Head of School of Music, Jazz

European Musician of the Year 2017 by the French Académie du Jazz, winning the Grand Prix du Disque in the jazz category by the French Académie Charles Cros in the same year, Susanne Abbuehl was also one of the recipients of the Swiss Music Prize by Switzerland’s Federal Office of Culture in 2016. In 2013, one of the radio plays she produced won a nomination for the Prix Marulić. Her ECM debut record April won a Dutch Edison award in 2002.

The international recognition for Susanne Abbuehl’s work has been consistent and widespread over the years. She has toured internationally, having performed in 27 countries worldwide.

Susanne Abbuehl studied jazz voice at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague with some of her favourite voices in jazz, Rachel Gould and the late Jeanne Lee. She also studied North Indian classical singing and has a profound interest in composition.

Abbuehl has been an ECM recording artist since 2001, releasing April, Compass and The Gift to international acclaim.
She has been commissioned to compose for various settings, including theatre and dance.

Besides her artistic career, teaching in higher education has been a very important part in Abbuehl’s professional life from the very start, having taught at Hochschule Luzern, HEMU Lausanne and the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague before joining the Hochschule für Musik FHNW in 2022. Her expertise includes jazz voice, composing or and with words, ensembles and didactics.

Abbuehl has taught masterclasses in Italy, France, Turkey, Holland, Belgium and Switzerland and is regularly invited to serve as an external committee member in final exams for several higher music institutions as well as in assessment committees regarding academic promotion and professorship.

ECM Records Susanne Abbuehl