Within the uncommon constellation of classical musicians who transcend the stage to grow to be true cultural figures, Estelle Revaz shines with singular brilliance. Born in Switzerland and now recognised throughout continents, Revaz is just not solely an distinctive cellist whose sound carries each rigour and radiance, but in addition a dedicated public servant advocating for the humanities and social fairness. Whether or not performing on the Victoria Corridor in Geneva or addressing Parliament in Bern, Estelle Revaz inhabits her twin vocation with the identical readability of function and depth of presence.
Her artistry speaks of heritage and imaginative and prescient. Skilled in Paris below Jérôme Pernoo and in Cologne with Maria Kliegel, Estelle Revaz developed a language of sound each technically uncompromising and emotionally beneficiant. “The cello sings magnificently,” La Liberté as soon as wrote, capturing the voice-like high quality of her instrument, a Grancino from 1679, which she instructions with pure authority. For Revaz, music is just not efficiency alone, however communication, a thread of which means spun between the composer, the interpreter and the world.
Among the many composers she reveres most is Johann Sebastian Bach, whose work she calls “the alpha and the omega of musical reality.” Within the spirit of Bach, who as soon as mentioned, “Music is an agreeable concord for the honour of God and the permissible delights of the soul”, Estelle Revaz approaches every notice with reverence and humanity.
To come across Estelle Revaz is to satisfy an artist of uncommon dedication and conviction, a lady who performs not solely the cello, however the chords of society itself.
Estelle Revaz: An Impressed Life Rooted in Tradition and Conviction
Estelle Revaz was born on 12 July 1989 in Salvan, a village within the Swiss canton of Valais. Raised in a culturally vibrant family, she was immersed early within the arts. Her mom, Jeannine Revaz, is a singer of Austrian heritage, whereas her father, Jean-Charles Revaz, is a revered scholar of classical literature. These influences nurtured a curiosity for music that may quickly grow to be her life’s calling.
After starting cello classes on the Conservatory of Sierre, Estelle Revaz moved together with her household to Paris in 1999 to pursue formal research. She was accepted into the Conservatoire Nationwide Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, the place she educated below Jérôme Pernoo. She later refined her abilities on the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln below the steerage of Maria Kliegel. This Franco-German training laid the muse for a European profession marked by excellence, self-discipline and inventive openness.
All through her formation, Estelle Revaz acquired quite a few accolades. At fifteen, she received the First Prize of the Fondazione Antonio Salieri di Legnago, permitting her to embark on her first European solo tour. Additional recognition got here from the Metropolis of Geneva, the Canton of Valais, and main foundations reminiscent of Leenaards, Little Goals, Dénéréaz and Patiño. In 2014, she was chosen to hitch the Verbier Competition Academy and acquired the Rotary Prize, confirming her arrival among the many most promising cellists of her era.
Estelle Revaz is just not merely a performer. She is an artist pushed by which means and a dedication to speak. Her recordings have garnered vital reward for his or her intelligence, depth and technical finesse. Her 2015 album Cantique introduced Bloch’s Schelomo and the world premiere of Pflüger’s Pitture. Le Temps praised it as “severe, incisive and demanding,” whereas Bach & Mates, launched in 2017, revealed her readability of phrasing and tonal purity. Pizzicato hailed her interpretations for his or her “completely pure sound, unambiguous phrasing and exceptionally refined dynamics.” With Fugato, recorded with Anaïs Crestin, Le Courrier described her as “one of many rising stars of a brand new era of nice artists.”
Since 2017, Estelle Revaz has taught cello and chamber music on the Kalaidos College of Music in Zurich. She offers masterclasses throughout Europe, Asia, Africa and South America. In parallel, she engages in tutorial work and revealed a research in 2019 on the event of inventive id in greater instrumental training.
She performs on a cello in-built 1679 by Giovanni Grancino and makes use of a bow made in 1825 by Joseph Eury, each entrusted to her by Swiss patrons. These devices, like her sound, mix historical past with presence and emotion.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Estelle Revaz discovered herself on the coronary heart of a nationwide dialogue on the precarity of cultural staff. Seeing the sector missed in federal emergency plans, she grew to become a decided advocate. She was instrumental in securing non permanent compensation for over 300,000 artists and technicians.
In October 2023, she was elected to the Nationwide Council as a member of the Social Democratic Celebration representing the Canton of Geneva. She took workplace in December 2023 and has already made her mark. In summer time 2024, she efficiently handed amendments to enhance social insurance coverage for cultural staff. In autumn 2024, her first private movement on creating a nationwide technique to fight poverty was adopted.
Estelle Revaz is a member of the Science, Schooling and Tradition Fee and continues to argue for higher structural assist for tradition. In June 2025, she was unanimously elected President of Suisseculture, the nationwide umbrella physique for inventive and artistic professions. She is the primary individual from French-speaking Switzerland to carry this place and can formally start in October 2025.
From the live performance corridor to the Federal Palace, Estelle Revaz exemplifies a uncommon integration of artistry and civic duty. Her story is that of a lady who not solely performs music however shapes society via her artwork, mind and unwavering dedication.
