Odyssey Martin and Schubert – Ballads and Winterreise

Extraordinary saxophonist, Valentine Michaud combines musical finesse with an extraordinary artistic vision. Winner of numerous awards, in 2020 she won the prestigious Credit Suisse Young Artist Award. The first saxophonist to appear as soloist with the Vienna Philharmonic, Valentine made her debut with the Vienna orchestra under Esa-Pekka Salonen at the Lucerne Festival in 2022.

Valentine is a regular guest soloist with renowned orchestras such as the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Philharmonie Zuidnederlands, MDR Sinfonieorchester, United States Navy Band, Moscow Philharmonic, Sinfonia Varsovia, State Cappella St Petersburg and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. For the 2024/25 season, Valentine is the soloist in residence with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande for over 25 concerts conducted by Jonathan Nott, Giuseppe Mengoli or Zofia Kiniorska. She also makes her debut under the baton of Daniel Harding with Swedish Radio for the premiere of Jesper Nordin’s concerto as well as the Swiss premiere of “Glasslands” by Anna Clyne with the OSR.

Convinced of the richness of collaborations with other art forms and seeking to develop new concert formats, Valentine is co-founder of the transdisciplinary collective SIBJA, in which she is artistic director with her brother Emmanuel Michaud, performs as an instrumentalist and designs costumes.

Her duo Akmi, with pianist partner Akvilė Šileikaitė, has been performing around the world since 2015. Together, they regularly commission works from composers, and their debut album « Beyond the Wall » was released in November 2023 on Avie Records. Since 2022, Valentine has been performing as a duo with her brother Gabriel Michaud on percussion, featuring unique programs combining creations, transcriptions and arrangements. Their first album, « Oiseaux de Paradis », was released in September 2024.

Based in Switzerland since 2010, Valentine is a graduate of the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne, the Université Paris IV Sorbonne and the Zurich University of the Arts, and has been teaching at the Conservatoire Populaire de Musique de Genève since 2017. Since September 2024, she has been a guest professor at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.

Louise started playing the trombone in 2006 and entered the Lille Regional Conservatory (CRR) in 2009. In 2017, she joined the Pôle Superieur of Lille in Christian Bogaert’s class. She was unanimously accepted to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP) in 2018, where she studied with Fabrice Millischer and Jean Raffard.

Passionate about ensemble music, she has played in numerous groups, including the Hauts-de-France Brass Band, the group Laake, the Dodécabone, and the Bacaro Quartet, and earned a degree in chamber music from the CNSMDP with her brass quintet, Isotope Brass.

She has performed with many orchestras, including the Orchestre National de Metz, the Opéra National de Paris, the Orchestre National de Lille, the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine and the Orchestre de Paris.

In 2021, she joined the French National Police Band (Musique des Gardiens de la Paix), and in 2022, she became principal trombone of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Marseille. In 2023, she joined the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse as principal trombone.

Alongside her orchestral work, she regularly performs as a soloist at festivals such as the Lille Trombone Festival, where she played with the New Trombone Collective, the Trombone Family Festival, with the Aaron Quartet; the Bach Festival; and the No Slide Ensemble. She has also performed with the Saint-Orens Wind Orchestra and the Lannemezan Wind Orchestra.

In 2025, Louise had the opportunity to premiere the piece « Tribones » by Thierry Caens, as a soloist with her orchestra, the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse.

Born in Paris into a family of musicians, pianist Natasha Roque Alsina performs regularly both as a soloist (notably with the LSO — Lucerne Symphony Orchestra —, the Orchestre de l’Opéra de Rouen Normandie, the Orchestre des Pays de Savoie, the Argovia Philharmonic Orchestra, among others) and as a chamber musician, notably with the Trio Ernest, which she founded in 2019. Together, they have recorded two CDs (Aparté label) that have been critically acclaimed, and they also direct the Bee Classical concert season in Geneva.

Natasha performs regularly in prestigious venues such as the KKL in Lucerne, the Victoria Hall in Geneva, Bozar in Brussels, the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, the Schoenberg Center in Vienna, and at numerous festivals across Europe.

A laureate of several international competitions, she studied at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique de Paris in the class of Nicholas Angelich (assistant to Franck Braley), then at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts in the class of Konstantin Lifschitz, as well as at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel (Belgium).

Holding a teaching diploma (C.A.), Natasha shares her passion for teaching with her piano class at the Geneva Popular Conservatory (CPMDT), where she has been teaching since 2020.

Clara Schlotz was born on August 9, 2004, in Lausanne, Switzerland. She began studying the cello at the age of seven with Martin Reetz at the Lausanne Conservatory.

A multiple prizewinner at the Swiss Youth Music Competition, she has been awarded numerous first prizes with distinction, both as a soloist and in chamber music. In 2018, she received the SUISA Prize for her interpretation of Dolcissimo, the final movement of Das Buch by Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks. She also obtained a diploma in piano performance in 2023. That same year, she won a joint second prize at the Lausanne Interpretation Competition, followed by a joint first prize at the Guy Fallot Competition in 2025.

From 2021 to 2023, she was a member of the Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra, where she explored both symphonic and operatic repertoire under the direction of James Gaffigan and other conductors. Since 2024, she has been a member of the Verbier Festival Orchestra, performing under conductors such as Klaus Mäkelä, Antonio Pappano, Vassily Petrenko, Sir Simon Rattle, Charles Dutoit, and Lahav Shani. With the latter, she had the honor of performing the renowned orchestral solo from Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 alongside pianist Alexandre Kantorow. In July 2025, she once again joined the Verbier Festival Orchestra, notably under the baton of Teodor Currentzis and Paavo Järvi.

