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
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.
Béatrice
Martin
Professor of Harpsichord
Born in Annecy, Béatrice Martin began studying harpsichord at the age of six. Her musical journey led her to study with prominent harpsichordists such as Christiane Jaccottet at the Conservatoire de Musique de Genève, Kenneth Gilbert, and Christophe Rousset at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris. She obtained numerous first prizes with highest honors and completed an advanced cycle of studies there. She also received valuable guidance from Huguette Dreyfus, Ton Koopman, and Lars-Ulrik Mortensen during masterclasses.
In 1998, she won first prize at the International Harpsichord Competition in Bruges, along with the Audience Prize and the Bärenreiter Prize. The following year, she was named a Revelation by ADAMI at MIDEM in Cannes.
Highly regarded for her skills as a continuo player, she has performed at numerous festivals and with a variety of ensembles. She has been a close collaborator with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants for twenty years.
Recognized for her teaching abilities, Béatrice Martin established the harpsichord class at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya in Barcelona and currently serves as a guest professor at the Juilliard School in New York.
In 2000, Béatrice Martin co-founded Les Folies françoises with Patrick Cohën-Akenine, actively contributing to its development.
Learn more about Béatrice Martin.
Nicolas
Rabaeus
Professeur de composition à l'image - musique et cinéma
Born in Geneva on 6 May 1984, Nicolas Rabaeus is a Swiss composer specialising in music for moving images. He mainly creates his music by recording and synthesising instruments and objects in his studio in Geneva, which he then combines with other musicians and ensembles.
Classically and jazz trained, he is equally comfortable with an orchestra in a concert hall as he is creating experimental textures with a modular synthesiser, or even with a guitar playing pop songs. This horizontal approach to music is his signature and helps him find a unique sound for each score.
His music has won several awards, including the Swiss Film Award (2023, for Foudre), the Colombier-Dompierre Award in Montreal (2023, for Foudre), and the Kinotavr Award in Sochi (2015, for Le syndrome de Petrushka).
Over the past fifteen years, he has worked on more than fifty projects with European and Swiss filmmakers.
Milena
Viotti
Professor of horn
Milena Viotti was born in Lausanne in 1988 and began playing the horn at the age of eight at the Forbach Music School. In 2007, she went to study at the Musik Akademie in Basel before obtaining her Master's degree with Erik Penzel and Christian Lampert in Stuttgart.
In 2010, she joined the prestigious Munich Opera Orchestra, the Bayerisches Staatsorchester, as a high horn player and also played in renowned orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Orchestre de Paris.
Milena Viotti has won numerous prizes in major international competitions, such as the Prague Spring Festival Competition and the Luxembourg Competition.
Passionate about chamber music, she gives a large number of concerts each year with various ensembles in a wide variety of formations. Eager to share her experience and expertise, she participates in numerous workshops and masterclasses in Europe each year. As a teacher, her curiosity for new pedagogical approaches and innovative solutions makes her an educator who is ready to inspire and guide her students towards musical excellence.
Alberto
Bocini
Professor of Double Bass
Alberto Bocini initially studied guitar before dedicating himself to the double bass. He holds a diploma from the Cherubini Conservatory in Florence, obtained in the class of Alfredo Brandi, and further honed his skills under the guidance of Franco Petrachi. He has won numerous competitions, including a first prize at the Valentino Bucchi Competition, a first prize at the Torneo Internazionale della Musica, and a second prize at the Nicanor Zabaleta String Competition.
As a soloist, he has performed with many ensembles, including the orchestra of the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, I Solisti Veneti, and the Rome and Lazio Orchestra. In chamber music, he has played with Yuri Bashmet, Vadim Repin, Patrick Gallois, Natalia Gutman, and Eric Ruske. The Newport Music Festival honored him by inviting him eleven times, up until 2004.
Alberto Bocini is a member of the Bass Gang, a double bass quartet with an extremely heterogeneous repertoire, which they present with virtuosity and humor. This ensemble has enjoyed great success and has been acclaimed during tours in Japan and Korea. The group recorded a DVD for the independent label NBB Records, a label founded by Alberto Bocini, for which he has recorded extensively.