The Creative Voice of Estelle Revaz
Estelle Revaz is greater than a celebrated performer. She is a considerate interpreter of music whose taking part in balances mental precision with lyrical magnificence. Her inventive voice has grown from a European formation into a world presence, resonating from the levels of the Victoria Corridor in Geneva to the Oriental Artwork Centre in Shanghai and the CCK in Buenos Aires. She has carried out in over thirty international locations throughout 4 continents and collaborated with a few of the best musicians of her era.
From the start of her profession, Estelle Revaz has demonstrated a uncommon means to cross the boundaries of repertoire, geography and inventive format. Her taking part in is rooted in custom however boldly trendy, regularly refined and emotionally articulate. As a soloist, in chamber music or orchestral contexts, she communicates with a readability of phrasing and heat of tone that captivates critics and audiences alike.
The cello of Estelle Revaz is her voice, and he or she speaks with it in a language that bridges centuries. Critics have lengthy commented on the sense of construction and transparency in her interpretations. Whether or not navigating the introspective intricacies of Johann Sebastian Bach or exploring the rhythmical drive of up to date works, Estelle Revaz brings depth, class and intention.
She has usually described her work as a dialogue between custom and invention. The programme Bach & Mates, for instance, aimed to construct a musical bridge between baroque and modern writing. “It isn’t solely about honouring the previous,” she as soon as defined in an interview, “however about displaying how the spirit of Bach lives within the music of immediately.” She has by no means been content material with taking part in repertoire safely. Her strategy has at all times been to broaden the expressive vocabulary of the cello whereas remaining loyal to the music’s internal reality.
Her influences are as diversified because the artists she has shared the stage with. Estelle Revaz has collaborated with figures reminiscent of Gautier and Renaud Capuçon, Alexandra Conunova, Lena Neudauer, Raphaëlle Moreau, Sergey Ostrovsky, Finghin Collins and the Quatuor Sine Nomine. This vary of musical dialogue has undoubtedly formed her inventive voice, encouraging curiosity, risk-taking and stylistic flexibility.
Estelle Revaz performs a uncommon and traditionally important instrument constructed by Giovanni Grancino in 1679. The Grancino household, energetic in Milan through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, are recognized for creating devices with deep resonance and wealthy overtones. Her cello is a murals in itself, preserved and enhanced via centuries, and entrusted to her by a beneficiant Swiss patron. The instrument’s heat and responsiveness swimsuit the expressive depth of her taking part in, from intimate solo works to concertos with orchestra.
Her bow is equally distinctive. Crafted in 1825 by Joseph Eury, one of many best French archetiers of his time, it gives each flexibility and precision. Eury’s bows are prized for his or her refined stability and responsiveness, traits that permit Estelle Revaz to discover a full spectrum of tone colors and articulation. The mix of this historic instrument and bow offers her with the instruments to undertaking the complete vary of her artistry, from fierce vitality to poetic intimacy.
A Distinctive and Evolving Discography
The recording journey of Estelle Revaz displays her musical intelligence and willingness to discover new paths. Her debut album, Cantique (2015), launched on NEOS, introduced a daring mixture of Ernest Bloch’s Schelomo and the world premiere of Andreas Pflüger’s Pitture. Critics praised the album for its emotional depth and interpretative readability. Le Temps wrote of a “lovely musical symbiosis” between orchestra and soloist.
In 2017, she launched Bach & Mates with Solo Musica, devoted to solo cello works from totally different eras. The album positioned Bach as a central determine in a dialog with modern composers. Pizzicato described it as “a demanding programme interpreted at a really excessive technical stage.”
Later that 12 months, she recorded Fugato, a duo album with pianist Anaïs Crestin, during which the 2 artists explored the concept of fugue and counterpoint throughout kinds and centuries. The press described the album as each intellectually stimulating and emotionally resonant. Le Courrier referred to as her “one of many rising stars of a brand new era of nice artists.” Her 2021 recording Journey to Geneva, devoted to the concertos of Frank Martin and a creation by Xavier Dayer, was awarded 5 Diapasons and 5 Classica stars.
In 2022, Inspiration Populaire marked her fifth album, as soon as once more in duo with Anaïs Crestin. The undertaking explored standard musical idioms as refracted via the prism of classical language, reinforcing her place as a flexible and creative artist.
Highlights and Milestones as a Cellist
Estelle Revaz has been an artist in residence with the Orchestre de Chambre de Genève from 2017 to 2020, below the course of Arie van Beek. This residency allowed her to discover an enormous repertoire, from C. P. E. Bach to Ligeti and Gulda, and to deepen her relationship with Swiss audiences. She has been a featured soloist with the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana, the Sinfonieorchester Basel, the Orchestre Nationwide de Metz and plenty of others.
Her competition appearances embody not solely the Verbier Competition, the place she was chosen for the Academy in 2014, but in addition the Gstaad Menuhin Competition, the Competition Pablo Casals, the Sion Competition and the Competition Worldwide de Colmar. Every of those appearances has strengthened her standing as a musician of each nationwide and worldwide relevance.
