Bruno
Cocset
Professor of Cello
Born in 1963, Bruno Cocset graduated from the Conservatoire National de Région de Tours. He was admitted to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Lyon in 1980, where he studied with Alain Meunier, and later with Jean Deplace, leaving his class in March 1983 due to stylistic differences.
He approached the baroque cello and gut string playing as an autodidact and later with Christophe Coin, becoming the first graduate of his class at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et Danse de Paris (First Prize with unanimous distinction in 1986). He also attended masterclasses by cellist Anner Bijlsma and violinist Jaap Schroeder.
Twenty years of rich experiences and musical collaborations followed: Les Arts Florissants, Mosaïques, Fitzwilliam, Ensemble Baroque de Limoges, Le Concert Français, La Petite Bande, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Les Talens Lyriques, Arsys, Ricercar Consort, l’Arpeggiata, Stradivaria, l’Amoroso, Al Ayre Español, Henri Ledroit, Véronique Gens, Maurice Bourgue, Franz Brüggen, Gustav Leonhardt, Jos Van Immerseel, Jean-Claude Malgoire, Philippe Herreweghe…
His most faithful affiliations are with Il Seminario Musicale by Gérard Lesne (1988-2004), and the Concert des Nations and Hesperion XX-XXI by Jordi Savall (1990-2005). In 1996, he founded Les Basses Réunies and self-produced his first solo recording: the sonatas of Antonio Vivaldi. This disc, welcomed by the Alpha label, received the Vivaldi prize from the Cini Foundation in Venice. About ten other recordings, praised by French and international music critics, led to regular invitations to perform in France, Europe, Quebec, and Russia.
Each of these recording projects is linked to a sound and organological research collaboration with luthier Charles Riché. Nine instruments have emerged from this collaboration. As a musician-researcher, he thus offers a "plural" cello. He is now exclusively dedicated to this path and to teaching. In September 2005, he was appointed Professor of Baroque Cello at the Haute école de musique de Genève.
Learn more about Bruno Cocset.
Louis
Schwizgebel
Professor of Piano
Born in 1987 in Geneva, Louis Schwizgebel studied with Brigitte Meyer in Lausanne and Pascal Devoyon in Berlin. At the age of seventeen, he won the Geneva Competition and two years later, the Young Concert Artists Auditions in New York. He then studied at the Juilliard School in New York with Emanuel Ax and Robert McDonald, and in London at the Royal Academy with Pascal Nemirovski. In 2012, he won the 2nd prize at the Leeds Piano Competition and was named a BBC New Generation Artist.
Louis Schwizgebel performs with orchestras such as the Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, all the BBC orchestras, all the Swiss symphony orchestras including the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestre National du Capitol de Toulouse, hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Wiener Symphoniker, and the Hungarian National Orchestra.
He has worked with conductors such as Charles Dutoit, Fabio Luisi, Marek Janowski, Vasily Petrenko, Lahav Shani, Joshua Weilerstein, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla, Emmanuel Krivine, Robin Ticciati, James Gaffigan, Edward Gardner, Thierry Fischer, Domingo Hindoyan, John Wilson, and Fabien Gabel.
He appears at festivals such as the BBC Proms, Verbier, Lucerne, Gstaad, Progetto Martha Argerich, Festival Septembre Musical Montreux-Vevey, Bergen, Usedom, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Rheingau, and Klavier-Festival Ruhr.
Louis Schwizgebel records for the Aparté label (Harmonia Mundi). In 2013, he released his first solo album "Poems," followed by Beethoven's Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Saint-Saëns' Concertos Nos. 2 & 5 with the BBC Symphony. His latest album is dedicated to composer Franz Schubert, featuring Sonatas D845 & 958.
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Talia
Bachir-Loopuyt
Head of the Ethnomusicology Program - Professor of Ethnomusicology
Talia Bachir-Loopuyt is an ethnomusicologist and anthropologist specialising in the music of the Maghreb and the Middle East (in particular Turkey), and studying its dissemination and transmission in Europe (Germany, France, Switzerland). She trained in Germanic Studies at the École Normale Supérieure in Lyon (leading to the Agrégation, 2004), while also studying oriental music (oud, kementche, modal improvisation) at the École Nationale de Musique in Villeurbanne and in Turkey.
Her dissertation, written under the joint supervision of EHESS Paris and Humboldt University (Berlin), focused on world music festivals and the ideal of a plural society in Germany. As a post-doctoral researcher (University of Saint-Etienne, University of Lausanne), she worked on the dissemination of Turkish music in France and on the visibility of Islam, while pursuing work on the history of ethnomusicology, child musicians and music in plural societies.