An eclectic and enthusiastic musician, Alberto Bocini does not hesitate to push the boundaries of his repertoire. He recorded for Denon Braevissimo a concerto for double bass and strings by Ennio Morricone and dedicated an album to the music of the English rock band Genesis with a trio named After Genesis. Currently the principal double bassist of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino under the direction of Zubin Mehta, Alberto Bocini teaches double bass at the Haute école de musique de Genève.
Learn more about Alberto Bocini
Miguel
Da Silva
Professor of Viola
Miguel da Silva trained at the Conservatoire National de Région de Reims before joining the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where he studied with Serge Collot and Maurice Crut. He received a first prize in chamber music and a first prize in viola, both unanimously and with a special jury vote. In 1985, he won the Premier Grand Prix at the International Chamber Music Competition in Paris and joined the Orchestre de l'Opéra de Paris.
In 1987, he left the Opera to form the Ysaÿe Quartet with three friends. After working with the Lasalle, Amadeus, Italiano, and Berg quartets, the ensemble won numerous first prizes, including the Evian Competition in 1988, and began a successful international career. After debuting with Harmonia Mundi, the quartet signed an exclusive contract with Decca, for whom they recorded, among others, the complete Mendelssohn quartets, two discs dedicated to Fauré, and collections featuring Debussy and Ravel. Contemporary creation is essential for the ensemble, which has premiered numerous works by Pascal Dusapin, André Boucourechliev, and Noam Sheriff.
Miguel da Silva has also performed with partners such as Michel Portal, Pierre Amoyal, Truls Mork, Gary Hoffman, Pascal Rogé, Jean-Claude Pennetier, and Emmanuel Pahud. As a soloist, he has been invited by the Polish Chamber Orchestra, the Montpellier Orchestra, the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra of Budapest, the Sinfonia Varsovia, and the orchestra Les Siècles.
In 1993, he and the Ysaÿe Quartet founded a string quartet class at the CRR de Paris, a first in France. Their students (including the Ebène, Modigliani, Psophos, Voce, Aviv, and Incanto quartets) have won numerous international string quartet competitions. He is also the artistic director of the summer academy Musique à Flaine, artistic advisor of the Académie Musicale de Villecroze, and founder of Ysaÿe Records, a record label. A Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters, Miguel da Silva plays a Cremonese viola from 1790 and is a professor of viola at the Haute école de musique.
Learn more about Miguel da Silva.
Laurent
Gay
Professor of Orchestral Conducting - Elements of Orchestral Conducting (for Choral Conductors)
Holder of the orchestral conducting class at the Haute école de musique de Genève, Laurent Gay has conducted a vast number of concerts in Europe, Asia, and South America, covering a wide repertoire.
He has regularly conducted, among others, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Contrechamps, and the Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Lyon. He has also conducted the Geneva Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, the Lausanne Sinfonietta, the Orchestre de Bretagne, the Orchestre des Pays de Savoie, the Regional Orchestra of Lower Normandy, the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra (Denmark), the State Symphony Orchestra of Bahia (Brazil), the Deajon Philharmonic Orchestra (South Korea), the Ensemble Orchestral de Genève (artistic director from 1986 to 1996), and the Festival Amadeus Orchestra (artistic director from 1999 to 2004).
Laurent Gay has also conducted numerous opera productions, notably at the Opéra de Lausanne, the Opéra National de Lyon, and the Royal Opera of Versailles.
Many of the productions he has conducted have been broadcast on several Swiss and French national radio and television channels. He is also featured in several discographic productions, leading the Festival Amadeus Orchestra, Ensemble Contrechamps, and the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra.
Deeply committed to contemporary music, he has led the premieres of around thirty works, including Xavier Dayer's opera "Le Marin."
As an invited jury member of several international competitions, Laurent Gay has always been interested in teaching and has consistently been involved in this field. He has given masterclasses and conducted conducting workshops in several European countries, as well as in Brazil as part of the NEOJIBA program and in China at the Shanghai Conservatory.
A recognized pedagogue, he now dedicates a significant portion of his activities to teaching orchestral conducting.
Laura Monica
Pustilnik
Professor of Lute - Basso Continuo on the Instrument (for Lutenists)
After studying guitar and piano at the Conservatorio Nacional Lopez Buchardo in Argentina, Mónica Pustilnik completed her training in 2010 with a Master of Arts at the Schola Cantorum in Basel under Hopkinson Smith. She specializes in the baroque and renaissance repertoire for lute and completed her training with Jesper Christensen for basso continuo on the lute and harpsichord, Rolf Lislevand at the Musikhochschule in Trossingen, Germany, Michel Corboz in choral conducting at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique de Genève, and Jordi Mora in orchestral conducting in Barcelona.
