GENEVA (AFP) — Swiss jazz pianist Geo Voumard, co-founder of the Montreux Jazz Festival, died Wednesday at the age of 87, his family told the Swiss news agency ATS.
Voumard founded the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1967 with Claude Nobs and Rene Langel. He also won the first Eurovision song contest in 1956 with the song "Refrain", co-written with Emile Gardaz.
Born on December 2 1920 in Biel, northwest Switzerland, Voumard studied architecture before launching his musical career. He joined the Hazzy Osterwald orchestra in 1944 and formed his own group in 1948.
In 1952, he started his broadcasting career at Radio Lausanne, now Radio Suisse Romande (RSR). Voumard joined the station initially as a pianist, accompanist and composer and producer of a musical programme. He became director of popular music at RSR in 1966, before serving as director of light entertainment from 1969 to 1983.
After leaving the station, Geo Voumard lived in Provence, France, where he started to work as an architect again. He returned to Switzerland during the final years of his life.
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