Hortense Airault

Hortense Airault is a French cellist, composer and improviser whose artistic practice is rooted in contemporary creation and explores different approaches to interpretation and composition, new forms of collaboration, interdisciplinary performance, and the connections between sound, body and space.

Born in Paris in 1999 and raised on the island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, Hortense began playing the cello there. She later studied in Paris and at the Haute École de Musique de Genève, where she completed a Master in Concert with a specialisation in Composer-Performer. She is currently completing a Master’s degree in Creative Practice – Composition at the Hochschule der Künste Bern.

As a cellist, Hortense has collaborated with ensembles including Ensemble Contrechamps, Nouvel Ensemble Contemporain, Ensemble intercontemporain (Ulysses Academy), and ONCEIM. She has performed at festivals including Archipel (Geneva), Gaudeamus (Utrecht), the Darmstadt Summer Course, Manifeste (Paris), Mixtur (Barcelona) and Musikfestival Bern.

As a composer, Hortense’s work is driven by an interest to bring together acoustic instruments, electronics, multimedia and theatrical or spatial elements, exploring the ways in which sound can interact with bodies, objects and spaces. Her works have been commissioned by Ensemble Contrechamps, Quatuor MOMO, Les Ateliers du Violoncelle, the Orchestre de l’Université de Genève and Limina Festival (or ensemble LaKt). Some of her works are published by 22D Music. She has composed and improvised for the contemporary circus company MPTA. Her compositional practice has been shaped by her studies and collaborations with Simon Steen-Andersen, Luis Naón, Arturo Corrales, Joshua Hyde, Cathy van Eck and Franziska Baumann.

Free improvisation forms another central part of Hortense’s practice. Her encounter with Joëlle Léandre led her to develop a particular interest in spontaneous musical creation and collective listening. She co-founded Duo Imminent, a project dedicated to free improvisation and collaborative composition with electronics, presented notably at the Archipel and Mixtur festivals. She is also a member of the free-improvisation quartet Side ProYect.

In recognition of her artistic work, Hortense received the Fritz Gerber Award from the Lucerne Academy in 2025, supporting her artistic development in classical and contemporary music. In 2024, she was awarded the Tremplin Leenaards Prize and the Contrechamps Prize for her creative approach to contemporary music. She is also a laureate of the Violoncellenseine Competition and received an Antoine Gonon cello loan following the Musique et Vin Competition at Clos Vougeot.

Chamber music and string quartet performance are an important part of her artistic practice. As a member of Quatuor MOMO, she develops interdisciplinary projects and explores new approaches to quartet performance. The quartet was awarded First Prize at the Osez! Competition in 2025, Third Prize at the Orpheus Competition in 2024, and received the Daisy de Saugy Prize and Ponticello Prize at Osez! in 2023. Hortense has also worked with Quatuor Voce, Gábor Takács-Nagy and Noémie Bialobroda, and completed a CAS in String Quartet Performance in the class of the Belcea Quartet.

Hortense attended Gaudeamus 2026 for a special project with Het Muziek as part of her ULYSSES Journey for performers.