GENEVA (January 10, 2013)--Claude Nobs, 76, the founder and general manager of the Montreux Jazz Festival, whose passion for music and artistry introduced generations of legendary musicians to international audiences on the Swiss stage died Thursday.

The Jazz Festival said Nobs, a native of Montreux, died of injuries he suffered in a fall while cross-country skiing nearby on Christmas Eve.

Nobs worked his way from being a chef and director of Montreux's tourism office, where he organized charity concerts, to overseeing one of the most iconic music festivals in the world.

On its website, the festival said Nobs' death came by "surprise as if to remind us once more, that in life as in music, each great performance could be the last one even if the show must go on."