Founded in 1942 by Victor Desarzens, the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne (OCL) has become one of the most sought-after chamber orchestras in Europe. After six years under the artistic direction of American conductor Joshua Weilerstein, the OCL is now led by the celebrated French violinist Renaud Capuçon. Comprising some forty musicians, the Orchestra’s vast repertoire ranges from early Baroque to contemporary works.

The OCL was soon invited to perform abroad, in the most renowned concert halls and festivals. It took part in the second Aix-en-Provence Festival and several editions of the Enescu Festival in Bucharest. His tours of Germany and the United States have been resounding successes, as have his concerts at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, the BBC Proms in London, the Wiener Konzerthaus and the Berliner Philharmoniker. In the 2023-2024 season, the OCL will perform in Madrid, Barcelona and, for the first time, at the Philharmonie de Paris.

Throughout its existence, the OCL has performed with leading soloists. These include Clara Haskil, Alfred Cortot, Walter Gieseking, Edwin Fischer, Murray Perahia, Radu Lupu, Martha Argerich, Nikolai Lugansky, Daniel Barenboim and Frank Peter Zimmermann. The OCL has also always attracted the most interesting conductors of their time, including Paul Hindemith, Günter Wand, Christoph Eschenbach, Ton Koopman, Jeffrey Tate, Bertrand de Billy, Simone Young and Daniel Harding.

The OCL boasts an extensive discography: from the complete operas of Haydn in the 1970s-1980s conducted by Antal Dorati to the Beethoven and Mozart concertos with Christian Zacharias, not to mention recordings dedicated to Schoenberg and Webern (with Heinz Holliger) and Spohr and Weber (with Paul Meyer).

Graduating with the highest honors from the prestigious schools of Lausanne and Zurich, Hélène Walter trained under the guidance of Teresa Berganza, Helmut Deutsch, John Fiore, Luisa Castellani, Christian Immler, and has performed under the baton of Ton Koopman and Michel Corboz. After her studies, she further refined her skills with renowned interpreters such as Alessandra Rossi, Heidi Brunner, Raul Gimenez, and François Le Roux.

Hélène Walter has enjoyed a brilliant international career, performing on prestigious stages such as the Müpa in Budapest, the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, and the Musikverein in Vienna, under the direction of Martin Böckstiegel, François-Xavier Roth, Pierre Bleuse, Lucie Leguay, and Corrado Rovaris. In Mozart’s works, she has portrayed roles such as Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Sandrina (La finta giardiniera), and the Countess (Le nozze di Figaro). She has also performed as Elle (La Voix Humaine by Poulenc), Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare by Handel), and Manon by Massenet.

An eclectic artist, active both on opera stages and in concert halls, Hélène Walter has performed Bach’s Mass in B minor, the Passions, the Christmas and Easter Oratorios with the Musiciens du Louvre, Solisti Veneti, Spirito, the Pygmalion ensemble, and in Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Basel Kammerorchester. In 2022, she sang Pierrot Lunaire by Schoenberg alongside the Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain and Bruno Mantovani, and she was a guest of the Ensemble Intercontemporain in 2018.

Hélène Walter has featured prominently in two major discographic productions, recorded at the prestigious Château de Versailles with La Chapelle Harmonique and more recently with La Chapelle Rhénane. Critic Ermes Mercuri praised her « vocal class and fascinating stage maturity » as « the highly talented Hélène Walter. »

Originally from northern France, Louise Moulinier began studying music at the age of 6 at the Arras Conservatory, where she pursued a dual course in piano and classical percussion. She then joined the Paris Regional Conservatory (CRR) in the class of Brigitte Bouthinon Dumas and earned a Diplôme d’Étude Musicale with highest honors. She continued her studies at the Haute École de Musique (HEM) in Geneva, where she obtained a Bachelor’s degree, then a Master’s in performance in the class of Dominique Weber, followed by a Master’s in pedagogy under Ricardo Castro.

Louise Moulinier has received guidance from renowned pianists such as Philippe Cassard, whom she met several times at the Tibor Varga Academy, and Bruno Rigutto, with whom she studied for two years at the École Normale de Musique de Paris. Passionate about chamber music and appreciated for her sensitivity and listening skills, she trained in accompaniment and received valuable advice from Helmut Deutsch, Maciej Pikulski, Nina Uhari, Valérie Jacquet Betmalle, and Françoise Tillard.

At a very young age, she was invited to perform solo recitals at various French festivals such as Musique en roue libre/Les Inouïes, Format Raisin, and Les Pianos Folies in Lille. She has had many opportunities to perform in a wide variety of ensembles and styles, leading her to participate in premieres and to work with composers such as Philippe Leroux, Philippe Hersant, and Emmanuel Séjourné. She has performed several times as a soloist, notably at Geneva’s Victoria Hall under the direction of Jesús López Cobos, with Mozart’s Concerto in B-flat major K.450, after winning the HEM Concerto Competition in 2016.

Since the start of the 2023 academic year, Louise Moulinier has been working at the Haute École de Musique de Genève as an accompanist for the Conducting and Percussion classes.