Creation by Bryce Dessner - with Isabelle Huppert and Alice Sara Ott

Isabelle Huppert has worked with directors Jean-Luc Godard, André Téchiné, Maurice Pialat, Patrice Chéreau, Michael Haneke, Raoul Ruiz, Benoît Jacquot, Jacques Doillon, Claire Denis, Christian Vincent, Laurence Ferreira Barbosa, Olivier Assayas, François Ozon, Anne Fontaine, Eva Ionesco, Joachim Lafosse, Serge Bozon, Catherine Breillat, Guillaume Nicloux and Samuel Benchetrit. She has also worked with major international directors such as Michael Cimino, Joseph Losey, Otto Preminger, the Taviani brothers, Marco Ferreri, Hal Hartley, David O’Russell, Werner Schroeter, Mauro Bolognini, Andrzej Wajda and, most recently, with Rithy Panh, Brillante Mendoza, Joachim Trier and Hong Sang Soo.

The Venice Film Festival awarded her a Special Jury Golden Lion for her performance in Patrice Chéreau’s film Gabrielle and for her entire body of work.

Twice awarded the Best Actress prize at the Cannes Film Festival (the second time for Michael Haneke’s The Pianist), she has also been a Cannes jury member and mistress of ceremonies. She was President of the Jury for the 62nd Cannes Film Festival. More recently, she presided at the Tokyo International Film Festival, while the Berlin Film Festival awarded her the Honorary Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement.

While working in film, Ms Huppert has also pursued her theatrical career in France and internationally. She has acted under the direction of Bob Wilson (Virginia Woolf’s Orlando, Heiner Müller’s Quartet), Peter Zadek (Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure) and Claude Régy (4.48 Psychosis by Sarah Kane, Paul Claudel’s Joan of Arc at the Stake). She also acted in Euripides’ Medea, directed by Jacques Lassalle, most notably at the Festival d’Avignon; Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen, directed by Eric Lacascade; and God of Carnage directed by Yasmina Reza. Further, she appeared in A Streetcar, director Krzysztof Warlikowski’s spin on Tennessee Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire, at the Théâtre de l’Odéon and on tour throughout Europe and internationally; The Maids by Jean Genet directed by Benedict Andrews with Cate Blanchett at the Sydney Theatre Company and at New York’s City Center in conjunction with the Lincoln Center Festival, and Les Fausses Confidences by Marivaux directed by Luc Bondy at the Théâtre de l’Odéon and on tour throughout Europe. She has performed in Phèdre(s) by Wajdi Mouawad, Sarah Kane, J.M. Coetzee, directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski at the Théâtre de l’Odéon and on European and international tour. Recently, she performed in New York in the American adaptation of Florian Zeller’s The Mother, and in Paris, where she joined with Bob Wilson in Darryl Pinckney’s Mary Said What She Said, followed by a European and international tour. She performed at the Théâtre de l’Odéon in Tennessee Williams’s The Glass Menagerie directed by Ivo van Hove, which went on international tour.

La Cerisaie, directed by Tiago Rodrigues, premiered in the Cour d’Honneur at the Festival d’Avignon, then was presented at the Théâtre de l’Odéon, finally touring in Europe and internationally.

Romeo Castellucci’s latest production, Bérénice, saw her perform in Paris at the Théâtre de la Ville and then toured France and Europe.

She received an Honorary Molière Award for her career and the 16th Prix Europe pour le Théâtre in Rome.

In recent years, she has appeared in films such as L’avenir by Mia Hansen Love, Tout de suite maintenant by Pascal Bonitzer, Elle by Paul Verhoeven (presented at the Cannes Film Festival), Happy End by Michael Haneke, Eva by Benoit Jacquot, La Camera by Claire by Hong Sang Soo and Madame Hyde by Serge Bozon, for which she received the Best Actress award at Locarno.

She has received several awards in the United States, including the Gotham Award, the Golden Globe, and the Spirit Award for Elle, for which she was nominated for the Oscar for Best Actress. She won the César for Best Actress in France for her performance therein.

She then appeared in Greta by Neil Jordan, Frankie by Ira Sachs, and La Daronne by Jean-Paul Salomé.

Other recently released films include Les promesses by Thomas Kruithof, A propos de Joan from Laurent Larivière, L’ombre du Caravage by Michele Placido, Mrs Harris Goes to Paris from Anthony Fabian, La Syndicaliste by Jean-Paul Salomé and Mon Crime by François Ozon.

She appeared in Hong Sang-soo’s latest film, A Traveler’s Need, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival the same year as Les gens d’à côté by André Téchiné.

Isabelle Huppert later starred in Sidonie in Japon by Elise Girard and represented Patricia Mazuy’s La Prisonnière de Bordeaux at the Cannes Film Festival.

