music competition was thus quite a natural development. This manifestation has indeed promoted the career of many young musicians.
The creation of an annual music competition is due to the initiative of the pianist Juliette de Crousaz from Lausanne. Together with the singer Mrs Bernet Strubin, she organized a piano competition in Bern in 1936. This competition was strictly limited to the Swiss musician members of the Lyceum Club.
Later on, the admission to the competition was extended to the international level, giving thus a larger opportunity to compete, not only to the Lyceum members but also to other female musicians. In 2013, the competition was enriched with the admission of male candidates.
Since 1973, the competition has been held every three years, alternately for voice, piano, string instruments or wind instruments. The 2012 and 2015 competitions were dedicated to chamber music with instrumental ensembles or singing and piano in duo competition. The competition in October 2018 was for baroque ensembles of two to five instruments,
combinable with a voice, and was a great success.
For 2021, we broke new ground by organising a competition for young jazz musicians for the first time, in close cooperation with the Bern University of the Arts (HKB) and other Swiss music colleges offering a Master’s degree in Jazz Performance.
Now, with the 2024 competition, we want to cover a niche that we have never had before: Choir conducting. As part of a master class for choral conductors, organised by the Basler Madrigalisten at the Musik-Akademie Basel, the winner will be chosen by a jury of three at the final concert. As prize money, the winner receives the opportunity to rehearse and perform a concert programme with the Basler Madrigalisten in the following year.