Clément
Charpentier-Leroy
Professeur de Cor
Après avoir obtenu le Diplôme d’études musicales du Conservatoire de Poitiers, Clément Charpentier-Leroy intègre le Conservatoire de Rueil-Malmaison dont il reçoit le Premier Prix de cor puis le Pôle Supérieur de Paris-Boulogne-Billancourt au sein duquel il obtient un Diplôme de formation à l’orchestre. Il poursuit son parcours musical au Conservatoire national de Paris dont il est diplômé en 2014. Parallèlement à ses études instrumentales, il s’intéresse vivement à l’histoire de la musique et est diplômé de l’Université de la Sorbonne en musicologie.
Au cours de ses études supérieures, Clément Charpentier-Leroy parcourt l’Europe au sein d’orchestres de jeunes sous la baguette de chef-fe-s prestigieux. Il est invité par l’Orchestre des Jeunes de l’Union Européenne, le Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, l’Orchestre Gustav Mahler des Jeunes, l’Orchestre du Festival de Verbier, dont il est désormais membre du jury lors des recrutements. Il est régulièrement invité par de nombreux orchestres de renommée tels que l’Orchestre de l’Opéra national de Paris, l’Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, l’Orchestre national de Lyon, l’Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, l’Orchestre de Chambre du Festival de Verbier…
Lauréat du Concours International de Chieri, il fait partie de l’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande depuis 2014. Parallèlement à son métier de musicien d’orchestre, son vif intérêt pour l’enseignement l’amène à intégrer la Haute École de Musique de Genève (HEM) dont il est diplômé d’un Master en pédagogie musicale en 2018. Également intéressé par la musique de chambre, il est membre fondateur du quatuor de cors HORNormes. Il enseigne à la HEM depuis la rentrée 2023-24.
Sandrine
Chatron
Professor of Harp - Chamber Music with Harp - Orchestral Excerpts in Section or Tutti (Harp)
Sandrine Chatron is a curious, pioneering, and versatile harpist. She has held the position of principal harp with the Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest since 2009 and has been teaching orchestral practice at the Conservatoire of Amsterdam since 2012. An enthusiastic educator, she conducts audition training, participates in workshops, masterclasses, and serves on competition juries.
A graduate of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de musique de Paris in 1994 in both harp and chamber music, Sandrine Chatron has won several competitions (Arles, Charpentier), the Fondation Banque Populaire (2000), and the Fondation Tissier Grandpierre (2019). She studied with Gérard Devos, Marie-Claire Jamet, Frédérique Cambreling, and Germaine Lorenzini.
She passionately champions a wide repertoire, from single-action harp to contemporary creations. She is a member of Trio Polycordes, with which she has premiered numerous works and interdisciplinary shows. She was a member of Ensemble Calliopée for twenty years. Invited to numerous festivals, she has a special fondness for chamber music collaborations with artists such as the Elias Quartet, Amaury Coeytaux, Juliette Hurel, and Ophélie Gaillard.
As a soloist, she has performed at the Présences festival, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Musée d’Orsay, Radio France, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, with ensembles such as the Nederlands Kamerorkest, La Grande Écurie et La Chambre du Roy, and Ensemble Fa.
She has premiered many works by composers such as Pierre Boulez, Krystof Maratka, Philippe Schoeller, Susumu Yoshida, Ricardo Nillni, Frédérick Martin, Luis Naón, Alexandros Markeas, Robin De Raaf, and Fabien Cali.
Committed to promoting an unknown or little-known repertoire, she has released several critically acclaimed solo albums with Naïve-Ambroisie and Aparté: "André Caplet et ses contemporains" (2005), "Le Salon de musique de Marie-Antoinette" (2009), and "A British Promenade" (2017), along with an extensive chamber music discography with Trio Polycordes (2017-2018-2022) and in orchestral recordings.
She collaborates with Ensemble Intercontemporain, Ensemble Klangforum-Wien, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Berliner Philharmoniker, and Lucerne Festival Orchestra, and has played under conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Ricardo Muti, Georges Prêtre, Sir Simon Rattle, Pierre Boulez, Daniele Gatti, Lorenzo Viotti, and Marc Albrecht.
She also performs on historical harp with orchestras like Le Concert de la Loge, Le Cercle de l’Harmonie, and Le Concert Spirituel.
Learn more about Sandrine Chatron.
Denis
Severin
Professor of Cello
Denis Severin studied at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow with D. Miller, at the Haute école de musique de Genève with Daniel Grosgurin, and at the Academy of Music in Basel with Thomas Demenga. He earned teaching and soloist diplomas with distinction. He furthered his studies at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in baroque cello, chamber music, and string quartet under Christophe Coin. He also attended masterclasses with J. Starker, N. Gutman, T. Mørk, A. Bylsma, A. Meneses, G. Hoffman, W. Böttcher, and B. Mate.
