Patrik Vincent
Dasen
Professor of Ethnomusicology, Master’s Research Seminar, World Music Workshop
Patrik Dasen graduated in ethnomusicology from the Université Paris X Nanterre (Maîtrise, 1999) and the Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis (Master 2, 2009), where he also completed a doctoral thesis in March 2020 entitled "Becoming and Being a Maker of Irish Bagpipes Uilleann Pipes: Between Deterritorialization and Heritage Preservation," under the supervision of Prof. Luc Charles-Dominique. His research focuses on the processes of transmission and heritage preservation of musical traditions.
He worked for ten years at the Ateliers d'ethnomusicologie de Genève as the head of educational activities and public relations. He also led, with a small team, the cataloging and digitization campaign of the Archives Internationales de Musique Populaire (AIMP, 2005-2011) by Constantin Brailoiu, which are now fully accessible at the Musée d'ethnographie de Genève thanks to this preservation effort. He has been teaching ethnomusicology and the sociology of contemporary music at the Haute école de musique de Genève since 2008.
Learn more about Patrik Vincent Dasen
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.
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
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
Sylviane
Deferne
Professor of piano
Pianist Sylviane Deferne distinguished herself early on in the music world, where the press noted ‘her expressive nobility, intuition, temperament, sense of plasticity and impressive instrumental technique’.
This brilliant performer completed all her musical studies at the Conservatoire de Musique in Geneva, her hometown, where she was unanimously awarded a First Prize for Virtuosity.
Winner of several international competitions and named ‘Soloist of the Year’ by the French-speaking radio community, Sylviane Deferne's career quickly took off. She has performed in Europe, America and Asia and has played as a soloist with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington and the Philharmonia Orchestra in London under the baton of Charles Dutoit.
Pianist Sylviane Deferne has made numerous recordings for the DECCA, Musica Viva, Riche Lieu, DORON music and Aparté labels. She is invited to sit on the jury of international competitions and at music colleges in Switzerland and France, and shares her passion in masterclasses and with her professional students at the Geneva University of Music.
Since 2019, Sylviane Deferne has been artistic director of the Concerts d'Artémont. She brings her artistic vision to an ever-growing audience, developing season after season the highlights and intergenerational sharing.
Her latest albums, recorded at the Salle de Musique in La Chaux-de-Fonds by the Aparté label, are dedicated to Franz Schubert (Der Wanderer, solo piano, 2022), Felix Mendelssohn (complete works for violin and piano with Denitsa Kazakova and the Orchestre des Jeunes de la Suisse Romande, 2024) and Robert Schumann (Zwielicht, solo piano, autumn 2025).
Learn more about Sylviane Deferne.
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.
Stéphane
Orlando
Lecturer in Improvisation Workshops (co-ordinator) – Keyboard harmony and Jaques-Dalcroze notation – Instrumental improvisation
Winner of the 2020 SABAM for Culture Award for contemporary music, pianist and composer Stéphane Orlando regularly collaborates with a range of musicians, ensembles and orchestras.Since 2022, he has been composer-in-residence with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Liège.Stéphane Orlando draws his inspiration from classical and traditional music, as well as jazz, but also from his own practice of piano improvisation.He enjoys composing for solo instruments or chamber music, with or without electronics, as well as for orchestra, but above all he likes to set his music within a rich narrative context, with a keen sensitivity to images, words and movement.Stéphane Orlando teaches instrumental improvisation at the HEM.More about Stéphane Orlando
Johanna
Bartz
Professeure de traverso
A renowned flutist from northern Germany, Johanna Bartz excels on the international stage. A teacher of Renaissance flute at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis since 2016, she also conducts astrophil & stella and performs as a guest musician with prestigious ensembles across Europe. Versatile, she explores contemporary and electronic music, while sharing her expertise at conferences at renowned institutions (Mozarteum in Salzburg, UdK in Berlin, ESMAE in Porto, ESMUC in Barcelona).
In parallel with her academic commitments, Johanna Bartz co-founded the artist platform ‘Phosphenes’ and has made a lasting mark in music recording, contributing to numerous CDs and radio programmes. Winner of multiple international awards, she will bring her musical excellence to the Geneva University of Music in September 2024, inspiring students with her passion.
Johanna Bartz's website
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
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.
