Noemi Beza (Photo: Matt Dome)
With nearly 100,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, a contract with Universal Music, an appearance on “SRF 3 Best Talent” in June, and a new EP, 20-year-old Noemi Beza from Thurgau is Switzerland’s pop discovery of the year. In August, she’ll take the stage at the Heitere Open Air and the Open Air Gampel.
It all started with a school project. For her final project in ninth grade, Noemi Beza recorded a song she’d written herself in the studio for the first time. Her producer was the first person to tell her that people wanted to hear her music. “That was kind of the starting point,” she explains on the podcast “Soltis Studiocast.” Three years later, that school project has turned into one of the most exciting careers on the Swiss pop scene: a record deal with Universal Music Switzerland, “SRF 3 Best Talent” in June 2026, performances at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Openair St. Gallen, the Gurtenfestival, and most recently at Moon + Stars in Locarno. “It all came together so beautifully and organically,” she says. The long lead-up—the small steps taken over three years—has helped her cope well with the sudden hype.
Noemi Beza made her breakthrough on the radio with “Hear Me.” The single climbed into the Top 10 of the Swiss airplay charts within a few weeks and has been playing on the radio for months. The song is about panic attacks, about a time when she barely dared to leave the house. It was created during her first studio session with singer Dana and producer Benjamin BNJI Schmid—on a day when she was feeling down. “I talked and talked, and we wrote and wrote. By evening, ‘Hear Me’ was there.” Today, fans write to her saying the song has carried them through difficult times.
On June 5, 2026, her EP “You’ll Find Me There” was released. The launch party at Albani in Winterthur was completely sold out. On the record, Beza blends pop with indie, folk, and country. Her love for country began at age 14, when she saw the movie “Forever My Girl.” Because she didn’t want to be pigeonholed into any one genre, she simply invented her own: “Free-spirited pop. I do what I want.”
This free spirit also has a quiet, personal side. Noemi Beza was born in Ethiopia, came to live with her adoptive family in Zihlschlacht in Thurgau at four months old, and reflects on her story in the song “Would You Know.” This fall, she’s traveling back to Ethiopia for the first time because the children’s charity from whose orphanage she was adopted is celebrating its 40th anniversary. In addition, she continues to work part-time (30 percent) as a pharmacy assistant.
But what Noemi Beza loves most is being on stage. “You get an immediate reaction there that you can’t get anywhere else. Social media just can’t compare,” she says. Her next opportunities to perform: On Sunday, August 9, 2026, she’ll open the final day of the Heitere Open Air in Zofingen, where Amy Macdonald will headline that evening. And on Friday, August 21, 2026, she’ll perform at the Open Air Gampel in Valais, on the same day as Kygo and Lo & Leduc. Meanwhile, her biggest dream remains another: to one day perform on the main stage of the Montreux Jazz Festival.
Noemi Beza was a guest on Solti's Studiocast
Noemi Beza Live: Heitere Open Air, Zofingen, Sunday, August 9, 2026 · Open Air Gampel, Friday, August 21, 2026.