French horn

The French horn class at the Haute école de musique de Genève (HEM) offers a particularly stimulating learning environment.

In addition to the teaching provided by the permanent professors, renowned soloists and chamber musicians as well as experienced teachers, students in the HEM French horn class benefit from the input of internationally renowned artists, who are regularly invited to give masterclasses.

The students benefit from a particularly stimulating environment thanks to the collaborative dynamic between the three 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.

Teachers

Jean-Pierre Berry

Professeur de cor a.i.

Bertrand Chatenet

Professor of Horn

Born in 1990 in Paris, Bertrand Chatenet began learning the horn with Patrice Petitdidier at the Conservatoire de Gennevilliers, then with Jérome Rouillard (horn), Paul Meyer, and Eric Lesage (wind quintet). In 2009, he studied alongside Erich Penzel, Christian Lampert, and Christoph Ess at the Musikhochschule in Stuttgart, and in 2013 with Christian-Friedrich Dallmann and Sebastian Posch at the Berlin University of the Arts. Since 2010, he has mainly performed as a soloist with major orchestras such as the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra (SWR), the Bavarian State Opera Orchestra, and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. He is currently the principal horn of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and an assistant professor at the UDK in Berlin. Learn more about Bertrand Chatenet.

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.