Since 2016, she has been a senior lecturer at Tours, where she contributed in particular to the creation of the Master Music and Human Sciences (with the University of Poitiers). Involved in several academic organisations (SFE, IMS, ICTM) and journal committees, she is also co-director of the Haizebegi festival in Bayonne and a member of the scientific board of the CMTRA - Ethnopôle Musique, territoires, interculturalité.
Hélène
Escriva
Professor of Chamber Music for Brass
A brilliant and bold performer, Hélène Escriva is a free-spirited, enthusiastic, and ever-evolving artist.
She strengthened her classical musician's DNA by joining the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris in the euphonium class, also taking courses in instrumental theater, drama, opera singing, and chamber music. She earned her Master of Interpretation with honors from the jury in 2017.
Her love of travel has taken her across Europe (and to Colombia, the United States, South Korea, Taiwan,...) for recitals, solo concerts, masterclasses, and international academies, making her a prominent figure in the brass world.
A sought-after orchestral musician, she has performed with some of the finest French orchestras (Opéra de Paris, Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre les Dissonances, national orchestras of Lyon, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille, etc.).
Hélène brings new visibility to the euphonium, bass trumpet, and baritone saxhorn by developing original chamber music projects (founding member of the bass trumpet/accordion duo with Pierre Cussac, the Saxback wind sextet, and active member of Nicolas Simon’s Symphonie de Poche) and actively contributes to the creation of new euphonium repertoire with composers Nicolas Worms, Robinson Khoury, and Gabriel Philippot.
In 2017, she recorded a live CD of the creation "Libertalia" by Maxime Aulio with the TWO Orchestra.
In 2019, she joined the prestigious Hanneton company of James Thierrée. This transformative troupe, an energizing carousel, combines music and body movements with chaotic sets. Hélène trained in live performance with actors, circus artists, dancers, and technicians for the shows MO’S and ROOM and embarked on an international tour from 2022 to 2024.
Inspired by this stage experience, and surrounded by a team of generous and committed artists, she developed the CL-ASH! Project in 2023, aiming to create creative, alternative concert-performances, driven by the desire to contribute to a vibrant cultural world, with a fierce determination to open new worlds and break codes.
Hélène is a Yamaha artist and plays the Euphonium Custom YEP-842S. She has taught bass trumpet at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris since 2021 and chamber music at the Haute école de musique de Genève since 2022.
Learn more about Hélène Escriva
Andrea
Bandini
Professor of Trombone
Andrea Bandini began his music studies in 1973 at the Music School of Siena in Italy and obtained his trombone diploma in 1980 at the Luigi Cherubini Conservatory of Music in Florence. In 1978 he joined the Italian Youth Orchestra under the direction of Franco Ferrara.
In 1981, he decided to perfect his skills at the Geneva Conservatory of Music in the class of Roland Schnorhk, where he obtained the 1st prize for virtuosity with distinction in 1985. The same year, he won the 1st prize at the Riddes Competition, the 3rd prize at the Markneuenkirchen Competition and the following year the bronze medal at the Bordeaux International Festival of Young Soloists.
Since 1986, Andrea Bandini has been a member of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and has been appointed solo trombone until 2011. From 1984 to 2008 he was a member of the contemporary music ensemble, Contrechamps, an ensemble with which he was fortunate enough to rub shoulders with the greatest contemporary music composers of the 20th and 21st centuries. Invited as a jury member in the most important international trombone competitions, Andrea Bandini has been teaching at the Haute école de musique de Genève since 1999. Andrea Bandini is also regularly invited to participate in masterclasses and brass festivals throughout the world. He is also a consultant for the " Free-flow Valve " system for trombone, invented by Rene Hagmann, owner of the " Servette-Musique " shop in Geneva.
Andrea Bandini bought his first slide trombone and his first classical music record in Florence in 1976. It was a recording of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande by Ernest Ansermet. After having listened to it many times, Andrea Bandini announced to his father that he would one day perform with this orchestra.... 10 years later, he joins the OSR.
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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.
Judicaël
Perroy
Professor of Guitar - Chamber Music for Guitar
Judicaël Perroy was born on July 21, 1973, in Paris.
He began playing the guitar at the age of 7 at the Conservatoire Municipal Inter-arrondissements de Paris. From 1983 to 1988, he studied with Délia Estrada, then with Raymond Gratien at the École Nationale d'Aulnay-sous-Bois, where he obtained a First Prize with unanimous honors from the jury in June 1988.
At the age of 11, Judicaël Perroy began performing concerts, notably as a soloist in two Vivaldi concertos with the Ensemble Instrumental du Mans under the direction of André Girard. He continued his musical studies with Roberto Aussel and Daniel Lavialle. In 1994, he obtained the Concert License from the École Normale de Musique de Paris in the class of Alberto Ponce, and in 1996, he earned the First Prize from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP).
