Cédric
Pescia
Professor of Piano
Born in Lausanne, holding Swiss and French nationality, Cédric Pescia studied at the Conservatories of Lausanne (with Christian Favre) and Geneva (with Dominique Merlet), at the Universität der Künste in Berlin (with Klaus Hellwig), and at the International Piano Academy Lake Como (with D. Bashkirov, L. Fleisher, A. Staier, W. G. Naboré, and Fou T’song). Additionally, he perfected his skills with P.-L. Aimard, D. Barenboim, D. Fischer-Dieskau, I. Gage, I. Gronich, C. Zacharias, and the Alban Berg Quartet.
He won the First Prize at the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition in 2002 in Salt Lake City, USA.
He gives recitals and concerts with orchestras in Europe, the USA, China, and South America: Philharmonie and Konzerthaus Berlin, Konzerthaus Vienna, Wigmore Hall London, Mozarteum Salzburg, Carnegie Hall New York, Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, Tonhalle Zurich, Prague Spring Festival, Lucerne Festival, Menuhin Festival Gstaad, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Davos Festival, Klavierfestival Ruhr. He has a long-standing collaboration with violinist Nurit Stark.
He is the artistic director of the chamber music series Ensemble enScène in Lausanne.
He is a laureate of the Leenaards Foundation in Lausanne and the Music Prize of the Vaud Foundation for Culture. For Claves Records, Aeon, BIS, Genuin, La Dolce Volta, he has recorded works by Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, Schubert, Couperin, Messiaen, Debussy, Cage, Busoni, Enescu, and Gubaidulina.
In 2012, he was appointed Professor of Piano at the Haute école de musique de Genève.
Learn more about Cédric Pescia
Mirela
Vedeva Ruaux
Professor of Double Bass
Mirella Vedeva received a virtuosity prize from the Conservatoire de Genève and graduated from the Giovanni Bottesini International Double Bass Competition. Michel Plasson, who noticed her during this competition, hired her as a soloist for the Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse. She has also collaborated with other symphonic ensembles such as the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande de Genève, the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, the Geneva Chamber Orchestra, and the Lausanne Sinfonietta.
Her passion for imparting her instrumental knowledge drives her towards teaching. At the Conservatoire de Genève and the Accademia, she created classes for very young double bassists starting from the age of six. In charge of directing the Music School Orchestra of the Conservatoire de Genève, she has carried out numerous educational projects.
At the Haute école de musique de Genève (HEM), she receives students from around the world, perpetuating the tradition of excellence from the school of her mentor Franco Petracchi.
She is also a professor at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Saragosse. Invited for numerous masterclasses in Italy, Spain, France, Switzerland, and China, her pedagogical talents are universally recognized.
Lastly, her activities as a soloist and chamber musician have garnered her much success both in Switzerland and abroad.
Learn more about Mirella Vedeva Ruaux.
Guido
Balestracci
Professor of Viola da Gamba - Ornamentation
Guido Balestracci was born in Turin in 1971. He discovered the viola da gamba at the age of five within his family environment. After completing his studies at the Schola Cantorum in Basel, he began a faithful collaboration with musical personalities such as Paolo Pandolfo and Jordi Savall, performing alongside them and contributing to numerous recordings.
In 1997, he founded the ensemble L’Amoroso to explore the viola da gamba repertoire more personally and to highlight the different instruments of this family. The recording programs "Consonanze Stravaganti," followed by "Seconde Stravaganze" and the transcription of Corelli's Opus V for viola da gamba, are considered pioneering works in the revival of the Italian repertoire for viols and have been awarded by international critics (Diapason d’or, 10 de Répertoire, Prix Goldberg, Premio Vivaldi della Fondazione Cini, Eccezionale de Scherzo, Choc du Monde de la Musique...).
Passionate about research, Guido Balestracci is interested in rare instruments, such as the baryton, as evidenced by a CD dedicated to Haydn's trio Divertimenti, released in 2011.
His interest in the Classical and Romantic periods, particularly for the arpeggione, of which he is one of the few current performers, also falls within this domain. He performs in concerts featuring a program dedicated to the transcription of the Romantic repertoire around Schubert's "Arpeggione" Sonata, which he recorded in 2019.
