David
Pia
Professor of Cello
David Pia grew up in Basel and studied with Antonio Meneses at the University of Music in Basel and with Clemens Hagen at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg. During his studies, he was the principal cellist of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra and worked with conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Herbert Blomstedt, and Philippe Jordan. In 2006, he became a member of the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra but decided to accept the position of principal cellist of the Munich Radio Orchestra. A year later, he won the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, where he also received the prize for the best interpretation of the commissioned work.
In 2010, David Pia assisted his former teacher Antonio Meneses at the University of the Arts in Bern and gave master classes at the Kronberg Academy, the University of Music in Freiburg im Breisgau, and at various festivals worldwide.
In 2012, a concert tour with violinist Sarah Chang and the Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra took him to the largest concert halls in Switzerland. He has performed as a soloist with, among others, the Basel Symphony Orchestra, the Bern Symphony Orchestra, the Camerata de Lausanne, the Essen Philharmonic, and the Munich Symphony Orchestra.
As a duo partner with Bobby McFerrin, he performed with the Munich Radio Orchestra, at "Young Artists in Concert" in Davos, at "Septembre Musical" in Montreux, at the "Ravinia Festival," and at "Chamber Music connects the World" in Kronberg. Other musical partners included Kit Armstrong, Daishin Kashimoto, Menahem Pressler, and Antoine Tamestit.
In 2015, the Swiss Embassy in London awarded David Pia the "Swiss Ambassador's Award," after which he embarked on a concert tour in the UK and performed at the renowned Wigmore Hall in London. David Pia has been the principal cellist of the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich since 2016 and since 2022 he holds the same position in the Bern Symphony Orchestra (BSO). He was appointed professor at the Haute école de musique de Genève in 2018.
In addition to the famous Stradivarius "De Kermadec Bläss" cello from 1698, David Pia plays a cello by Giovanni Grancino from 1697. Tradition and vision converge in David Pia; he bridges the admiration for his grandfather, Karl Richter, the legendary Munich conductor and organist of Bach, and a future with endless possibilities. For him, it is vital to expand the familiar repertoire by adding interesting pieces and never losing sight of the adventure posed by the unknown.
Learn more about David Pia
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.
Daniele
Bragetti
Professor of Recorder
Born in 1965, Daniele Bragetti obtained his diploma in recorder at the Civica Scuola di Musica di Milano and the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam, studying with professors such as Nina Stern, Kees Boeke, Marijke Miessen, and Jeanette van Wingerden.
He regularly performs both as a soloist and with various Baroque and Renaissance music ensembles, including Ensemble Baroque de Limoges (conducted by Christophe Coin), Ensemble Elyma (Gabriel Garrido), Ensemble Concerto (Roberto Gini), Academia Montis Regalis (Andrea de Marchi), and Accademia Claudio Monteverdi (Hans Ludwig Hirsch).
He has played in prestigious venues and important festivals, such as Mito – Settembremusica in Milan, Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, Musica e Poesia a S. Maurizio in Milan, Tokyo Recorder Festival, I Concerti del Quartetto in Milan, UNESCO per Venezia, Tokyo Opera City, and Casals Hall in Tokyo.
Since 1991, Daniele Bragetti has performed in a recorder duo with Seiko Tanaka, also collaborating with flutists Walter van Hauwe and Antonio Politano. In 2013, he founded the recorder ensemble La Rubertina in Tokyo with Seiko Tanaka.
Daniele Bragetti is also active in the field of contemporary music, with composers such as Michiharu Matsunaga, Luca Cori, and Koji Ueno dedicating numerous works to him.
He has made recordings for Opus 111, Passacaille, Stradivarius, Entrée, Mercury, and Olive Music.
Since 2003, Daniele Bragetti has taught recorder and historical ornamentation at the Civica Scuola di Musica “Claudio Abbado” di Milano. He has been a guest professor at the Haute école de musique de Genève and the Universidad Pontificia de Santiago de Chile.
Since 2016, he has been a professor of recorder at the Haute école de musique de Genève.
Learn more about Daniele Bragetti
Nicolas
Bolens
Professor of Counterpoint, 20th-Century Writing, and Practical Writing
En associant traditions et explorations nouvelles des matières sonores, les œuvres de Nicolas Bolens investissent l’espace en valorisant les éléments et les sujets qui se présentent à lui.
Combining traditions and new explorations of sound materials, the works of Nicolas Bolens invest in space by enhancing the elements and subjects that present themselves to him.
His music is regularly connected to other elements: texts, films, places, evocations... In each context, he seeks an authentic dramaturgy that promotes unprecedented settings.