In 1997, he received the First Prize at the 15th GFA (Guitar Foundation of America) Competition in San Diego, USA. Since then, he has performed in the most prestigious halls and festivals (Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, National Concert Hall in Taipei, Teatro de la Republica in Mexico…).
In 1998, he recorded his first CD in France with Quantum, which received the "5 Diapasons" award from Diapason magazine. In 2002, a second CD titled "Aspen Suite" was released in the USA. In 2007, he released a double album "La magie de la guitare" published by Bayard Musique.
More recently, he recorded two new CDs for the Bayard Presse Méditation collection: the first with flute (Florence Bellon), the second with harp (Joanna Kozielska).
In January 2012, a CD dedicated to Johann Sebastian Bach was released by Naxos. In December 2014, a new Naxos CD featuring the works of Mexican composer Manuel Maria Ponce was released. His latest CD, released in 2017 for Contrastes, is a recital of works composed in Paris (Fernando Sor, Manuel Maria Ponce, Heitor Villa-Lobos...). His teaching is also highly sought after, as he regularly gives classes at major American universities and European and Asian festivals.
For the past fifteen years, his students have consistently entered the CNSMDP and other top schools and have won major international competitions. He teaches at the École Supérieure Musique et Danse Nord de France and was a professor at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, USA, from 2017 to 2020, succeeding guitarist-composer Sergio Assad.
Finally, in September 2020, he was appointed as a guitar instructor at the Haute école de musique de Genève, succeeding guitarist-composer Dusan Bogdanovic.
Learn more about Judicaël Perroy
Hélène
Clément
Professeure d'alto
Hélène Clément joins the HEM as viola professor for the 2026–2027 academic year
Born in 1988, Hélène Clément studied under Jean Sulem at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris, then under Hariolf Schlichtig at the Musikhochschule in Munich, and finally under Tabea Zimmermann at the Musikhochschule Hanns Eisler in Berlin.
Her fierce enthusiasm for chamber music and the viola repertoire has led her to constantly broaden her musical horizons by performing in a wide variety of collaborations, playing in the most prestigious concert halls in Europe and around the world.
Pursuing her passion as a chamber musician, she has performed on international stages such as the Musikverein in Vienna, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall in New York, the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia and the Cité de la Musique in Paris. She has performed chamber music with Mitsuko Uchida, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Brett Dean, Nicolas Altstaedt, Benjamin Grosvenor, Alexander Melnikov, Peter Wispelwey, the Brentano String Quartet, the Quatuor Ébène and the Nash Ensemble.
Hélène Clément was the violist of the Doric Quartet for twelve years, with whom she nurtured her appetite for in-depth exploration of the string quartet repertoire, from Haydn's quartets to commissions of contemporary pieces.
She has recorded Benjamin Britten and Frank Bridge's works for viola with pianist Alasdair Beatson and singer Dame Sarah Connolly for Chandos Records. This recording was played on an Italian viola from 1843 that belonged to Britten and Bridge. The viola is generously loaned to her by the Britten Pears Arts Foundation. She is Professor of Viola and Chamber Music at the Royal Academy of Music in London until the end of the 2025–2026 academic year and will join the HEM in September 2026.
Hélène
Nicolet
Professor of Instrumental Improvisation - jaques-Dalcroze Eurhythmics
Hélène Nicolet was born in Geneva, Switzerland, and began her musical journey through Dalcroze Eurhythmics at the Jaques-Dalcroze Institute from a young age. With a jazz musician father and an educator mother, her artistic path has been deeply influenced by improvisation and a corporeal approach.
She obtained her teaching license in the Dalcroze method in 2006 (awarded for the best level of license, best adult lesson, and best rhythmic exam). Her commitment to teaching was further solidified when she earned a Master of Music Diploma from the Haute école de musique de Genève.
During her stay in New York in 2011, she enhanced her interest in movement by becoming a Certified Movement Analyst at the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies. In 2013, she completed her Advanced Diploma at the Jaques-Dalcroze Institute, the highest title allowing her to fully teach and represent the method (Eurhythmics, Solfege, Improvisation).
Alongside her professional training, Hélène Nicolet studied classical piano and received the amateur certificate from the Federation of Music Schools with honors from the jury. She continued her piano study through jazz and classical improvisation. She started playing the cello in her teens and participated in various musical formations (accompanist for opera singers or instrumentalists, baroque trio, jazz-folk duo, and jazz quartet).
Currently, she teaches students in the Music and Movement department (Bachelor, Master, and CAS in Dalcroze Eurhythmics). She is frequently invited abroad to teach and present the Jaques-Dalcroze method at various universities and partner centers. Additionally, she works at the Jaques-Dalcroze Institute, where she has been the director since August 2023.
