In 2018, Michel Runtz was awarded the Claude Blancpain Foundation Prize (Switzerland) for the foundation of the Jeune Musique Association, for the continuation of the Fribourg International Piano Competition and the International influence of Fribourg through its Fribourg - Shanghai innovative project. This project took shape in 2019 with the 1st Sino-Swiss International Competition of Shanghai and the creation of an exchange network between China and Switzerland, activated by the 1st Prize winners who have become ambassadors for the contemporary musical heritage of both countries.