Mónica Pustilnik is very active as a soloist, chamber musician, and in opera or oratorio productions. She regularly performs and records with renowned ensembles such as Le Concert d’Astrée (dir. Emmanuelle Haïm), La Cappella Mediterranea (dir. Leonardo García Alarcón), Les Musiciens du Louvre (dir. Marc Minkowski), Les Talens Lyriques (dir. Christophe Rousset), Concerto Vocale (dir. René Jacobs), Ensemble Elyma (dir. Gabriel Garrido), Les Arts Florissants (W. Christie), and many others.
Mónica Pustilnik has assisted in the musical direction of Cavalli’s Eliogabalo at the Opéra Garnier in Paris, Cavalli’s Elena at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo at the Opéra de Lille, Cavalli’s Hipermestra at the Utrecht Early Music Festival, and L’Incoronazione di Poppea at the Haute école de musique de Genève. She has performed in recitals at the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Poznan Festival (Poland), Ravello (Italy), Freunde Alter Musik Basel, and has developed numerous chamber music programs at the Opéra de Lille. In 2014, she directed performances of Cavalli’s Elena at the Opéra de Nantes and Angers.
Mónica Pustilnik records for the labels Harmonia Mundi, Naïve, Virgin, Arcana, Glossa, and K617. Her solo recording, featuring works by Alessandro Piccinini for the Accent label in 2014, was highly praised by critics.
Her pedagogical activities have led her to teach lute, basso continuo, and chamber music at the Escuela Superior de Música de Cataluña in Barcelona, the Conservatorio A. Scontrino in Trapani (Italy), and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris. Mónica Pustilnik has been teaching lute at the Haute école de musique de Genève since September 2017.
Learn more about Laura Monica Pustilnik
Susanne
Schimmack
Professor of Voice
« A triumph... Schimmack shows herself to be absolutely up to Richard Strauss’s murderous Elektra. This is first class! » — Die Deutsche Bühne
The « Rolls Royce » of Voices - BBC
« The luxurious-sounding German singer Susanne Schimmack... dominates the performance through her noble phrasing, her intelligent role portrayal and her excellent French diction. » — Opéra
« A voice of luxury and power. » — The London Times
From the prestigious stage of the ‚Cardiff Singer of the World‘ to her distinguished faculty position at the Haute École de Musique de Genève, Susanne Schimmacks career is a masterclass in vocal evolution. Transitioning from alto to a powerhouse dramatic soprano, she has performed with the world’s leading companies, including Théatre Royal de La Monnaie, Brussels, Royal Danish Opera Copenhagen, Nationaltheater Mannheim, Frankfurt Opera, Arizona Opera, Opera Pacific, USA as well as the Budapest Spring Festival, Musikfestspiele Dresden, and more. Her artistry has taken her across the globe, collaborating with masters like Antonio Pappano and Sir Peter Hall. Likewise, Susanne has established a reputation for excellence in the intimate world of Lied and Oratorio.
With a repertoire spanning the great works of Wagner, Strauss, and Verdi, Susanne Schimmack has brought nearly 90 operatic roles to life. Signature roles include Turandot, Kundry, Carmen, Strauss’ Marschallin, Berlioz Cassandre. Her operatic journey reached a pinnacle with the portrayal of Richard Strauss’s Elektra, a performance hailed for its "darkly brooding soprano" and "bravura" execution of one of the most vocally grueling roles in the repertoire.
As Professeure de Chant at the Haute école de musique de Genève (HEM), Susanne Schimmack offers a rare pedagogical approach: Active Mentorship. Drawing from her own remarkable vocal journey, Susanne Schimmack offers students a unique technical, anatomically informed perspective on vocal training and artistic development. Remaining an active force on stage, Susanne frequently performs alongside her students in HEM productions and concerts. This immersive mentorship serves as a professional anchor, ensuring the highest standard of artistic integrity and stagecraft and creating opportunity for organic transition from studio to spotlight.
Learn more about Susanne Schimmack
