Victor Julien-Laferrière & Jonas Vitaud

He began studying the cello with René Benedetti, then with Roland Pidoux at the CNSMDP (the French national conservatoire for music and dance in Paris), Heinrich Schiff at the University of Vienna, and Clemens Hagen at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. Meanwhile, he attended the Seiji Ozawa International Music Academy Switzerland. 

In 2018 and 2019, Victor Julien-Laferrière was a guest of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra / V. Gergiev, Orchestre National de France / E. Krivine, RTÉ Orchestra Dublin / N. Stutzmann, Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse / T. Sokhiev, Orchestre National de Belgique / M. Emelyanychev, Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra / J. Rozen / S. Denève, Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie / Y. Abel, Orchestre de Chambre de Paris / D. Reiland, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne / J. Weilerstein, I Pomeriggi Musicali in Milan / Y. Kumehara, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra / A. Joel, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia / O. Grangean.

He was also invited to play at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Philharmonie de Paris, CelloBiennale in Amsterdam, Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, Philharmonie Essen, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Louisiana Museum of Copenhagen, Fondation Louis Vuitton, KKL in Luzern, Tonhalle in Zurich, Palace of Fine Arts in Brussels, Phillips Collection in Washington, Prague Spring Music Festival, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Gstaad, Klavier Festival in Ruhr, Rheingau Musik Festival, La Folle Journée in Nantes and Tokyo, Beauvais international music festival, and the Easter festival in Aix-en-Provence.

He won the 2017 Diapason d’Or for the recording he made with pianist Adam Laloum. In January 2019 (Mirare), he released an album entitled Schubert with the Les Esprits Trio (Sony Music). In the autumn of 2019, he brought out a recording with pianist Jonas Vitaud (Alpha Classics). 

He went on to win several international competitions, both as a soloist and as a chamber musician (Lyon, Munich ARD, Trieste, Beethoven in Vienna), and continues to perform in prestigious festivals: Roque d’Anthéron, Lille Piano(s) Festival, Piano aux Jacobins, Festival de Pâques in Deauville, La Folle Journée in Nantes, Tokyo, Yekaterinburg and Warsaw, Festival de la Chaise Dieu, Bagatelle Chopin Festival, Richard Strauss Festival in Germany, Caserta Musical Autumn in Italy, iDans in Istanbul, Dubrovnik Summer Festival, French May in Hong Kong, and the Phillips collection in Washington.

He has performed throughout Europe as well as in Russia, China, Turkey, Japan and the United States. 

Jonas Vitaud has played with the orchestras of Mulhouse, Cannes, Toulouse, the Orchestre des Pays de Savoie, Orchestre Philharmonique de Moravie, Sinfonia Varsovia, Munich Radio Orchestra, and the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra.

He especially loves chamber music, and performs with artists including sopranos Karine Deshayes, Sumi Hwang and Yumiko Tanimura, cellists Victor Julien-Laferrière and Christian-Pierre La Marca, violist Adrien La Marca, pianist Adam Laloum, clarinetist Raphaël Sévère, violinist Mi-Sa Yang, the Zaïde Quartet, and many more.

He also takes a keen interest in contemporary music, and has worked with master composers such as Henri Dutilleux, Thierry Escaich, György Kurtag, Philippe Hersant and Yann Robin. Jonas Vitaud sees these partnerships, especially those that happen during the Musique sur Ciel string instrument festival, as opportunities to discover the variety of music being created today, and develop his musical imagination.

In 2019, his recordings of his performances were released by MIRARE and ALPHA CLASSICS in the form of two albums, one with violinist Mi-Sa Yang featuring MOZART sonatas, and the other a Russian repertoire, performed with cellist Victor Julien-Laferrière.

To mark Debussy’s centenary in 2018, Jonas Vitaud released a double album with MIRARE containing pieces from the composer’s early work; an original and ambitious achievement that spotlighted some of the composer’s lesser-known creations. He has also performed in many tribute concerts. In March 2016, Jonas Vitaud released a Tchaikovsky recording with MIRARE – Les Saisons et la Grande Sonate opus 37, which earned a 5 from Diapason.

His solo album, given over to compositions by Henri Dutilleux and Franz Liszt and released by NoMadMusic has brought him widespread success, and he received the GRAND PRIX SOLISTE INSTRUMENTAL from the Académie Charles Cros (CHOC CLASSICA. 5 from DIAPASON). He performed many tributes to Henri Dutilleux during the year of his centenary in 2016 at the Limoges and Vichy opera houses, as well as the Scènes Nationales Arras-Douai, and in London. 

Jonas Vitaud has been teaching at the CNSM in Paris since 2013, and is an assistant professor for Marie-Josèphe Jude’s piano class. He is also an associate artist with the

Singer-Polignac Foundation.