Recorder player and harpist Céline Pasche captivates audiences with the rich sound and expressive depth of her playing, balancing historical fidelity with creative audacity. Guided by a historically informed yet vibrant approach, she explores her repertoire with great sensitivity.
Praised by the press as an exceptional soloist, notably by musicologist Klaus Kalchschmid in the Süddeutsche Zeitung following her collaboration with the Münchner Philharmoniker under Andrea Marcon, Céline Pasche is renowned for her ability to make her instruments “sing” and to unfold their full expressive range. Sought after for her versatility and musical insight, she collaborates with conductors such as Andrea Marcon, Lorenzo Ghielmi, Maurice Steger and Stefan MacLeod, and regularly performs with leading ensembles including La Cetra Barockorchester, the Venice Baroque Orchestra, Divina Armonia and the Kammerorchester Basel. Her curiosity and openness also lead her to participate in later repertoire, such as Fauré’s Requiem with Gli Angeli at Victoria Hall.
A passionate multi-instrumentalist in the spirit of 17th- and 18th-century musicians, Céline Pasche designs original and meticulously researched programmes that revive sometimes forgotten works and figures, while exploring the diversity of early repertoire from the Renaissance to the Classical period.
Born in Lausanne, she studied recorder at the Bern University of the Arts with Carsten Eckert, followed by advanced studies at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis with Conrad Steinmann, where she graduated with distinction. She later completed her training as a harpist at the Civica Scuola di Musica Claudio Abbado in Milan with Mara Galassi, a pioneer in the research and performance of the historical harp. This artistic path has led to collaborations with numerous ensembles, including Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien, Los Elementos, the Freiburger Barockorchester, I Barrocchisti, Cappella Gabetta and the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne.
The recipient of several awards, including encouragement prizes from the Migros Culture Percentage and the Kiefer-Hablitzel Foundation, Céline Pasche performs regularly on international stages and in major venues such as Victoria Hall and the KKL. Quadrilingual and deeply committed to music education, she has founded several ensembles, including the Omen Quartet and Aurora delle Muse, and is active as a teacher at conservatoires and music schools.
Her solo album Alma Intrepida, recorded with the ensemble I Pizzicanti and selected by RTS Culture as one of the five classical albums of 2020, encapsulates her artistic ethos: that of a free and intrepid spirit, driven by the desire to present early music in a sensitive and distinctly contemporary light.