Thierry Klifa’s film The Richest Woman in the World, in which she stars, was presented Out of Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Ms Huppert will soon be appearing in Marc Fitoussi’s film Une illustre inconnue and Ulrike Ottinger’s The Blood Countess.

Isabelle Huppert was President of the Jury at the 81st Venice Film Festival.

In France, she is an Officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honor, an Officer of the National Order of Merit and a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, the highest honours given to citizens of the country.

The 2025/26 season includes composer residencies at Konzerthaus Berlin and with Czech Philharmonic; world premieres of his works at Carnegie Hall, Dublin’s National Concert Hall and Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris; plus the soundtrack release to new film Train Dreams (Netflix). Autumm 2025 also sees Dessner receive the Samuel Beckett Gold Medal from Trinity College Dublin, recognising his outstanding contribution to public discourse through the arts. Previous recipients include Joan Baez, Patti Smith and George Martin.

Dessner is Konzerthaus Berlin’s 2025-26 composer-in-residence, beginning in September with performances of his Piano Concerto by Alice Sara Ott - for whom Dessner wrote his concerto - and Joana Malwitz conducting the Konzerthausorchester. Throughout the year the residency will dive into Dessner’s catalogue with performances of his other concertos and a special ‘Bryce Dessner and Friends’ concert. Meanwhile Dessner’s composer residency with Czech Philharmonic begins in January 2026 with him performing his work St. Carolyn by the Sea with Jakub Hrusa conducting. The first of several world premieres takes place in November 2025, of Dessner’s Cello Concerto, Trembling Earth, with Anastasia Kobekina, National Symphony Orchestra Ireland and Andre de Ridder at Dublin’s National Concert Hall, where Dessner was last season artist-in-residence. The work is co-commissioned by NCH Dublin, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and the Borletti-Buitoni Trust for the Philharmonia Orchestra.

Then in January 2026 SO Percussion gives the world premiere of a co-commission by Carnegie Hall, SO percussion and Cal Performances. Dessner's new work sees the ensemble perform with the electric dulcimer-like ‘chord stick’ that he invented for them several years ago for Music for Wood and Strings, which has since been performed hundreds of times all over the world, including in Madrid, Amsterdam and Prague in autumn 2025. Meanwhile the world premiere of Bryce Dessner’s new work Love, Icebox - a conceptually staged programme with dramaturgy and electronics, based on excerpts of the letters from John Cage to Merce Cunningham – takes place at Paris’ Fondation Louis Vuitton in December 2025. Actress Isabelle Huppert and pianist Alice Sara Ott star in this unique work, which incorporates methods from Cage’s own composing. Dessner’s creation is programmed in conjunction with the Fondation’s major retrospective of painter Gerhard Richter, upon whom John Cage was a significant influence.

Dessner’s notable presence in the world of film music continues this autumn with the release of the anticipated film, Train Dreams, directed by Clint Bentley, which received advance rave reviews (e.g. The Times, 5*) upon premiering at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. The score, which includes the title song Dessner co-wrote with Nick Cave, will be released in November 2025 at the time the film receives its worldwide premiere on Netflix. In August 2024, Bryce Dessner released Solos (Sony Classical) which showcases his collection of solo instrument pieces in collaboration with some of the world’s leading musicians including Katia Labèque, Anastasia Kobekina, Pekka Kuusisto, Nadia Sirota, Colin Currie and Lavinia Meijer. Dessner’s recordings also include El Chan; St. Carolyn by the Sea (both on Deutsche Grammophon); Aheym, commissioned by Kronos Quartet; Tenebre, an album of his works for string orchestra recorded by Germany’s Ensemble Resonanz and which won a 2019 Opus Klassik award and a Diapason d’Or; When we are inhuman with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy and Eighth Blackbird (2019) and Impermanence (2021) with Australian String Quartet and which won the Libera award. Also active as a curator, Dessner is regularly requested to programme festivals and residencies around the world at venues such as at the Barbican, Philharmonie de Paris, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie and Tonhalle Orchestra, Zurich, where during the 2023-24 season he was Creative Chair. Dessner co-curates the Irish festival, Sounds from a Safe Harbour.

The 2024-25 season will see Alice Sara Ott perform with London Symphony Orchestra and Gianandrea Noseda, Bayerischer Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester and Karina Canellakis and give the French, German, Belgian and Dutch premieres of Bryce Dessner’s Piano Concerto (written for her and premiered in Zurich Tonhalle with Kent Nagano and then London's Philharmonia Orchestra with Elim Chan in 2024). Last season Ott made her highly anticipated and successful debut with the New York Philharmonic, and she returns to the USA to perform with the Baltimore Symphony and Minnesota Orchestras as well as the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra conducted by Manfred Honeck.

