French horn

Bertrand Chatenet is the horn soloist at the Philharmonic Orchestra of Munich. Clément Charpentier has been a member of the ‘Orchestre de la Suisse Romande’ (OSR) since 2014. The class regularly hosts renowned horn players to give Masterclasses to the students.

The students in the HEM’s horn class benefit from a particularly stimulating environment thanks to the collaborative dynamic between the two professors, who are united by a shared will to enable their students to derive a benefit from their complementary academic careers and teaching programmes.  

With students from all over the world, the class’s profile is very international and contributes to the acquisition of a very open vision of the role of horn player and the professional openings it can provide. The atmosphere is one that favours human contact and new friendships.

Besides the individual classes, the opportunities to play in a group are many and varied: orchestra sessions, chamber music, brass ensembles such as the HEM Red Flag brass band, and multi-disciplinary projects. Simulations of orchestra contests are also regularly held. Thanks to the resources at our ‘Centre de musique électroacoustique’ (Centre for electro-acoustic music, CME), they can also experiment with avant-garde styles of music through amplification, the use of effect pedals, etc.

Thanks to the close ties that the HEM maintains with the region’s professional ensembles, our students have numerous opportunities to play in renowned ensembles such as the Orchestre de la Suisse romande (OSR), the Orchestre de Chambre de Genève (OCG) or the Ensemble de musique contemporaine Contrechamps.  The richness of the music scene in French-speaking Switzerland, the music-loving public and the numerous patrons mean that there are ample opportunities for engagement, to enrich their practice and develop their network of contacts.