Opening concert of the Autumn festival

A native of Geneva, Sébastian Jacot is one of the most sought-after flautists of his generation, having won first prize at the ARD International Competition in Munich, the Carl Nielsen International Competition in Denmark, and the Kobe International Flute Competition in Japan. He studied with Jacques Zoon in Geneva, where he obtained his Master of Arts in Solo Performance and Pedagogy with distinction.

Prior to becoming the principal flautist of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in 2022, he had previously held this position with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Ensemble Contrechamps in Geneva, the Saito Kinen Festival Orchestra in Japan, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.

In addition to performing recitals and teaching masterclasses, Sébastian is an enthusiastic chamber musician and a regular participant in international festivals on all continents.

Born in Switzerland, Léonie Cachelin began singing at the age of 11 at the Maîtrise du Conservatoire Populaire de Genève, where over the years she developed a pronounced taste for music and singing. Graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in opera singing and a Master of Arts in vocal pedagogy from the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne in Jeannette Fischer’s class, she also studied choral conducting in a second master’s program in Geneva and Stuttgart with Celso Antunes and Denis Rouger. Passionate about the voice in all its aspects, Léonie pursues her young musical career both as a soloist and chorister in various professional ensembles, and as a choral conductor and singing teacher. As a mezzo soloist in oratorios, she distinguished herself in such landmark works as F. Mendelssohn’s Drei geistliche Lieder, J. Haydn’s Stabat mater, A. Honegger’s Roi David, F. Martin’s Vin Herbé, Mozart’s Requiem and Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. In recent years, she has also developed a musical complicity with organist Vincent Thévenaz, leading them to offer several organ and voice recitals, ranging from early to post-romantic music. On stage, Léonie is the First Witch in H. Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas (dir. G. Carvelli) and Cherubino in W. A. Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro (dir. G. Colliard) as part of the Festival du Toûno (Switzerland). Passionate about the choral world, she sings regularly in Switzerland with the Ensemble Vocal de Lausanne and the Ensemble Vocal Buissonnier, but also with the C.F Meyer Vokalensemble and in Germany with the figure humaine kammerchor. She is also a founding member of the Ensemble Diaphane, made up of 7 professional female singers. In September 2024, Léonie was appointed conductor of the University of Geneva choir.

Vincent Thévenaz is professor of organ and improvisation at the Haute Ecole de Musique in Geneva, titular organist and carilloneur of the Saint-Pierre Cathedral in Geneva. His concerts have led him to many European countries, as well as Argentina, Uruguay, Canada and India. Having benefited from a complete training (organ, piano, classical and jazz improvisation, musicology, musical theory, direction, singing, French and Russian letters), he aspires to make known and appreciated the many different facets of the organ: as a soloist, with other instruments, sometimes classical (violin, flute), sometimes quirky (Alpine horn, percussion), as well as with an ensemble. He also plays different keyboard instruments, such as harmonium, Hammond or theatre organ, and carillon. Passionate about improvisation, he devotes himself to it on the piano as much as the organ, in concert or to accompany silent films.

In 2009-2010 he interpreted Bach’s integral organ oeuvre in 14 concerts, met with a resounding success. His duo with the saxophonist Vincent Barras, entitled “W”, proposes an original repertoire immortalised in two CDs. He has recorded two CDs for the Sony label with the Gli Angeli Ensemble of Geneva (Stephan MacLeod), acclaimed by critics. He also collaborates with many ensembles and conductors (Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ensemble Contrechamps, Ensemble Vocal de Lausanne, the Scharoun Ensemble of the Berlin Philharmonic, Valery Gergiev, Heinz Holliger, Michel Corboz, Lawrence Foster, Antonio Pappano, etc). In 2005 he founded the Orchestre Buissonnier, an ensemble of young musicians, which he regularly conducts.
www.thevenaz.org