Nicolas
Bolens
Professor of Counterpoint, 20th-Century Writing, and Practical Writing
En associant traditions et explorations nouvelles des matières sonores, les œuvres de Nicolas Bolens investissent l’espace en valorisant les éléments et les sujets qui se présentent à lui.
Combining traditions and new explorations of sound materials, the works of Nicolas Bolens invest in space by enhancing the elements and subjects that present themselves to him.
His music is regularly connected to other elements: texts, films, places, evocations... In each context, he seeks an authentic dramaturgy that promotes unprecedented settings.
For example, with the Batida ensemble, he imagined "Welcome to the Castle" (2017), three musical acts for musicians moving through the Allymes Castle near Amberieu-en-Bugey.
For the Gémeau Quartet, he wrote "La Ville Oblique" (2013), a string quartet conceived as a musical extension of the short film "Un Chien Andalou" by Dalí and Buñuel.
Written words, most often poetic, permeate his entire production. He has composed on poems by Celan, Sachs, Mallarmé, Char, Blok, Khayyam, Michaux, Éluard, Basho, Neruda, Rilke, Adonis, Shakespeare... These authors, from various times and origins, have led him to integrate many languages into his works, considering their sonic as well as semantic potentials.
Orchestration also holds an important place in his work, rethinking the instrumentation of certain past works. In 2018, he re-orchestrated "Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen" and the 4th Symphony by Gustav Mahler for the Lemanic Modern Ensemble under the direction of conductor Pierre Bleuse.
Commissioned by the association Ouverture Opera, his recent rewriting of Mozart's "The Magic Flute" follows the same approach.
Nicolas Bolens has notably collaborated with the Batida ensemble, the Lemanic Modern Ensemble, the Swiss Chamber Soloists, the Ensemble Vocal de Lausanne, the Ensemble Vocal Polhymnia, the Ensemble Vortex, the Basler Madrigalisten, and the Ensemble Vocal Séquence...
Born in Geneva, he first studied piano at the Conservatoire de musique de Genève, then completed his training in the composition class of Jean Balissat. He further honed his skills with Rudolph Kelterborn, Klaus Huber, Edison Denisov, and Eric Gaudibert. He is the recipient of numerous composition prizes, including those from the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne (1993) and the Banque Cantonale Neuchâteloise (2002), as well as a scholarship from the Leenaards Foundation (1998).
An engaged pedagogue and artist, he teaches counterpoint, 20th-century writing, and composition at the Haute école de musique de Genève, where he has been the head of the Composition and Theory Department from 2015 to 2024. He is also involved in several institutions related to musical creation in Switzerland, including the Swiss Musicians Association, the Archipel Festival Association, the Nicati-de-Luze Foundation, and the Artistic Council of the Geneva Competition.
Learn more about Nicolas Bolens
Florence
Jaccottet
Head of the Music and Movement Department - Rhythmician, teacher, movement artist
Born in Lausanne in 1989, Florence Jaccottet is currently Head of the Music and Movement Department at the Geneva University of Music (HEM), where she has been teaching rhythm, movement technique and composition, and creative experimentation workshops since 2019.
A specialist in the Jaques-Dalcroze method, she has over 10 years' experience in teaching rhythm, acquired in particular at the Jaques-Dalcroze Institute, where she taught a variety of audiences for several years. Her teaching has been recognised with several awards, including a prize for excellence in music theory teaching and the Alethéia Foundation Prize for the creation of ‘Entrée en matières’ (2017), in collaboration with percussionist Michael Chapon.
Florence Jaccottet was trained from childhood in Jaques-Dalcroze eurhythmics at the Lausanne Conservatory. She also studied piano there in Helena Maffli's class, obtaining a Prize for Excellence in 2008. At the HEM Geneva, she pursued a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Movement (Marguerite Croptier Lange Teaching Prize, 2011), a Master of Arts in Jaques-Dalcroze Pedagogy (Jaques-Dalcroze Institute Prize, 2013), and then a Higher Diploma, obtained in 2019.
Alongside her teaching, Florence Jaccottet is developing artistic research focused on the musicality of improvised movement.