An award winner at international competitions, D. Severin has regularly performed as a soloist with orchestras such as the National Orchestra of Ukraine, the European Youth Orchestra, Les Solistes de Kiev, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Basel Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Pskov (Russia), and the Kharkiv Philharmonic (Ukraine).
As a chamber musician, he plays with numerous ensembles and is frequently invited to festivals in Germany, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Sweden, Russia, Spain, Ukraine, Serbia, Singapore, Poland, Turkey, and England. His extensive discography includes a Rachmaninov program for cello and piano with Sony and the Brandenburg Concertos with the Swiss Baroque Soloists for Naxos, which was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Since 2006, he has taught cello and chamber music at the International Summer Music Academy at the Château de Beuggen in Germany. He is a regular guest professor for cello and early music at the National Music Academy of Kyiv and the University of the Arts in Kharkiv (Ukraine). He is a cello professor at the Haute école des arts in Bern and leads a cello class at the Haute école de musique de Genève, Neuchâtel site.
Denis Severin plays a Jean-Nicolas Lambert cello from 1750 and a Vincenzo Panormo cello from 1800.
Learn more about Denis Severin
Philippe
Spiesser
Professor of Percussion - Chamber Music with Percussion - Coordinator of the Percussion Class
More than just a percussionist, Philippe Spiesser is an atypical and captivating musician. Coming from a family of musicians, he studied percussion at the Conservatoire de Musique de Strasbourg. Winner of the European Young Talents Competition in 1997, he has continually evolved by embracing new experiences and collaborating with creators from diverse backgrounds.
A universally recognized pedagogue, Philippe Spiesser has been a professor of percussion and coordinator of the percussion class at the Haute école de musique de Genève (HEM) since 2009. Previously, he taught at the Alfonso X University in Madrid, the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Palma de Mallorca, and the Conservatoire National de Région de Perpignan. He gives numerous masterclasses around the world: Juilliard School in New York, McGill in Montreal, Royal Academy of Music in London, Esmuc in Barcelona, Royal Conservatory in Brussels, Santa Cecilia in Rome, Musikhochschulen in Stuttgart, Mannheim, and Karlsruhe, CNSMDP in Paris, China Conservatory and Central Conservatory in Beijing, Superior Conservatories in Shanghai, Shenyang, and Dalian, Hong Kong University of Music, Lima University of Music, and Izmir University of Music.
Since 2012, Philippe Spiesser has led several research projects on new musical technologies and gesture capture, such as the GeKiPe project developed at HEM in partnership with IRCAM Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Ensemble Flashback. Through this work, he is the dedicatee and performer of numerous immersive and multimedia shows written for this gesture capture tool. In 2022, he created "Virtualis," the new concerto for solo percussion, ensemble, video, and gesture capture using the Gestrument tool, invented and developed by Jesper Nordin. His research has also led him to work with the Centro Ricerche Musicali in Rome, where he developed a solo repertoire with two acoustic instruments, the SkinAct and the Feed Drum, treated electronically and invented by Michelangelo Lupone.
A polymorphic musician, he performs worldwide in numerous international festivals such as Electronic Music Week in Shanghai, Percussion Festival in Beijing, Música in Lima, Arte Scienza and RomaEuropa in Rome, Ars Musica in Brussels, Musica in Strasbourg, Présences in Paris, Ritmo Vital in Madrid, Gaida Festival in Vilnius, Italy PAS in Pescara, CERN Festival and Archipel in Geneva, Aujourd’hui Musiques in Perpignan, Memmix in Palma de Mallorca, Ponte in Ulm, and Frequenz in Kiel, where he promotes new repertoire and creations by Ph. Hurel, P. Jodlowski, J. Nordin, A. Schubert, M. Matalon, B. Mantovani, Ph. Manoury, B. Letort, K. Narita, JM. Lopez Lopez, M. Lupone, and A. Vert. Philippe Spiesser is also invited to perform as a soloist with orchestras such as Lemanic Modern Ensemble, Norbotten NEO, Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, Camerata de France, Beijing Symphony Orchestra, and Shenyang Symphony Orchestra.
He serves as a jury member for numerous international competitions, including Shanghai IPEA, Beijing PAS, Palma IMC, Italy PAS, and was the president of the jury for the International Geneva Competition in 2019.