For example, with the Batida ensemble, he imagined "Welcome to the Castle" (2017), three musical acts for musicians moving through the Allymes Castle near Amberieu-en-Bugey.
For the Gémeau Quartet, he wrote "La Ville Oblique" (2013), a string quartet conceived as a musical extension of the short film "Un Chien Andalou" by Dalí and Buñuel.
Written words, most often poetic, permeate his entire production. He has composed on poems by Celan, Sachs, Mallarmé, Char, Blok, Khayyam, Michaux, Éluard, Basho, Neruda, Rilke, Adonis, Shakespeare... These authors, from various times and origins, have led him to integrate many languages into his works, considering their sonic as well as semantic potentials.
Orchestration also holds an important place in his work, rethinking the instrumentation of certain past works. In 2018, he re-orchestrated "Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen" and the 4th Symphony by Gustav Mahler for the Lemanic Modern Ensemble under the direction of conductor Pierre Bleuse.
Commissioned by the association Ouverture Opera, his recent rewriting of Mozart's "The Magic Flute" follows the same approach.
Nicolas Bolens has notably collaborated with the Batida ensemble, the Lemanic Modern Ensemble, the Swiss Chamber Soloists, the Ensemble Vocal de Lausanne, the Ensemble Vocal Polhymnia, the Ensemble Vortex, the Basler Madrigalisten, and the Ensemble Vocal Séquence...
Born in Geneva, he first studied piano at the Conservatoire de musique de Genève, then completed his training in the composition class of Jean Balissat. He further honed his skills with Rudolph Kelterborn, Klaus Huber, Edison Denisov, and Eric Gaudibert. He is the recipient of numerous composition prizes, including those from the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne (1993) and the Banque Cantonale Neuchâteloise (2002), as well as a scholarship from the Leenaards Foundation (1998).
An engaged pedagogue and artist, he teaches counterpoint, 20th-century writing, and composition at the Haute école de musique de Genève, where he has been the head of the Composition and Theory Department from 2015 to 2024. He is also involved in several institutions related to musical creation in Switzerland, including the Swiss Musicians Association, the Archipel Festival Association, the Nicati-de-Luze Foundation, and the Artistic Council of the Geneva Competition.
Learn more about Nicolas Bolens
Afonso
Venturieri
Professor of Bassoon
Afonso Venturieri was born in Belém, Brazil. With a scholarship from the German government, he studied under Helman Jung at the Hochschule für Musik in Detmold, where he passed the Künstlerische Reifeprüfung exam with high distinction in 1984. He completed his training with Milan Turkovic at the renowned Hochschule für Musik Mozarteum in Salzburg.
In 1989, he won the First Prize at the International Competition for Wind Instruments organized by the Swiss Union of Musicians (USDAM). After serving as a bassoonist with the Ensemble Modern in Frankfurt, Afonso Venturieri became a member of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in 1987, where he holds the position of principal solo bassoon.
He regularly conducts workshops and masterclasses in South America and Europe. He is also dedicated to the training of young musicians, serving as a coach for the Youth Orchestra of the Americas, among others. He performs as a soloist and as part of various chamber music ensembles.
Learn more about Afonso Venturieri.
Laurent
Gignoux
Responsable du département des instruments de l'orchestre, coordinateur des Traits d'orchestre et des Traits d'orchestre en section ou en pupitre et préparation aux concours
Laurent Gignoux, de nationalités suisse et française, hautboïste, pédagogue, chef d’orchestre, responsable de projets artistique et pédagogique a été formé dans deux grandes institutions européennes : le Conservatoire national supérieur musique et danse de Paris (CNSMDP) puis à la Zürcher Hochschule der Künste (ZHdK) - en hautbois, musique de chambre, orchestre, pédagogie et direction d’établissement artistique. Lauréat de concours internationaux et nationaux, soutenu par différentes fondations, il partage sa carrière internationale entre des concerts en soliste, en musique de chambre avec orchestre, plus récemment comme chef d’orchestre. Comme pédagogue, il a été professeur de hautbois et de musique de chambre dans différents conservatoires en France ainsi que l’assistant de Thomas Indermühle à la Musikhochschule de Karsruhe.
Il a côtoyé dans sa carrière, de grands chefs et solistes français et européens – Pierre Boulez, Michel Plasson, Yehudi Menuhin, Emmanuel Krivine, Pinchas Steinberg, Eri Klas, Roberto Alagna, Brigitte Engerer, Shlomo Mintz, José Vandam, Félicien Brut, Ophélie Gaillard - dans de grandes salles et des festivals internationaux.