She has a particular interest in contemporary music repertoire, collaborations with composers, and performative and sound experiments. Placed at the heart of her artistic research, the expression of rhythm and musicality of movement through improvisation makes her dance a unique contemporary language.
Also active internationally, Florence Jaccottet is regularly invited to teach, notably in Seoul, Montreal and Beijing.
Axel
Schacher
Professeur de musique de chambre - quatuor à cordes
Born in 1981, Axel Schacher began studying the violin at the age of four. At the age of twelve, he won the Royaume de la Musique competition, organised by Radio France in Paris, and played E. Lalo's Spanish Symphony at the winners' concert, accompanied by the Republican Guard Orchestra. At the age of thirteen, he entered the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris in the class of Boris Garlitski.
In 1998, he was awarded the Prix de la Ville de Paris, and in 2000, he received his first prize with honours from the Conservatoire National de Musique de Paris. He was a prize winner at the Andrea Postacchini International Competition in 1998, then in 2000 he won second prize at the Tibor Varga International Competition, as well as special prizes for the best interpretation of Bach's work and Paganini's caprice. Since 2003, he has held the position of first violin soloist with the Basel Symphony Orchestra.
He taught chamber music at the Guildhall School of London from 2010 to 2015. For more than twelve years, he was a member of the Belcea Quartet, an internationally renowned ensemble that has been performing for almost thirty years in the most prestigious venues (Berlin Philharmonie, Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw, Carnegie Hall, Boulez Saal,
Helbphilharmonie, Konzerthaus Wien) and with numerous musicians such as Tabea Zimmerman, Piotr Anderszerwski, Matthias Goerne, Jean Guihen Queyras, Antoine Tamestit, Martin Fröst, Elisabeth Leonska, Jorg Widmann and Ian Bostridge. The Belcea Quartet has recorded more than twenty-five albums, which have been acclaimed by the international press.
Quatuor Belcea
Quatuor en résidence
Composé de Corina Belcea (violon), Suyeon Kang (violon), Krzysztof Chorzelski (alto) et Antoine Lederlin (violoncelle), le Quatuor Belcea bénéficie d’une solide réputation sur la scène musicale internationale et affiche déjà une discographie impressionnante. L’éventail de son répertoire embrasse toute la musique écrite pour quatuor de Haydn, Mozart, et Beethoven, jusqu’à Bartok, Janacek, Britten et Szymanowski. En outre, il présente régulièrement au public des œuvres de compositeurs actuels.
La présence du Quatuor Belcea au sein de la HEM représente une opportunité unique pour les étudiant-e-s de bénéficier d’une formation pratique et théorique complète dispensé par un ensemble expérimenté connaissant parfaitement toutes les facettes du métier de musicien-ne. Nul doute que le professionnalisme, la curiosité et l’éclectisme du Quatuor Belcea seront des sources d’inspiration pour nos étudiant-e-s tant dans le répertoire classique que contemporain.
Site internet du Quatuor Belcea
Vincent
Thevenaz
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.
Lucien
Kandel
Professor of Historical Singing - Renaissance Vocal Ensemble
Lucien Kandel, singer and artistic director of the Ensemble Musica Nova, has specialized in early music repertoires after studying classical singing at the CNSMD of Lyon. He honed his skills with Marie-Claude Vallin, Gérard Geay, Dominique Vellard, and others, obtaining his advanced diploma in 1996. He quickly joined prestigious ensembles such as the Huelgas Ensemble, Doulce Mémoire, A Sei Voci, and Les Solistes de Lyon Bernard Têtu.
He has also collaborated with Le Concert Spirituel under Hervé Niquet, Ensemble Jacques Moderne (Joël Suhubiette), and Elyma with Gabriel Garrido. Kandel has participated in numerous contemporary creations, notably with Daniel D'Adamo within Ensemble Poïésis, and has commissioned works from various composers such as Daniele Ghisi, Henry Fourès, and Saed Haddad.
Since 2003, he has led Ensemble Musica Nova, assembling a team of singers to revisit and refine masterworks of the repertoire, including the famous Mass of Machaut. Their recordings have won numerous awards and high praise, including the Diapason d'Or of the Year 2003 and the Editor's Choice from the British magazine Gramophone in 2007.