Since the end of 2021, Guido Balestracci has also been responsible for the research project "Le Vibrato entre 1770 et 1820: un agrément à redécouvrir," which he conducts at the HEM of Geneva in collaboration with Elizabeth Dobbin and Paolo Corsi and in partnership with the CRR of Paris.
He holds the position of professor of viola da gamba and 18th-century ornamentation at the HEM of Geneva and at the CRR of Paris in collaboration with PSPBB and Sorbonne University.
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Fabrizio
Chiovetta
Professor of piano
Born in Geneva, with Swiss and Italian nationality, Fabrizio Chiovetta studied with Dominique Weber, John Perry, and Paul Badura-Skoda, becoming a favored disciple of the latter. He has given numerous concerts in Europe, North America, Asia, and the Middle East (Sommets Musicaux and Menuhin Festival in Gstaad, Lisztomanias, Victoria Hall, Berlioz Festival, Schloss Elmau, Tonhalle, Princeton Piano Festival, NCPA in Mumbai, National Center in Beijing, Oriental Art Center in Shanghai).
He has performed under the direction of Gábor Takács-Nagy, Arie van Beek, Mikael Toms, and Diego Matheuz. He is also a highly sought-after chamber musician, performing with partners such as the Belcea Quartet, Patrick Messina, Henri Demarquette, Benjamin Appl, Gautier Capuçon, Lise Berthaud, Pierre Fouchenneret, Camille Thomas, Alexandra Conunova, Sarah Nemtanu, Silvia Careddu, Sophie Karthäuser, Marc Coppey, Samuel Hasselhorn, and Werner Güra.
He premiered Tristan Murail's solo piano piece "Le rossignol en amour" and made the first recording of chamber works by Arvo Pärt, Jan Rääts, and André Previn. Also an improviser, he collaborates with musicians from various backgrounds (Vincent Ségal, Grégoire Maret, Marthe Keller).
His recordings for Palexa, Claves Records, and Aparté of works by Schumann, Schubert, Haydn, Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven have been praised by critics (Diapason, CHOC de CLASSICA, FonoForum, American Music Guide).
His latest Schumann album was awarded an "Editor's Choice" by Gramophone and a 10/10 by Classics Today.
Fabrizio Chiovetta has been teaching at the Haute école de musique de Genève on the sites of Geneva and Neuchâtel since 2009.
"His playing is distinguished by its elegance, sense of balance, and refinement." - France Musique
Learn more about Fabrizio Chiovetta.
Rodolphe
Schacher
Professor of Writing Practice - Analysis - Harmony - Counterpoint
Franco-Swiss composer and pianist Rodolphe Schacher was born in France in 1973. Schacher pursued his musical studies in Paris, Geneva, and Zurich, under the guidance of Michael Jarrell, Thierry Escaich, Gerald Bennett, and Ulrich Koella.
He has been awarded five first prizes (harmony, counterpoint, Renaissance counterpoint, fugue and forms, and 20th-century music) at the CNSM in Paris and received the composition and theory diploma with honors, as well as the concert diploma in chamber music from the Zurich University of the Arts.
Alongside his artistic activities, Schacher teaches analysis and writing at the Haute école de musique de Genève, writing at the Haute école de musique de Lausanne, and taught composition until June 2015 at the Zurich University of the Arts.
Daniele
Bragetti
Professor of Recorder
Born in 1965, Daniele Bragetti obtained his diploma in recorder at the Civica Scuola di Musica di Milano and the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam, studying with professors such as Nina Stern, Kees Boeke, Marijke Miessen, and Jeanette van Wingerden.
He regularly performs both as a soloist and with various Baroque and Renaissance music ensembles, including Ensemble Baroque de Limoges (conducted by Christophe Coin), Ensemble Elyma (Gabriel Garrido), Ensemble Concerto (Roberto Gini), Academia Montis Regalis (Andrea de Marchi), and Accademia Claudio Monteverdi (Hans Ludwig Hirsch).
He has played in prestigious venues and important festivals, such as Mito – Settembremusica in Milan, Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, Musica e Poesia a S. Maurizio in Milan, Tokyo Recorder Festival, I Concerti del Quartetto in Milan, UNESCO per Venezia, Tokyo Opera City, and Casals Hall in Tokyo.
Since 1991, Daniele Bragetti has performed in a recorder duo with Seiko Tanaka, also collaborating with flutists Walter van Hauwe and Antonio Politano. In 2013, he founded the recorder ensemble La Rubertina in Tokyo with Seiko Tanaka.