Research Projects
Proceedings of the Jaques-Dalcroze Institute Congress:
https://www.hesge.ch/hem/recherche-developpement/projets-recherche/termine/actes-du-congres-linstitut-jaques-dalcroze
Publications
Silvia Del Bianco, Sylvie Morgenegg, Hélène Nicolet, Pédagogie, art et science: l’apprentissage par et pour la musique selon la méthode Jaques-Dalcroze, actes du Congrès de l’ijd 2015, Editions Droz et HEM, 2017.
https://www.hesge.ch/hem/publications/pedagogie-art-et-science
Mary Brice, Ruth Gianadda, Hélène Nicolet, « Racines d’une pratique encore en mouvement », 2019.
https://www.dalcroze.ch/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Racines-dune-pratique-encore-en-mouvement.pdf
Mary Brice, Ruth Gianadda, Hélène Nicolet, « Roots of a practice still in movement », 2019.
https://www.dalcroze.ch/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Roots-of-a-practice-still-in-movement.pdf
Marcin
Habela
Professor of Voice
Dr. Marcin Habela, a baritone, vocal professor, and researcher, is particularly renowned for his versatility in repertoire, innovative pedagogy aligned with the latest voice science advancements, and his extensive international professional networks.
Trained at the Conservatoire de Paris, he won several international prizes that paved the way for a prestigious career. He has performed over 80 roles spanning a vast repertoire (including Ford, Figaro, Sharpless, Oneguine...) on major stages such as Paris, Berlin, Brussels, Geneva, Warsaw, Athens, Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier, Bremen, Frankfurt, Lausanne, Almaty, and Krakow.
He has sung alongside notable artists like R. Alagna, J. van Dam, T. Hampson, K. Mattila, L. Oropesa, P. Petibon, K. Deshayes in productions conducted by S. Rattle, Ch. von Dohnanyi, J. Tate, E. Krivine, A. Pappano, and directed by A. Arias, S. Braunschweig, M. Hampe, A. Serban, Ph. Himmelman, and S. Poda.
Passionate about contemporary music, he has premiered numerous works by 20th and 21st-century composers in prestigious settings such as Warsaw Autumn, Sacrum Profanum, and the Malta Festival with ensembles like 2E2M and Contrechamps. His concert repertoire ranges from Monteverdi to Britten, with recordings for Radio France, TSR, SBB, EMI, RAI, Espace 2, Virgin, RTS, and SevenStarsSystems.
Critically acclaimed for his creation of Raoul Wallenberg in Kingsley and Kunze's opera "Raoul," he received the Grand Prix du Public for best performer at the Mezzo TV International Opera Competition in November 2008.
In addition to his operatic career, since 2014, he has gained solid experience in musical and experimental theater, and performs concerts with jazz, musical comedy, and symphonic cabaret repertoires.
A vocal professor at the Haute école de musique de Genève (HEM) since 2005, he was head of the vocal department from 2011 to 2022. He initiated the European Opera Academy (EOA) and established numerous institutional collaborations at the cantonal, national, and international levels. Active in professional circles, he serves on the juries of international singing competitions (Ada Sari, Szymanowski Competition, Mahler Competition, ARMEL, Geneva Competition...) and is a member of various artistic commissions (Tibor Varga Academy, Geneva International Competition, European Opera Academy, MAAKSS).
A renowned vocal professor, he is regularly invited to give masterclasses across Europe (Tibor Varga Academy in Sion, Lugano, Stockholm, Warsaw, Porto, Gdansk, Frankfurt, Oslo, Antwerp, Bucharest, Krakow, Paris, Hamburg, Athens...) and internationally (Japan, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Australia, Russia, China...).
With a PhD in arts, specializing in contemporary vocalities, he leads numerous research projects, including in vocal pedagogy (improvisation, national singing schools). He fosters prestigious international collaborations with institutions such as the University of the Arts Oslo, Kapodistrias University of Athens, CNSMDP, Kazakh National Conservatory in Almaty, Astana University of the Arts, UFCM Warsaw, the neuroscience faculty of UNIGE, the medical faculty of Lyon 2 University, and Maastricht Conservatory.
Particularly attentive to his students' professional integration, he maintains a vast international network (opera studios, casting directors, artistic agencies...), with former students like Julien Behr, Marion Grange, Mélody Louledjian, and Diana Lamar performing on prestigious stages such as the MET in New York, Opéra de Paris, and Deutsche Oper in Berlin. He has also trained a generation of pedagogues (Anna Maske, Gabriella Cavasino, Fabrice Farina, Davide Autieri, Magali Pérol-Dumora...) currently teaching at prestigious Swiss institutions.
Learn more about Marcin Habela