Since 2011, he has taught historical singing practice at the Haute école de musique de Genève and the DMA. He regularly gives masterclasses in various academies (Royaumont) and conservatories, covering a range from medieval to baroque singing.
Learn more about Lucien Kandel
Joshua
Hyde
Professor of Saxophone - Chamber Music with Saxophone - Contemporary Chamber Music
Joshua Hyde is a saxophonist, improviser, and composer.
Internationally recognized as a contemporary music performer, he is the co-artistic director and saxophonist of the Paris-based ensemble soundinitiative and a member of the duo scapegoat with Canadian percussionist Noam Bierstone. He is also a member of Australia's leading contemporary music ensemble, Elision, and is frequently invited to perform with major European ensembles such as Klangforum Wien, Musikfabrik, Ensemble Nadar, and Ensemble Intercontemporain.
Joshua has recorded with Kairos, Integrated Records, NMC, HCR, Wergo, and Torpor Vigil. His collaborations with composers worldwide have resulted in a long list of premieres. Comfortable in the world of improvisation, his latest album on Integrated Records, Sol, features a series of improvised reflections.
Particularly interested in creating immersive performance contexts, his compositions often incorporate his own videos and visual arts. In 2018, the New Thread Quartet premiered Bring mir einen Engel zurück at the DiMenna Center in New York City, and in 2017, part of his Vertical Horizons series was premiered by the ensemble Son d'Arte at Casa da Música in Porto.
Joshua has been invited to perform and teach at universities worldwide, including Harvard, Oxford, and Stanford. He is also part of the artistic leadership team of the Asia Pacific Saxophone Academy. In 2011, he won the First Prize and the Audience Prize at the 3rd Jean-Marie Londeix International Saxophone Competition, and in 2014, he was a laureate of the Kranichsteiner Musikpreis at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse.
A graduate of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris in saxophone (class of Claude Delangle), chamber music (class of Hae-Sun Kang and Frédéric Stochl), and generative improvisation (class of Vincent LeQuang and Alexandros Markeas), he also studied at the CRR de Bordeaux (class of Marie-Bernadette Charrier), CRR de Versailles (class of Vincent David), and the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne (classes of Barry Cockroft and Ian Godfrey).
Learn more about Joshua Hyde.
Gerardo Gustavo
Vila
Professor of Chamber Music – Coordinator of Chamber Music (NE)
Born in Buenos Aires, Gerardo Vila showed remarkable talent from a young age. He developed an intense musical career, earning the diploma of "National Superior Piano Professor" from the National Conservatory of Music and winning six first prizes, including the "Vicente Scaramuzza" competition, which allowed him to perfect his skills in Europe.
He continued his studies at the Conservatoire de Genève with Maria Tipo, where he obtained the first prize in virtuosity with distinction and the Henry Broillet prize. Later, he worked with Karl Engel at the Conservatory of Bern and participated in masterclasses with Louis de Moura Castro, György Sandor, Tatiana Nikolayeva, Vlado Perlemuter, and Maurizio Pollini.
Winner of numerous international piano competitions, he received, among others, the first prize at the "Maria Canals" competition in Barcelona, the second prize at the "Alessandro Casagrande" competition in Terni/Italy, and the "World Piano Competition" in Cincinnati/USA.
Vila has undertaken numerous tours in Europe, Latin America, and the United States, performing in venues such as Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Palau de la Música in Barcelona, Piccolo Teatro di Milano, Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Espace Pierre Cardin in Paris, Théâtre Roma in Warsaw, Kleine Musikhalle in Hamburg, Alte Oper in Frankfurt, Kaufleutensaal in Zurich, University Hall in Helsinki, Omni Hall of Mirrors in Cincinnati, Casino de Berne, Casino Kursaal in Interlaken, Max-Joseph-Saal in the Residenz in Munich, Fondation Pierre Gianadda in Martigny, Salle Métropole in Lausanne, Slovak Philharmonic Hall in Bratislava, Herkulessaal in Munich, and the Sydney Opera House.