Daniele Bragetti is also active in the field of contemporary music, with composers such as Michiharu Matsunaga, Luca Cori, and Koji Ueno dedicating numerous works to him.
He has made recordings for Opus 111, Passacaille, Stradivarius, Entrée, Mercury, and Olive Music.
Since 2003, Daniele Bragetti has taught recorder and historical ornamentation at the Civica Scuola di Musica “Claudio Abbado” di Milano. He has been a guest professor at the Haute école de musique de Genève and the Universidad Pontificia de Santiago de Chile.
Since 2016, he has been a professor of recorder at the Haute école de musique de Genève.
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Laurent
Sourisse
Professeur d'improvisation instrumentale - improvisation instrumentale Jaques-Dalcroze - Harmonie au clavier et écriture - Accompagnement de chansons
Né en 1970 dans une famille de musiciens, Laurent Sourisse étudie au CNSM de Paris avec Thierry Escaich (Fugue et Formes), Marc-André Dalbavie (Orchestration), Alain Louvier (Analyse), Jean-Claude Reynaud (Harmonie) et Bernard de Crépy (Contrepoint), il se perfectionne en improvisation au piano auprès de Thierry Escaich, Alain Savouret, et Isabelle Duha.
Il enseigne l’écriture, l’harmonie pratique, et l’improvisation sur Paris, puis sur Genève depuis 2001. Il est fréquemment sollicité pour des masterclasses et congrès à l’étranger (Taïwan, Japon, Canada, Belgique, France, Espagne), et pour des formations continues et postgrades.
Au sein du trio Meigmata (avec Marie Mercier, clarinette, et Michael Chapon, batterie), il explore l’improvisation aux multiples influences et la composition collective. Il expérimente également l’association avec d’autres pratiques artistiques : danse (Florence Jaccottet, Luisa Schöfer), marionnettes (Fanfare du Loup, Théâtre de Marionnettes de Genève), matchs d’improvisation (impro.ch et HEM).
Tedi
Papavrami
Professor of Violin
Arriving at a very young age in France, Tedi Papavrami discovered a country and culture that were completely foreign to him. His natural curiosity and the need to master the French language in order to make this country his own, along with initial great solitude, drove him to devour books, always in French: Stendhal, Proust, Flaubert, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Kafka... This curiosity beyond borders, combined with intellectual and artistic demands, allowed him to bridge the gap between his original domain and other horizons, making him a rare interpreter in the musical world.
Thus, in 2000, after the passing of Albanian translator J. Vrioni, he naturally took up the mantle of translating the works of Ismaïl Kadaré, whom he had known as a child in Albania. This foray into the literary world also became a way for him to "professionally exist for the first time outside of the violin." In 2013, he continued this journey with the writing of "Fugue pour Violon Seul" published by Robert Laffont. Unanimously praised by the press, this autobiographical account narrates his journey as a child prodigy in Albania and his passage to the West, towards freedom.
However, this diversification would not have been possible without an early and singular focus on the violin from his young years. The instrument, which had always been a part of his life, was introduced to him at the age of 5 by his father, a brilliant professor with extensive pedagogical experience. Tedi's progress was rapid: three years later, he performed Sarasate's "Zigeunerweisen" with an orchestra. At eleven, he publicly performed Paganini's Concerto No. 1 with the formidable Sauret cadenza.
In 1982 in Albania, a country cut off from the world, he was noticed by flutist Alain Marion who arranged for him to be invited to Paris as a French government scholarship student. He then studied with Pierre Amoyal at the C.N.S.M in Paris for four years.
At the end of his studies, at the age of 15, Tedi pursued his musical and instrumental development independently. Shortly before, with his parents, he fled the communist regime in Albania to settle with them in France. Severe sanctions were imposed in retaliation on the rest of the family remaining in Albania, lasting until the fall of the communist regime in 1991. Tedi and his parents left Paris to avoid being within reach of Albanian embassy officials searching for them and settled near Bordeaux.