De 2006 à 2023, à la direction générale et direction musique du Pôle d’Enseignement Supérieur de la Musique et de la Danse de Bordeaux Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Laurent Gignoux s’est consacré à développer cet établissement et a notamment conduit le projet de construction du futur bâtiment.
En 2024, Laurent Gignoux a fondé l’Essentia Orchestra, une formation de chambre de 10 à 15 alumni, musicien-ne-s professionnel-le-s diplômé-e-s d’écoles supérieures, pour partager le grand répertoire symphonique à tous les publics et ouvrir la “musique classique“ à d’autres lieux et territoires.
Sergey
Ostrovsky
Professor of Violin
Sergey Ostrovsky was born in 1975 in Nizhny Novgorod into a family of musicians. His first violin teacher was David Lapidus. He then studied with Lazar Gantman and Yury Gluchovsky before emigrating to Israel with his family, where he continued his training with Yair Kless and Irina Svetlova. In 1996, he founded the Aviv Quartet, with which he first trained at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne with members of the Alban Berg Quartet, and at the Rotterdam Conservatory with members of the Daniel Quartet. He also participated in master classes with renowned musicians such as Isaac Stern, Herman Krebbers, Dorothy Delay, and Ivry Gitlis.
With the Aviv Quartet, he won the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition (a grand prize and four special prizes), the Bordeaux String Quartet Competition, the Aviv National Competition in Tel Aviv, and the Rodolfo Lipizer Prize. Whether as a chamber musician or soloist, Sergey Ostrovsky has performed in major venues (Carnegie Hall in New York, the Library of Congress in Washington, Wigmore Hall in London, the Louvre Auditorium and Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, and the Sydney Opera House) and in many countries (Israel, Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, France, Ireland, China, Canada, and Brazil). His solo repertoire includes works by Bach, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Lalo, Chausson, and Sibelius, among others. He has also played with numerous orchestras conducted by maestros such as Zubin Mehta, Yoel Levi, Philippe Entremont, Maxim Vengerov, and Uriel Segal.
Sergey Ostrovsky has recorded for Naxos and EMI Classics, notably with Maxim Vengerov and the UBS Verbier Chamber Orchestra. He is the first violinist of the Aviv Quartet, performing major classical and romantic quartets, and the concertmaster of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. He plays a Giovanni Grancinno from 1716 and teaches violin at the Haute école de musique de Genève, Neuchâtel site.
Learn more about Sergey Ostrovsky
Leonardo
Garcia Alarcon
Professor of Maestro al Cembalo - Professor of Elements of Choral Conducting (for Maestro al Cembalo) - Madrigal Ensemble
Argentinian conductor, harpsichordist, and composer Leonardo García Alarcón has become a sought-after figure by major musical and opera institutions, from the Opéra de Paris to the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and the Grand Théâtre de Genève, where he began his career.
After studying piano in Argentina, Leonardo García Alarcón moved to Europe in 1997 and joined the Conservatoire de Genève in the class of harpsichordist Christiane Jaccottet. Under the guidance of Gabriel Garrido, he ventured into Baroque music. In 2005, he founded his ensemble Cappella Mediterranea to explore Italian, Spanish, and South American Baroque music, a repertoire that has since expanded significantly. In residence at the Festival d’Ambronay, he achieved his first successes there, notably with the 2010 rediscovery of an oratorio by Michelangelo Falvetti: "Il Diluvio Universale." That same year, he took the direction of the Chœur de Chambre de Namur, recognized as one of the best Baroque choral ensembles today, and in 2014, he founded the Millenium Orchestra, focusing primarily on the works of Handel.
Leonardo García Alarcón is also credited with the rediscovery of numerous operas by Cavalli, such as "Eliogabalo" at the Opéra de Paris in 2016, "Il Giasone" in Geneva, "Elena" and "Erismena" at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in 2017, and at the Opéra de Dijon: "El Prometeo" by Antonio Draghi in 2018, for which he rewrote the missing music of the third act, "La Finta Pazza" by Francesco Sacrati in 2019, and "Il Palazzo Incantato" by Luigi Rossi in late 2020, before its revival in Nancy and Versailles at the end of 2021.
