Sophie Besançon

“To me, playing with the COE represents everything I love about music, namely giving priority to chamber music, in a group that is only slightly larger than a normal chamber ensemble, with people who breathe and feel music in the same way, with so much enthusiasm, passion and commitment. even in moments of great tiredness. Indeed, although tours are often quite long and demanding, the joy of making music together is always here. There is no space for boredom or routine.”

Sophie Besançon began her violin studies at the Conservatoire National de Région in Dijon, her hometown. After entering the Paris Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in 1985, she was unanimously awarded first prize and completed a development course with Pierre Doukan. She then carried on studying with Viktor Liberman at Utrecht’s Hochschule in the Netherlands, where she graduated with distinction in 1996. She won prizes from the Yamaha and Sasakawa Foundations and received awards in the Wieniawski (Poznan), Sarasate (Pamplona) and Tchaikovsky (Moscow) competitions.

As a soloist, Sophie has performed with the new Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Montpellier, the Orchestre d'Avignon and toured with the Wageningen Orchestra to Utrecht and Amsterdam. She has taken part in the Marlboro Festival in the US and in 1990 has played with some members of the Guarneri quartet and the Beaux Arts Trio. From 1996 to 2001 Sophie led the Orchestre National de Montpellier and has performed with her Piano Trio in many places such as Montpellier, Bordeaux and in Japan. She also teaches at Lyon’s Conservatoire National de Région.