Learn more about Philippe Spiesser
Vincent
Thévenaz
Professor of Organ - Improvisation (for organists) - Introduction to Music Reading - Music Reading - Music Reading and Transposition - Chamber Music with Organ
Vincent Thévenaz is a professor of organ and improvisation at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève, and the titular organist and carillon player at the St. Peter's Cathedral in Geneva. He is frequently invited for concerts, competition juries, and masterclasses across Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
With a comprehensive education spanning organ, piano, classical and jazz improvisation, musicology, music theory, conducting, singing, French and Russian literature, Vincent Thévenaz continuously seeks to invigorate and diversify the organ world. He pushes the boundaries of genres and enriches his interpretations with a profound knowledge of works and their contexts. His repertoire ranges widely from medieval to contemporary and current music of various origins.
Vincent Thévenaz has developed a significant focus on improvisation, exploring the power of the present moment. He practices improvisation in liturgy, concerts, and accompanying silent films. His teaching is enriched by an approach that views written music as an endless source of inspiration and improvisation as a questioning of freedom in interpretation.
As a recognized specialist in the harmonium, he owns a collection of high-quality historical instruments and performs them in recitals and ensembles. His expertise has led him to collaborate with musicians such as Leonidas Kavakos and Yuja Wang, and with the Scharoun Ensemble of the Berlin Philharmonic, earning praise from Simon Rattle: "played by you, the harmonium becomes a living and exciting instrument."
He combines the organ with numerous instruments of diverse origins, including classical (violin, flute) and unusual (saxophone, Alpine horn, percussion) sounds, and plays cousin instruments such as carillon, cinema organ, Hammond organ, keyboards, and percussion.
Vincent Thévenaz is also known for his arrangements, transcribing music of various styles for organ or chamber music formations, and collaborating with orchestras and ensembles. He arranged and directed the annual show "Chantons Noël," creating an original setting for traditional melodies. He also arranged a version for ensemble of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition."
In 2009-2010, he performed Bach's complete organ works in 14 concerts, followed by Mendelssohn's organ works in 2017, both receiving great acclaim. His duo "W" with saxophonist Vincent Barras has produced two CDs of original repertoire. He has recorded two critically acclaimed CDs with Sony's Ensemble Gli Angeli Genève (Stephan MacLeod). For the 50th anniversary of Geneva Cathedral's Metzler organ, he produced a CD showcasing the treasures of Geneva composers' organ music.
Vincent Thévenaz collaborates with numerous ensembles and conductors (Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ensemble Contrechamps, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Lausanne Vocal Ensemble, Capella Mediterranea, Leonardo Garcia Alarcon, Valery Gergiev, Heinz Holliger, Michel Corboz, Lawrence Foster, Antonio Pappano, etc.). In 2005, he founded the Orchestre Buissonnier, a young musicians' ensemble, which he regularly conducts.
Learn more about Vincent Thévenaz.
Justin
Clark
Professeur de trombone basse
Originaire de Rhode Island (USA), le tromboniste basse Justin Clark a joué en Amérique du Nord, en Europe, au Moyen Orient et en Asie. Il a étudié avec Donald Harwood à la Julliard School (New York), Dave Taylor à la Manhattan School of Music (New York), John Rojak à la Aspen Music Festival and School et William Harris à l’Université de Syracuse. Justin Clark interrompt ses études à la Julliard School de New York en 2006 pour rejoindre l’Orchestre Syphonique de Berne. Depuis lors, il joue avec de nombreux orchestres, en Suisse et à l’étranger, dont depuis 2012 le Budapest Festival Orchestra sous la direction de Ivan Fischer avec lequel il enregistre également lors de nombreuses tournées.
Justin Clark a étudié la sacqueboute de 2009 à 2011 avec Charles Toet à la Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (Suisse), et se produit régulièrement dans diverses formations baroques jouant sur instruments anciens. Il est le cofondateur du groupe Concerto dei Fiati, un ensemble de cornets et saqueboutes.
Justin Clark a été membre du Tangelwood Festival (USA) en 2006, et il a également joué comme musicien supplémentaire dans le Boston Pops sous la direction de John Williams. En outre, il a été finaliste du concours de trombone basse de l’International Trombone Association à Helsinki en 2003 et à Ithaca (USA) en 2004. En 2004 et 2005, il remporte le premier prix au concours de trombone basse de l’Eastern Trombone Workshop à Washington (USA).
A côté de sa carrière orchestrale chargée, Justin Clark est également actif comme soliste, chambriste et professeur. Il a notamment interprété le concerto pour trombone basse Subzero de Daniel Schnyder avec l’Orchestre Symphonique de Berne en juin 2011, ainsi qu’en avril 2012 avec le Georgisches Kammerorchester Ingolstadt (Allemagne) avec Maestro Lavard Skou Larsen, suscitant les critiques les plus enthousiastes. Depuis 2013, Justin Clark est professeur de trombone basse à la Haute école de musique de Genève.
