Laura Muller
mezzo-soprano

After a master's degree at Le Puy-en-Velay, followed by literary studies and a Master's degree, Laura Muller studied opera singing in Paris, where she obtained a DEM in 2018. She also attended Françoise Tillard's Lied et mélodie class, taking part in masterclasses with Regina Werner and Donna Brown. She is a laureate of the Académie des Paris Frivoles in 2019. She performs regularly with vocal ensembles such as Les Métaboles (conducted by Léo Warynski) and Sequenza 9.3 (conducted by Catherine Simonpietri). She is regularly invited as solo viola by the Centre de musique de chambre de Paris (conductor Jerôme Pernoo) for the "Bach and breakfast" cantata cycle. In 2022, she appeared as solo viola in Bach's St. John Passion with Le Concert d'Astrée and Ensemble Hemiolia. She regularly takes part in productions and concerts by the Parole et Musique association (artistic director Françoise Tillard). She has sung the role of Gontran in Chabrier's Une Éducation manquée! and Mazet in Gounod's La Colombe. In recent years, Laura has become particularly involved in the contemporary repertoire. As a soloist, she has taken part in numerous premieres, including: Pion prend tour en D9, opera by Bruno Giner (conductor Philippe Nahon); Dorian Gray, a quest for eternal youth, opera by Mariana Ungureanu (dir. Ajtony Csaba); Cinq études sacrées by Yann Robin (dir. Léo Warynski, France Musique); The sixth commandment by Elzbieta Sikora (Szczecin Philharmonic, Poland); Lacrimosa, for mezzo and instrumental ensemble by Lorenzo Troiani (Festival Ensemble(s), Paris 2023). Franck Bedrossian's piece for mezzo-soprano a capella Départs de feu was written for her voice and dedicated to her. The piece was premiered for Anne Montaron's program Création mondiale on France Musique, then performed live at the Zagreb Biennale of Contemporary Music (April 2023). In June 2023, she sang this piece and Philippe Leroux's Ma Belle si tu voulais (solo a capella) at the Opéra de Marseille as part of the GMEM's Propagations festival. In 2024, she premiered Visions by Matteo Franceschini and a piece by Pasquale Corrado at the Milano Musica festival. She is also preparing a recital program of American melodies (Ives, Barber, Copland) with tenor Stuart Patterson and pianist Irina Kataeva.

Laurent Camatte
viola

Awarded a viola and musical analysis prize at the CNSM in Paris, Laurent Camatte soon established himself as a major performer on the contemporary music scene, whether with ensembles such as InterContemporain, with whom he played Pierre Boulez's Eclat-Multiples under the composer's direction, Ensemble Court-circuit, 2e2m, Accroche-notes, TM+ or the Pelleas Chamber Orchestra, of which he is a founding member. His wide-ranging repertoire has taken him to stages all over the world, both as soloist and chamber musician, with partners such as Michael Levinas, Nicolas Angelich, the Voce Quartet and Wilhelm Latchoumia. Sir Simon Rattle invited him to the Berlin Philharmonic in May 2015 for the German premiere of Ruht Wohl by Betsy Jolas. Laurent Camatte is principal viola with several ensembles: Court-Circuit (since 2015), Proton Bern (2013), Multilatérale (2005). His dual profile as violist/analyst is of particular interest to composers with whom a close collaboration is developing: Betsy Jolas - whose Ruht Wohl (dedicated), Well met, Sur Do and Femme en son jardin he premiered -, Gyögy Kurtag (Hommage à Schumann), Pascal Dusapin (Inside), Martin Matalon (Traces II for viola and electronics), Michael Lévinas (Lettres enlacées for solo viola), Philippe Schoeller (Visions de Nefertiti I et II)... Several write for him: Betsy Jolas, Michael Levinas, Samuel Andreyev, Gilles Schuehmacher, Frédérik Martin (viola concerto), Alberto Caprioli (whose viola concerto he premiered), Robert Coinel (concerto) and Jacques Lenot, who dedicated five works to him: November Elegy, for solo viola and string orchestra, Répliques for solo viola, Erinnern als Abwesenheit III for viola and large ensemble, Abrupts jeux d'ailes for viola and string orchestra, Néfertiti auprès et au loin... for solo viola. He is also winner of the Prix du conseil d'administration de la Fondation Prince Louis de Polignac (2016), the Edmund Pendleton International Prize (2003), and the Jean Françaix (1998) and Epernay (1996) international viola competitions.
His major recordings, crowned by two Grands Prix de l'académie Charles Cros in 2011 and 2012, include Samuel Andreyev's "Moving" (Klarthe 2016); "B for Betsy" (viola works by Betsy Jolas - Hortus 2012); "Chiaroscuro" (Erinnern als Abwesenheit III by Jacques Lenot -Intrada 2011); Yann Robin's "Vulcano" (Ensemble Intercontemporain, S. Mälki, Kairos 2010); Betsy Jolas' "Trio à cordes" and "Quintette avec Clarinette" (Accord 2006); Bruno Mantovani's "Troisième Round" and "Turbulences" (Aeon 2003).

Alain Billard
bass clarinet

Alain Billard holds a DESM from the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Lyon, and has been a member of the Ensemble Intercontemporain since 1995. He holds the position of bass clarinet (also playing clarinet, basset horn and contrabass clarinet). An internationally acclaimed soloist, he has collaborated with numerous composers from the 20th century to the present day, including Pierre Boulez, Luciano Berio, György Ligeti, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Philippe Manoury, Michael Jarrell, Pascal Dusapin, Bruno Mantovani and Yann Robin. A regular guest soloist with major national and international orchestras, he has premiered and recorded numerous works, including Lisa Lim's Machine for Contacting the Dead (2001), Génération (2002), Jean-Louis Agobet's triple concerto for three clarinets, Mit Ausdruck (2003), concerto for bass clarinet and orchestra by Bruno Mantovani, Décombres by Raphael Cendo (2007), Art of Metal I, II, III (2007-2008) for contrabass clarinet, ensemble and electronics by Yann Robin, Del reflejo de la sombra (2010) by Alberto Posadas with the Diotima Quartet and La Grammatica del soffio (2011) by Matteo Franceschini. A founding member of the Nocturne Wind Quintet, with which he won a First Prize in Chamber Music at the Lyon Conservatoire, Second Prize at the ARD International Competition in Munich and the Osaka Chamber Music Prize (Japan), he founded the Modulations Trio alongside Odile Auboin (viola) and Hidéki Nagano (piano), to which composers Marco Stroppa, Bruno Mantovani and Philippe Schoeller have already dedicated new works. Alain Billard is very active in the field of research and development of new instrumental techniques. He collaborates regularly with Ircam and Selmer. His active participation in the Ensemble's educational activities, aimed at young audiences and future music professionals, bears witness to his deep commitment to transmission in all its forms.