In 2022, he conducted a new production of Lully's famous "Atys," staged and choreographed by Angelin Preljocaj in Geneva and then in Versailles. Shortly after, he conducted Bach’s "St. Matthew Passion" with Cappella Mediterranea at La Seine Musicale and the Dijon auditorium, receiving high praise from critics. He returned to the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in July with the successful production of Monteverdi’s "L'Incoronazione di Poppea," directed by Ted Huffman. In September 2022, he made his debut conducting the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam for their annual gala, performing Handel’s "Acis and Galatea" (orchestrated by W.A. Mozart). This year also marked a new chapter in his career with the creation of his oratorio "La Passione di Gesù," his first major contemporary composition, warmly received by audiences at the Festival d’Ambronay and Victoria Hall in Geneva, with upcoming performances at the Festival de Saint-Denis and Grand Manège de Namur.
As a conductor and harpsichordist, he is invited to festivals and concert halls worldwide. In November 2018, he conducted Monteverdi’s "Orfeo," directed by Sasha Waltz, at the Staatsoper Berlin and is a regular guest of Les Violons du Roy in Canada, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and the Gulbenkian Orchestra. He was recognized as the best conductor in the 2019 Forum Opéra rankings after his triumphant direction of "Les Indes Galantes" at the Opéra Bastille.
Leonardo García Alarcón divides his time between France, Belgium, his native South America, and Switzerland, where he obtained citizenship. He places great importance on education, serving as a professor of the Maestro Al Cembalo class at the Haute école de musique de Genève since 2002.
In 2020, he took on the directorship of La Cité Bleue, a 300-seat performance venue in Geneva currently under renovation, set to open in 2024, with its programming beginning in 2023 with an initial "off-site" season.
His prolific discography is widely acclaimed by critics. In 2021, he released "Rebirth" (Sony Classical) with Sonya Yoncheva; "Lamenti & Sospiri" (Ricercar) with Mariana Flores and Julie Roset; Monteverdi’s "Orfeo" (Alpha Classics) with Valerio Contaldo, and "Bach before Bach" (Alpha Classics) with violinist Chouchane Siranossian. In 2022, he released Handel’s "Semele" with Millenium Orchestra and the Chœur de Chambre de Namur (Ricercar), followed by the world premiere recording of Sacrati’s "La Finta Pazza" (Versailles Spectacles). In 2023, "Amore Siciliano" (Alpha Classics), a project he conceived from popular and scholarly music of 17th- and 18th-century Italy, is set to be released.
Leonardo García Alarcón is a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters.
Learn more about Leonardo García Alarcón.
Alessio
Corti
Professor of Organ - Improvisation (for Organists) - Chamber Music with Organ - Organ as a Secondary Instrument
Born in Milan in 1967, the son of a renowned organist and pedagogue, Alessio Corti received his first music lessons at an early age.
In 1985, he obtained his piano diploma "cum laude," followed by diplomas in organ and harpsichord.
He pursued further studies with internationally renowned organists and was a student of Lionel Rogg at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Genève for three years. In 1992, he won a "Premier Prix de Virtuosité with distinction" and the special "Otto Barblan" prize.
He subsequently won First Prizes at the International Competitions of Geneva (C.I.E.M. 1993), Carouge (Switzerland), and the "Froberger Prize" for early music at the International Competition of Kaltern-SüdTyrol. He is also a laureate of several competitions in Italy, notably in Milan.
In 1983, he was appointed titular organist of the Grands-Orgues at the Church of Santa Maria Segreta in Milan, where at the age of 18, he performed the Complete Works of D. Buxtehude, and the following year, the Complete Works of J.S. Bach. From 1991 to 2016, he was also the titular organist at the Chiesa Cristiana Protestante in Milan.
In his brilliant career, he is regularly invited to major international organ festivals.
Alessio Corti plays a wide repertoire of early, romantic, and contemporary music, and his discography comprises around thirty CDs, including a complete recording of J.S. Bach’s organ works and "The Art of Fugue," monographs of W.A. Mozart and Mendelssohn, and several anthologies on historic organs. For the Fugatto label, he recorded a DVD of J.S. Bach's Six Trio Sonatas on the historic (1738) organ of the Kreuzkirche in Suhl, Thuringia.
His recordings and recitals have received attention and favorable reviews from international critics.
He is often invited as a jury member for major international competitions and to give masterclasses.
From 1994 to 2001, he was a professor of organ in Italy at the Conservatories of Udine and Verona, having placed first in the national competition of the Ministry of Public Education.
Alessio Corti has been a Professor of Organ and Improvisation at the Haute école de musique de Genève since 2001, succeeding Lionel Rogg. Many of his students have obtained diplomas and master's degrees (concert, soloist, pedagogy), and some have distinguished themselves in international competitions.
Learn more about Alessio Corti.
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.