Along with her performing profession, Estelle Revaz is an eloquent communicator. She co-produced a five-part radio programme for RTS referred to as Estelle et le violoncelle, sharing her ardour for the cello with a broad viewers via storytelling, musical evaluation and private reflections.
By means of every of those achievements, Estelle Revaz affirms her id as an artist who listens deeply to the music and the world round her. Her cello is just not solely an instrument however a automobile for expression, reflection and connection.
Estelle Revaz and the Verbier Competition: A Musical Partnership Rooted in Excellence
The Verbier Competition holds a particular place within the inventive journey of Estelle Revaz. As one of the vital celebrated classical music festivals on the earth, Verbier has lengthy served as a platform for the brightest abilities of every era. For Estelle Revaz, it has been each a formative expertise and a recognition stage. Her relationship with the competition displays the twin nature of her profession as each a rising soloist and a completely established artist with worldwide stature.
This 12 months, her return to Verbier is marked by a deeply symbolic and extremely prestigious look. On 16 July 2025, Estelle Revaz will carry out on the Opening Ceremony of the Verbier Competition’s 2025 version. This occasion, which launches the thirty second version of the competition, is just not solely a musical celebration but in addition a cultural assertion. For an artist who as soon as entered Verbier as an Academy scholar, returning to inaugurate the competition is a second wealthy in inventive and private significance.
The story between Estelle Revaz and the Verbier Competition started in 2014 when she was chosen to hitch the celebrated Verbier Competition Academy. This intensive coaching programme is reserved for distinctive younger musicians and gives direct engagement with masters of the craft. Throughout her time on the Academy, Estelle Revaz was awarded the Rotary Prize, an honour given to essentially the most promising abilities among the many individuals.
This early recognition was greater than symbolic. It positioned Estelle Revaz inside an elite circle of artists dedicated to each musical integrity and inventive exploration. Her time on the Academy additionally allowed her to develop lasting musical relationships and to deepen her repertoire in chamber music, which stays a central side of her inventive life. Even after leaving the Academy, her ties to Verbier continued to affect her inventive imaginative and prescient and her position within the broader classical music world.
The competition setting, which inspires collaboration and cross-generational dialogue, resonates deeply with Estelle Revaz’s values. All through her profession, she has championed the concept that musical progress emerges from shared expertise. Her later collaborations with many Verbier-associated artists, together with Gautier Capuçon, Raphaëlle Moreau and Finghin Collins, echo the spirit of connection fostered on the Academy.
The 2025 Opening Ceremony
Returning to the Verbier Competition in 2025, Estelle Revaz joins the Opening Ceremony as a key soloist in a programme designed to rejoice each custom and renewal. Held on the Salle des Combins on 16 July at 19h00, the live performance brings collectively a few of the most good Swiss musicians of the second, in a collective tribute to the enduring energy of music. Estelle Revaz will carry out alongside internationally recognised names reminiscent of Chiara Enderle, Camille and Julie Berthollet, Louis Schwizgebel, Sebastian Bohren and Fabian Ziegler.
This opening night time is curated not as a typical gala however as a real inventive declaration. The night is designed to symbolize the spirit of Swiss excellence and the flexibility of its musicians. The inclusion of Estelle Revaz on this choice underscores her place as one of many main cultural figures of her nation. Her presence on this stage can be deeply symbolic. It bridges her roots as a laureate of the Academy together with her present standing as a mature artist, educator and public advocate for the humanities.
Past the status of the event, this efficiency displays Estelle Revaz’s long-standing connection to Swiss audiences and her dedication to presenting music that speaks to the collective expertise. The Verbier Competition, with its mountainous setting and worldwide attain, mirrors her inventive ethos: rooted in place but open to the world.
In a profession outlined by function and fervour, this second on the Verbier Competition is each a return and a renewal. It’s a celebration of the trail she has walked and an indication of the trail nonetheless forward. Estelle Revaz is just not solely a cellist. She is a cultural voice of her time, and at Verbier, that voice will as soon as once more be heard with power and charm.
Closing phrases
To hint the arc of Estelle Revaz’s journey is to witness a life formed by self-discipline, conviction and artistry. Her music is just not an escape from the world, however a response to it. With each phrase she performs, she attracts listeners into an area the place sound turns into a language of connection, a dialogue throughout generations, geographies and genres. Her cello is her voice, and he or she makes use of it with uncommon honesty and function.
But Estelle Revaz doesn’t cease on the fringe of the stage. She carries her sense of duty into the civic realm, utilizing her platform to advocate for the weak and to defend the place of tradition in society. Her election to the Nationwide Council is just not a detour however an extension of her vocation. In Parliament, as in efficiency, she listens, displays and acts with grace and readability.
Few artists handle to unite such numerous callings with authenticity. Estelle Revaz is just not a cellist who occurs to be a politician. She is a cultural determine who weaves her music, instructing, analysis and political engagement right into a single, coherent life story. A narrative not of separation, however of synthesis.
In an age of noise and distraction, Estelle Revaz reminds us what it means to be actually in tune. She is just not solely composing lovely phrases. She is writing a life. And in doing so, she conjures up others to play their half in concord with the world.