Antoine
Schneider
Professor of Practical Writing - Contrepoint
After studying violin and musicology in Geneva, Antoine Schneider furthered his musical theory education in Zurich with Burkhard Kinzler and Andreas Nick. He also trained in musical direction, piano, and baroque violin.
He is currently a professor of solfège and counterpoint at the Haute école de musique de Genève and the Haute école des arts de Berne, as well as a professor of musical training at the ESM Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (Early Music Department).
In his teaching, he specializes in the practices of musical improvisation during the Renaissance period. He is regularly invited to give masterclasses across Europe and collaborates with Jean-Yves Haymoz, Barnabé Janin (CNSMD Lyon), and the Helicona project. He is the co-responsible for the website Super librum cantare (www.superlibrum.com).
Celso
Antunes Leite
Professor of Chamber Choir - Choral Conducting - Elements of Choral Conducting (for Orchestra Conductors)
Celso Antunes has been conducting the Chamber Choir of the HEM – Geneva since 2011 whilst continuing to work as a choir director at the school.
Born in 1959 in São Paulo (Brazil), Celso Antunes studied conducting at the Musikhochschule in Cologne (Germany). From 1994 to 1998, he directed the Neues Rheinisches Kammerorchester in Cologne as well as the Belgian contemporary music ensemble Champ d'Action (1994-1997), which he conducted in numerous world premieres. As an artistic director, he made a decisive contribution to the outstanding development of the National Chamber Choir of Ireland in 2002. From August 2008 to March 2012, he conducted the choir of the Dutch radio Groot Omroepkoor.
Between 2012 and 2016, Celso Antunes worked as Associate Chief Conductor with the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra (OSESP), Brazil. He also conducts the Camerata Fukuda (Brazil) and teaches choral conducting at the Haute école de musique de Genève. He is also frequently called upon as a conductor or choir director.
Flexibility is the key to Antunes' leadership. His extensive repertoire covers Renaissance choral music, 18th and 19th century orchestral music, and contemporary music, of which he is a devoted advocate. This commitment led him to collaborate with various prestigious contemporary ensembles, such as the Nieuw Ensemble and the Ensemble Modern. He is also involved in numerous festivals, such as the Salzburger und Berliner Festspiele, Donaueschinger Musiktage und City of London Festival.
Antunes regularly works with some of Europe's leading choirs, including the SWR Stuttgart Vocal Ensemble and the BBC Singers in London.
Celso Antunes has recorded for many labels. Among his recordings is the CD Canto a Sevilla (works by Joaquin Turina), nominated for the 2011 Grammy Awards.
Learn more about Celso Antunes Leite
James
Alexander
Piano Accompaniment Professor - Chamber Music with Piano
The pianist James Alexander was born in Canada, where he studied with Robert Silverman at the University of British Columbia. Benefiting from a scholarship from the Canada Council, he honed his skills at the Juilliard School under Sasha Gorodnitzki and Janina Fialkowska, earning a Master of Music. He also attended masterclasses, including in the field of Lied, with Leon Fleisher, Menahem Pressler, Gwendolyn Koldofsky, and Martin Katz.
After completing his studies, James Alexander worked as an intern at the Juilliard School before being engaged at the International Opera Studio of Zurich, then at the Stadttheater Aachen as an assistant to the principal conductor.
James Alexander currently teaches chamber music and accompaniment at the Haute école de musique de Genève, as well as in Bern. He performs with many renowned singers and instrumentalists and occasionally gives masterclasses at the Juilliard School.
His CD recordings include works for solo piano, Lied, instrumental chamber music, as well as several Tango albums.
Learn More about James Alexander
Sarah
Branchi-Cascone
Professor of piano Jaques-Dalcroze
Born in Aix-en-Provence, Sarah Branchi Cascone began her musical studies there, later completing them at the CRR of Montpellier. After obtaining Diplomas in Musical Studies in piano and chamber music, she joined the Cefedem-Sud (now IESM) at a very young age, where she earned a piano teaching diploma.
Her musical journey then led her to the Haute école de musique de Genève (HEM) to continue her studies in the class of Dominique Weber. There, she obtained a teaching diploma and later a concert diploma.
Passionate about pedagogy and teaching from a young age, Sarah Branchi Cascone has been teaching piano since 2003 at the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze and within the Master’s in Pedagogy program, Jaques-Dalcroze orientation, at HEM.
She has performed as a soloist and in various chamber music formations in Switzerland, France, and Argentina. In 2008, she founded the Tashko-Branchi duo with pianist Olta Tashko. The two pianists regularly perform recitals in France and Switzerland. In 2017, they participated in the complete concertos of J.S. Bach for 2, 3, and 4 pianos with the Terpsycordes Quartet. In 2019, they premiered the show "Vagabond et Visionnaire" by S. Arnauld, based on poems by F. Nietzsche.
