Félicien Brut
Originally from Auvergne, Félicien Brut has shaken up the reputation of the accordion. He grew up in the middle of the Massif du Sancy and was very young when he discovered the accordion and the popular music that has long characterised it: musette or accordion music. After a solid education at the CNIMA Jacques Mornet, he entertained at many balls for numerous years. In 2009 he continued studying at the Pôle Supérieur de Bordeaux-Aquitaine because in the meantime he had also fallen in love with classical music.

Early on he spotted the divide between musicians playing accordion music at balls on the one hand and classical accordionists and teachers at the conservatoire on the other. Specialised in the classical field, and with several international prizes to his name, he founded the Trio Astoria, an ensemble devoted to Nuevo Tango music by Astor Piazzolla, and released his first album Soledad del Escualo in 2016. This was when a crazy idea came to mind: to form his own programme of classical music combined with accordion music repertoire, a style particularly close to his heart

Hermès Quartet
The flourishing career of the Quatuor Hermès takes its members on tours worldwide. The quartet is a regular guest in the United States, where it performs at prestigious halls including the Kennedy Center inWashington and Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall in NewYork. ​

Its trajectory has been punctuated by a number of decisive encounters, notably with the Ravel, Ysaÿe and Artemis quartets, with whom the four musicians trained and developed a shared musical philosophy, and with such outstanding personalities as Eberhard Feltz in Berlin, and later Alfred Brendel, an immense inspiration with whom they now work regularly.

The Quatuor Hermès has received numerous prestigious awards, among them ‘Révélation Musicale de l‘Année’ at the Prix de la Critique 2014-15 and the Nordmetall Ensemble Preis 2013 at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival. It also won the First Prizes of the Geneva International Competition 2011, the FNAPEC Competition 2010, the Lyon International Chamber Music Competition 2009, and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York. ​

The four musicians were Artists in Residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel from 2012 to 2016. Since 2015 they have received support from the Fondation d’Entreprise Banque Populaire and the Fondation Singer-Polignac in Paris. ​

Elise Liu plays a violin by David Tecchler on loan from the Fonds Instrumental Français. ​

Since August 2016, Omer Bouchez has played a violin by Joseph Gagliano (1796), on loan fromMécénat Musical Société Générale.

Édouard Macarez
began playing the double bass at the age of 10 with Jean-Loup Dehant, a teacher at the Conservatoire de Douai, before starting in Thierry Barbé’s class at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris in 2006. In 2009 he was unanimously awarded first prize with congratulations from the jury. In 2011, Edouard decided to further improve his skill in Germany with Niek de Groet, former soloist of the Royal Concergebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam.

Edouard received awards at several national and international competitions: 1st Prize for three consecutive years in competitions organised by the Association des Contrebassistes de France in 2003, 2004 and 2005 in Paris, Lyon and Béziers, 1st Prize in the Concours de Cordes d’Epernay in 2006, 1st Prize in the ‘International Paris Bass’competition in 2008 and 1st Prize in 2009 in the ‘Scottish International Competition’in Glasgow.

He has played in many recitals notably in Paris, in the grand auditorium of the Glasgow Royal College, in the Horshcule auditorium in Berlin during Berlin Bass 2010, in Dusseldorf, Essen, etc. He played as a soloist, with an orchestra, with the Royal College of Glasgow Symphony Orchestra, as well as with the Baltic Chamber Orchestra.

Passionate about orchestras, Edouard joined the Orchestre National de Lille at the age of 19 before securing a position as a soloist with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France three years later.