He has performed as a soloist with renowned orchestras such as the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Perugia Orchestra, the AMSA World Symphony in Cincinnati, the Barcelona City Orchestra, the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra, the Dresden Philharmonic, the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, and the Bern Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of conductors including Arpad Gerecz, Jun Märkl, Albert Rosen, Frank Cramer, Dennis Burkh, Jörg Peter Weigle, Miguel Gómez Martínez, Christian Arming, Laurent Gendre, Carlos Kalmar, Hans Zender, and Michel Tabachnik.
Gerardo Vila has had the privilege of performing in recitals with the prestigious pianist Karl Engel and playing in the Camerata Lysy with Sir Yehudi Menuhin. He possesses extensive experience in chamber music, having played with Ana Chumachenko, Alberto Lysy, Radu Aldulescu, Rachel Harnisch, Alexandru Gavrilovici, Thomas Friedli, Patrick Demenga, Gyula Stuller, Marcio Carneiro, Karl Engel, and Davide Bandieri.
For many years, he has given masterclasses in Switzerland, Romania, and Latin America.
Vila is a member of the ensemble "I Salonisti" and the 676 NuevoTango Quintet. He continues to perform as a soloist and with various chamber music ensembles.
He has made several recordings for VDE-Gallo, Zytglogge, Vox, Naxos, and Brillant Classics.
Since its inception, Vila has been a professor of chamber music at the Haute École de Musique de Genève, Neuchâtel site, where he also serves as the coordinator.
Learn more about Gerardo Gustavo Vila
Susanne
Schimmack
Professor of Voice
"Sensational!" "First class." "Impressive!"
This is how the press describes the performances of Susanne Schimmack. When the German soprano Susanne Schimmack competed in the Cardiff Singer of the World competition in 1997, she was described as "the Rolls Royce of voices." "Susanne Schimmack's Cassandra dominates the entire performance with her noble phrasing, intelligent interpretation of the role, and excellent French diction" (Opéra).
Since then, Susanne Schimmack has successfully sung around 90 opera roles, including Turandot, Kundry/Parsifal, Feldmarschallin/Rosenkavalier, Marta Tiefland, Ellen Orford/Peter Grimes, Cassandra/Les Troyens, and Carmen/Carmen. Her engagements have taken her to the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, the National Czech Opera in Brno, the Staatstheater in Mainz, the Nationaltheater in Mannheim, Opera Pacific USA, Arizona Opera USA, the Pfalztheater in Kaiserslautern, the theaters of Dortmund, Frankfurt, Chemnitz, the Staatstheater in Kassel, Dessau, Lübeck, Ulm, Trier, Wuppertal, Gera, the Dresden Music Festival, the Budapest Spring Festival, the Festival d'Auvers-sur-Oise in France, the Bad Hersfeld Festival, and the broadcasting companies BBC, DR, ZDF, WDR, and NDR. Alongside Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna, she recorded a complete edition of Massenet's Manon under the baton of Sir Antonio Pappano.
Born in Witten, Germany, Ms. Schimmack received her artistic training in the United States at the University of California, Irvine. Masterclasses with Martin Katz, Marilyn Horne, Professor Ellen Müller-Preiss, and Ks. Christa Ludwig in New York complemented her studies. She further developed her vocal technique and transitioned from alto to dramatic soprano with Ks. Martha Dewal and Ks. Ileana Cotrubas in Vienna and David Jones in New York. She made her professional opera debut as Rossweisse/Walküre with Arizona Opera USA in 1991 and her German debut as Erda/Rheingold.
Susanne Schimmack was the first soloist at the Dortmund Opera from 1993 to 1998 and at the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen from 1998 to 2000. She has worked as an independent singer since 2000 and has collaborated with renowned conductors such as Antonio Pappano, Thomas Dausgaard, Michael Schønwandt, Frank Beermann, Giordano Bellincampi, Laurent Wagner, and directors Sir Peter Hall, John Dew, and Heinz Lukas-Kindermann.
Susanne Schimmack's repertoire also includes oratorio and lieder, particularly the great song cycles of Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss, and Richard Wagner. She is a laureate of several international competitions: the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, the International Wagnerian Voices Competition, and the International Singing Competition of Paris. She received the Jessye Norman Scholarship from the Orange County Philharmonic Society USA and the Bajazzo Prize from the Dortmund Opera for her outstanding artistic achievement.
Learn more about Susanne Schimmack
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.
