Hortense Airault

Hortense Airault is a French cellist, composer, and performer whose work bridges classical and contemporary repertoire, improvisation, and composition. Her artistic practice weaves together writing, gesture, and spatial awareness, developing an instrumental language in which performance becomes a site of composition, encounter, and collective experimentation.

Born in Paris in 1999 and raised in Mayotte, she discovered the cello on the island before continuing her studies with Anaïs Moreau, and at the CRR de Paris with Thomas Duran. She later joined the Haute École de Musique de Genève, completing a Master of Performance with a Composer-Performer specialization under the guidance of Ophélie Gaillard and Joshua Hyde. She is currently pursuing a Master’s in Composition / Creative Practice at the Hochschule der Künste Bern with Simon Steen-Andersen, Franziska Baumann, and Cathy van Eck.

 Deeply committed to contemporary creation, she has collaborated with ensembles such as Contrechamps, the Ensemble Intercontemporain, ONCEIM, and Nomos, and has participated in international programs including the Lucern Academy, the Darmstadt Ferienkurse, the Stauffer Academy in Cremona, and the Ulysses Academy.

Her encounter with Joëlle Léandre opened the path to improvisation. She co-founded Duo Imminent with Ana Parejo Belando, a project dedicated to free improvisation and collaborative compositions with electronics, presented at the Archipel Festival (Geneva) and the Mixtur Festival (Barcelona). She is also a member of the free improvisation quartet Side ProYect, as well as the Free Spirit Ensemble (directed by Ibrahim Maalouf). She has trained at the Académie de Villecroze with Vincent Ségal and Vincent Peirani, and at Les Ateliers du Violoncelle with Vincent Courtois, Noémi Boutin, and Éric-Maria Couturier.

As a composer, Hortense has studied with Luis Naón, Arturo Corrales, and Joshua Hyde at HEM Geneva, and now works with Simon Steen-Andersen, Cathy van Eck, and Franziska Baumann at HKB Bern. She has received commissions from Ensemble Contrechamps, Quatuor MOMO, and Les Ateliers du Violoncelle, and her some of her works are published by 22D Music edition. She also composed and improvised for Immaqaa, a contemporary circus production by the company MPTA.

In parallel, she maintains an active chamber music career with the MOMO string quartet, dedicated to contemporary creation and transdisciplinary formats. She has completed a CAS in string quartet performance with the Belcea Quartet, and has studied with Quatuor Voce, Gábor Takács-Nagy, and Noémie Bialobroda. The MOMO quartet has been awarded first prize at the Osez! 2025 competition, third prize at the Orpheus 2024 competition, as well as the Daisy de Saugy Prize and the Ponticello Prize at Osez! 2023.

Her work has been recognized with numerous distinctions, including the Fritz Gerber Award from the Lucerne Festival (2025), the Tremplin Leenaards Prize, and the Prix Contrechamps (2024). She also won first prize at the Violoncellenseine competition and received an Antoine Gonon cello on loan following the Musique et Vin competition at Clos Vougeot.