Outreach Skills Workshop
11-16 February, 2019
Comprehensive Module
Aix-en-Provence, France
Country: France
« The Trio Sōra is a very fine ensemble indeed. Their understanding of the composition, their listening to each other, their sensitive and lively music-making – all these have given me joy and pleasure. »
Sir András Schiff
Sōra : « Bird singing while spreading its wings».
The Trio Sōra is now considered as an ensemble with one of the rarest artistic identity of its generation. Their performances and inventive programming are inspired by the diverse cultural heritage of its members – France, Italy, Latvia, and the Basque country.
Having won several awards at international competitions, including The Parkhouse Award, they were appointed Lauréat HSBC 2017 at the Festival d’Aix and received the Special Prize at the Verbier Festival 2018. They have performed at such venues as the Philharmonie de Paris, the Auditorium du Louvre and London’s Wigmore Hall in addition to festivals such as La Folle Journée de Nantes, the Festival International d’Art Lyrique d’Aix en Provence and Kuhmo Festival in Finland.
Always concerned to enrich their artistic experience, the musicians Trio Sōra regularly work with masters such as Mathieu Herzog, Menahem Pressler, Sir Andras Schiff, Quatuor Ebène and Quatuor Artemis.
Trio Sōra is grateful for support from the Fondation Safran pour la Musique, ADAMI, Fondation Meyer, Fondation Baillet-Latour/Queen Elisabeth Musical Chapel. Magdalēna Geka plays a Giuseppe Garneri 1697 violin, and Angèle Legasa a Giulio Cesare Gigli 1767 cello, both instruments kindly loaned by the Fondation Boubo-Music (Switzerland).
Pauline Chenais (1991, France) started playing the piano when she was 3 years old, and recently received her Master’s degree at the Paris National Conservatoire where she studied with Denis Pascal. She also spent one year in Salzburg as a part of the Erasmus exchange program where she studied with Jacques Rouvier. Pauline has performed in different festivals for young musicians in Paris, Tours, Chartres, Seuilly as well as Center of Arts in Orford, Canada, Salzburg Kammermusik Festival and the prestigious City of London Festival. She has taken masterclasses with Clemens Hagen, Rainer Schmidt, Zlata Chochieva and Romano Pallottini.
Magdalēna Geka (1992, Latvia) is a prizewinner of several international competitions and was nominated for the Latvian Grand Music Prize 2014 as the Young Artist of the Year. She holds a Master’s degree in both Violin and Chamber Music from the Paris National Conservatoire and has performed as a soloist with such orchestras as Hamburger Symphoniker (Germany), Chernihiv Philharmonic Orchestra (Ukraine) or Latvian National Symphony Orchestra to name a few. She has explored her passion for chamber music as a member of the Kremerata Baltica, as well as in many festivals all over the world. She is the founder and artistic director of two chamber music festivals in Latvia.
Angèle Legasa (1993, France) is an eclectic musician and holds a Master’s degree in cello performance as well as Bachelor in Chamber Music from the Paris National Conservatoire. She is equally comfortable as a soloist (Folle Journée of Nantes 2017, Beauvais Cello Festival, Paris, Auvergne…), chamber musician (Festival de La Roque d’Anthéron, Voûtes Célestes Festival..) and as an orchestra musician (Orchestre National de Lille, Orchestre d’Auvergne and others), and is a laureate of several international competitions. Angèle studied with great masters such as Gary Hoffman, Philippe Muller, Jérôme Pernoo, Roland Pidoux as well as Peter Bruns during her exchange year in Leipzig, Germany.