Alice Sara Ott is Artist in Residence at the TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht in the 2024/25 season, bringing her versatile artistic projects to the Netherlands. This follows successful residencies in Londons Southbank Centre and Radio France in Paris during 2023/24.

This season, Alice Sara Ott releases two new albums on Deutsche Grammophon. The first will be the complete nocturnes of John Field. This album will offer a fresh perspective on these timeless pieces which are rarely heard. After the album’s release in February 2025 Ott will embark on a major concert tour in Europe; visiting seventeen cities before taking the programme to Japan. At the end of the season Ott returns to Japan with the John Field program as well as performing with the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra under the baton of Karina Canellakis. The second album being released in 2025, was recorded in Iceland and features the evocative piano works of Jóhann Jóhannsson.

A talented illustrator and designer, Alice Sara Ott created a signature line of bags for JOST, one of Germany’s premium fashion brands. As well as her collaboration with Apple Music, she has also been global brand ambassador for Technics, collaborated with French luxury jewellery house, Chaumet, part of the LVMH group, and with German luxury jewellery brand Wempe. 

Visser has created original lighting designs for choreographers including Alexander Ekman, Johan Inger, Crystal Pite, Stijn Celis, Medhi Walerski, Lukas Timulak and Joeri Dubbe. Since 2016, Visser has started creating his own projects including art installations and interactive media.

Ben also fronts the band LNZNDRF with drummer Bryan Devendorf and bassist Scott Devendorf and has also released several solo albums under the moniker LANZ.

An integral component to these pursuits, Benjamin is deeply involved in experimental electronic music: writing, collaborating, improvising and performing pieces with electronics for solo and chamber ensembles, including frequent collaborations with Bryce Dessner and recent collaborative records “Million Lands” with drummer Kid Millions and “Ballard” with saxophonist Kris Allen.

She then directed and designed Wry smile Dry sob, a choreographic and musical installation inspired by Beckett's Comedy which she also directed at the Landestheater Vorarlberg in Bregenz, Austria. In addition, in 2021 she was invited to Residenztheater in Munich to direct and design Erinnerung eines Mädchens by Annie Ernaux and for the Bregenzer Festspiele in collaboration with Landestheater Vorarlberg she staged and designed the four location creation Ihr seid bereits eingeschifft.

Silvia Costa made her lyric debut in 2019 with Claude Vivier's Hiérophanie performed by the Ensemble intercontemporain at the Cité de la Musique in Paris, taking part of the Festival d'Automne. In 2020 (and presented due to Covid in 2022) she has been invited to Staatsoper Stuttgart to direct and design the set of Juditha Triumphans (Vivaldi). She has created the mise-en espace for Cosi fan tutte at Palau de les Arts in Valencia. For Festival Aix-En-Provence 2021 she staged and set designed Il combattimento o la teoria del cigno nero and the mise-en-espace of Pierrot Lunaire, a concert with Patricia Kopatchinskaja. At Theatre du Chatelet collaborating with Ensemble intercontemporain she created Interieur a world premiere by composer Joan Magrané Figuera with the adaptation of Maurice Maeterlinck’s short play. Also La femme au marteau, a coproduction between La Comédie De Valence, MC93, Festival d'Automne à Paris, Théâtre National de Bretagne / Rennes, Maillon-Strasbourg and De Singel. At Opera de Lorraine in Nancy she directed Julie by Philippe Boesmans (in coproduction with Opera Dijon). At opera de Lille in 2022 she created Like Flesh, world premiere (Fedora Prize) in coproduction with Opera Lorraine and Opera Vlaanderen, collaborating with composer Sivan Eldar and ensemble Le Balcon and a year later she directed Freitag aus Licht (Stockhausen) in coproduction with Philharmonie de Paris and Festival d'Automne.

2023 started with the coproduction of Noye’s Fludde by Benjamin Britten with La Comédie De Valence and Opera de Lyon, in April at Staatsoper Hannover she directed L'Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi. At the Comédie Française in Paris she elaborated the French version of Memoire de fille (text by Annie Ernaux) while 2024 begins with the concert installation The Timeless Moment at the Staatsoper Berlin, L'Autre Voyage with conductor Raphaël Pichon at Opera Comique in Paris and Macbeth by W. Shakespeare at Comédie Française in Paris.

2025 starts with Montag aus Licht at Opera de Lille in coproduction with Le Balcon. From 2006 to 2020, she was actress and artistic collaborator to most of Romeo Castellucci's creations for theater and opera. She was associate artist of the Teatro dell'Arte / Triennale Milano 2017-19 and of CDN d'Angers (2019). Her creative work has been supported from 2021 to 2023 by deSingel, Antwerp. Since 2020, she is part of the artistic ensemble of the Comédie de Valence.

In 2022, she was appointed Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the Minister of Culture of the French Republic.