She is now also a member of the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra. That same year, she made her debut with the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra as principal cellist under the direction of Manfred Honeck, with Renaud Capuçon as soloist, during the summer tour in August and September 2025.

She has taken part in numerous masterclasses with renowned musicians, including Frans Helmerson, Jens Peter Maintz, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Edgar Moreau, Reinhard Latzko, Bruno Delepelaire, Daniel Müller-Schott, and Anastasia Kobekina, notably in a session she co-organized herself.

Since September 2023, Clara has been studying in the class of Thomas Grossenbacher at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), where she is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in cello performance.

In October 2024, Clara was invited to perform as a substitute cellist with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in a program featuring works by Busoni and Debussy, conducted by Sakari Oramo, with Kirill Gerstein as soloist. In the same month, she was appointed substitute cellist at Zurich Opera, where she performed, among others, in Die tote Stadt by Erich Korngold under the direction of Lorenzo Viotti. She subsequently returned to Berlin to perform again as a substitute with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, this time under Sir Simon Rattle, with Janine Jansen as soloist.

Ayaka Taniguchi, who studied under Kazunori Kawasaki at the Tokyo University of the Arts, has been continuing her studies at the Frankfurt University of the Arts under Tabea Zimmermann since 2023. A winner of several international competitions, she has distinguished herself at TIAA Concerts, the Tokyo Competition, the ARD Competition in Munich, and the Oskar Nebdal Competition in the Czech Republic, where she won 4th Prize. In 2025, she won First Prize at the Hindemith Competition in Munich, followed by Third Prize at the Geneva Competition. A sought-after soloist, she performs in Japan and Europe and participates in renowned festivals such as the Rheingau Festival in Germany, the Casals Festival, and the Ravel Festival in France.

Comprising 37 passionate and virtuosic musicians, the Geneva Chamber Orchestra is dedicated to providing audiences with a diverse and emotionally rich programme. Renowned for its unwavering energy and innovative spirit, the orchestra regularly participates in festivals and artistic events, both locally in the Lake Geneva region and on the international stage, with recent tours taking them to China and the Middle East. Acclaimed by critics and the media alike, their performances are broadcast regionally and nationally by Léman Bleu and RTS, and internationally by Arte and TV5 Monde.

Each year, the orchestra collaborates with esteemed artists such as Martha Argerich, Mischa Maisky, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Gautier Capuçon, Sonya Yoncheva, Maxim Vengerov, Natalie Dessay, and Nemanja Radulović, as well as guest conductors including Gábor Takács-Nagy, Pierre Bleuse, Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Thierry Fischer, and Gergely Madaras. The Dutch conductor Arie van Beek served as the orchestra’s artistic and musical director from 2013 to 2022.

Founded in 1992, the orchestra now performs nearly 50 concerts annually. Its repertoire, spanning the Baroque period to the twenty-first century, reflects its boundless curiosity and versatility across different musical eras and styles, with a particular focus on Classical composers such as Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, for which it boasts an ideally suited ‘Mannheim’ line-up.

Guided by strong humanitarian values, the orchestra is dedicated to nurturing the next generation of music lovers through educational initiatives and inclusive concerts. Committed to making music accessible to all, it collaborates with regional social organisations such as the Association pour le Bien des Aveugles et malvoyants, Fondation Village Aigues-Vertes for individuals with intellectual disabilities, and the Partage food bank.

Advocating for a collaborative cultural landscape, the Geneva Chamber Orchestra engages with a diverse array of players and institutions, ranging from jazz to opera, including the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Opéra de Lausanne, AMR, Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève, Contrechamps, Conservatoire populaire de musique, danse et théâtre, Concours de Genève, and Eklekto.

Supported by the Canton of Geneva, the City of Geneva and various sponsors, institutions and private donors who share its passion for excellence, commitment, and innovation, the Geneva Chamber Orchestra looks forward to a promising future under the artistic and musical direction of Raphaël Merlin, beginning in the 2023-2024 season.

Latvian pianist Georgijs Osokins has gained international attention through his participation at age of 19 in the XVII^th International Chopin Piano Competition where he quickly became an absolute Audience Favorite. Shortly after the Chopin Competition, Osokins made important debuts at the Konzerthaus Berlin, Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Laeiszhalle and Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, International Piano Series in Bern, Lockenhaus Festival, Gstaad Music Festival, Narodowe Forum Muzyki in Katowice, the Vancouver Playhouse, Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre Hall, Tongyeong Hall in South Korea. In 2021 Georgijs Osokins performed at the 101^st Salzburger Festspiele.

Georgijs is actively collaborating with Gidon Kremer, touring in the UK, Ireland, Russia, Poland, Germany, Asia and US. Alongside Lucas Debargue, Georgijs Osokins was announced the first permanent Guest Artist of Kremerata Baltica in its 25-year history. In 2024 Georgijs makes his solo debut at Pierre-Boulez Saal in Berlin and returns to Milan’s Serate Musicali Festival and London’s Wigmore Hall.

UK’s label “Piano Classics” released Osokins’ two CD albums focused on Chopin’s Late Works and works of Rachmaninoff. These recordings received brilliant reviews from important British, Canadian, German, Danish and French music magazines. German label Accentus has released the first chamber music album of Georgijs Osokins alongside Gidon Kremer containing trios of Chopin and Beethoven – this CD was nominated for both International Classical Music Awards 2020 and Opus Klassik 2021. He received the Cross of Merit awarded by the President of the Republic of Poland and the Latvian Grand Music Award – highest honour in music in Latvia – and remains youngest recipient in the Awards’ history.