Lionel Monnet

Swiss pianist Lionel Monnet was awarded a virtuosity degree with “Distinction” in 2003 in Christian Favre’s class at the Lausanne University of Music. He continued his training with his mentor Abdel Rahman El Bacha in Paris. He also worked with Manahem Pressler of the “Beaux-Arts Trio of New York” and the Trio Wanderer of Paris.

Since 1999, he has been the pianist of the Trio Nota Bene, with whom he continues to perform regularly on Swiss and international stages.

Lionel Monnet won the 1st Prize at the Rotterdam International Music Competition, was unanimously awarded the 1st Prize by the jury at the 28th Instrumental Trio Competition – Géraldine Whittaker Prize in Neuchâtel, distinguished himself by winning the Philippe Chaignat Prize, which recognized the quality of his performance at the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, and secured the Audience Award at the 2009 edition of the Zulawski-Ville de Chamonix Prize.

Lionel Monnet performs internationally, appearing at the Sion International Festival, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, La Roque d’Anthéron, Les Folles Journées de Nantes, the Ljubljana Festival, the Castres Festival, the Zermatt Music Festival, the Tonhalle Zurich, the Bodrum Festival, the Ljubljana Festival, the Zermatt Festival, the Jerusalem Music Center, the Tel Aviv Museum, the Nice Festival, and as a soloist with the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, the KammerOrchester Zurich, and the Orchestre des Concerts Européens.

Lionel Monnet performs with renowned artists such as Tibor Varga, Renaud Capuçon, Svetlin Roussev, Fabio di Càsola, Malin Hartelius, Rachel Harnisch, Christoph Schiller, Shlomo Mintz, Nobuko Imai, Gérard Caussé, Pierre Amoyal, Ilya Gringolts, Blythe Teh Engström, Ophélie Gaillard, Svetlana Makarova, Terpsycordes Quartet, Sine Nomine Quartet, Edgar Moreau, Michel Dalberto, Brigitte Engerer, Fabio di Casola, Dany Bonvin, and Shmuel Ashkenasi.

Lionel Monnet is supported by the Irène Dénéréaz Foundation, by composer Henri Dutilleux, and the “Swiss Global Artistic Foundation”.

Since 2011, he has been a piano professor at the Valais Cantonal Conservatory of Music. In July 2016, he was appointed professor of piano and chamber music at the International Academy of Biarritz, Basque Coast.

In January 2017, he was invited for an American tour to festivals in New York, Philadelphia, Princeton… That same year, he also served as a piano jury member for the “Musique Riviera” Competition in Vevey.

He is the pianist of the “Quinteto del Fuego,” specializing in the music of Astor Piazzolla.

He is the founder and artistic director of the concert hall and recording studio “l’Espace Consonance” in Saxon, Switzerland.

Lionel Monnet is represented by the Swiss record label “Claves” and the American record label “Naxos”.