Benefiting from several awards, T. Papavrami began a career as a soloist and chamber musician from the 1990s onwards. He has since collaborated as a soloist with conductors such as K. Sanderling, A. Jordan, E. Krivine, M. Honeck, F.X. Roth, Th. Fischer, G. Varga, M. Aeschenbacher… In chamber music, he was a member of the Schumann Quartet, a piano quartet, for 9 years, and he performs in concert or on recordings with partners such as Philippe Bianconi, Gary Hoffman, Marc Coppey, Nelson Goerner, Martha Argerich, Maria Joao Pires, Viktoria Mullova, Paul Meyer, and Lawrence Power.
Now based in Geneva, Switzerland, Tedi holds a position as Professor of Violin at the HEM. He plays on a violin made in 2022 for him by luthier David Leonard Wiedmer.
Learn more about Tedi Papavrami
Ophélie
Gaillard
Cello Professor
An insatiable curiosity, a taste for risk, an immoderate appetite for the whole of the concerted cello repertoire, complete disregard of limits and petty quarrels: those are no doubt the features that have always set this brilliant Franco-Swiss musician apart. Her passion? Working from the sources, inquiring into the text, using her virtuosity to bring out the musical discourse and make the music loved by all.
Named “Revelation: Solo Instrumentalist of the Year” at the French Classical Music Awards (Victoires) in 2003, she has since appeared in recital at many reknowed venues: Concertgebouw Bruges and Amsterdam; Bozar and Flagey, Brussels; the theatres of Bordeaux, Avignon, Poissy, Aix-en-Provence; the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris; Oji Hall, Tokyo; London’s Wigmore Hall, as well as the most prestigous Orchestras such as l'Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, le Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, le Czech National Symphony Orchestra ou le New Japan Philharmonic
Fond of encounters, she regularly shares the stage with Lambert Wilson, hip-hop dancer Ibrahim Sissoko, choreographers Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Damien Jalet, dancer Hugo Marchand (Etoile of the Opéra National de Paris), or Brazilian star singer of bossa nova Toquinho (live album Canto de sereia recorded for Aparté at the MiTo festival in 2017).
In 2005, she found Pulcinella, a collective of virtuosos with a passion for performance practice on period instruments. The recording devoted to Vivaldi, Boccherini and Bach reaped excellent ratings and several awards, among them a DIAPAON D’OR of the year.
A sought-after teacher, she regularly gives masterclasses in Europe, Asia and Central America. She is regularly invited as a member of the Jury at the ARD and Geneva Competitions and in 2014 she was appointed Professor at the Haute Ecole de Musique in Geneva.
Ophélie Gaillard plays a cello by Francesco Goffriller (1737), generously on loan from the CIC, and also an anonymous Flemish violoncello piccolo.
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Máté
Szucs
Professor of Viola
Máté Szücs, a Hungarian-born violist, has had an award-winning career as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral instrumentalist.
Máté served as principal violist of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra from 2011 to 2018, where he also performed as a soloist in Bartók's Viola Concerto in September 2017.
At the age of seventeen, Máté switched from violin to viola and graduated with highest honors from the Royal Conservatory of Brussels and the Royal Conservatory of Flanders in Antwerp. He further pursued studies at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo, Belgium, graduating with highest distinction.
As a chamber musician, Máté has been a member of various ensembles including the Mendelssohn Ensemble, Con Spirito Piano Quartet, Trio Dor, Enigma Ensemble, and Ensemble "Fragments". He has collaborated with renowned musicians such as Janine Jansen, Frank-Peter Zimmermann, Christian Tetzlaff, Vadim Repin, Ilja Gringolts, Vladimir Mendelssohn, László Fenyő, Kristof Baráti, István Várdai, Camille Thomas, Kirill Troussov, and Julien Quentin.
In addition to solo performances with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, he has appeared with orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Flanders, Bamberger Symphoniker, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, where he also served as principal violist.
Since 2006, Máté has been a regular faculty member at the Thy Chamber Music Festival in Denmark and taught at the Britten-Pears Festival in Aldeburgh, England from 2012 to 2014. He taught for two years at the University of Music in Saarbrücken, from 2014 to 2018 at the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, from 2015 to 2018 at the Hanns Eisler University of Music in Berlin, and in 2015-2016 at the Academy of Music in Budapest.
Máté conducts masterclasses worldwide, including in New York, Los Angeles, Michigan, London, Berlin, Brussels, Shanghai, Taipei, Seoul, and Tokyo.
Since 2018, he has been a professor of viola at the Haute école de musique de Genève.
Learn more about Máté Szücs
