Lyam Chenaux

Lyam Chenaux was born in Switzerland in 2009, and chose to play the cello at the age of 5.

At the age of 10, he played his first concert as a soloist at the Somak International Academy in Bienne, with the Budweis Philharmonic Orchestra (dir. David Svec). He met Denis Severin at this occasion, who has since become his teacher at the HEM in Geneva-Neuchâtel.

Talented, passionate and charismatic, he won 4x of the Concours Suisse des Jeunesses Musicales in all categories (solo, early music, composition and trio). He has won dozens of international competitions and special prizes, including the Classicalia final in Vienna in 2023, and the International Cello Competition ‘David Popper’ for young cellists in Hungary.

After 5 years with the Ministrings du Conservatoire de Lausanne (T. Strinning, B. Batt), Lyam joined the virtuoso ensemble LGT Young Soloists (dir. A. Gilman) in 2022, making his debut on major international stages (Singapore, Dubai, Austria, Germany, Australia, Norway, South America).

Lyam has attended masterclasses with great cello masters such as J-P Maintz, Sebastian Klinger, Wen-Sinn Yang, Asier Polo, Thomas Demega, Ophélie Gaillard, Anne Gastinel, Lionel Cottet, Susan Rybicki, Stephan Braun, Xavier Phillips and Florian Favre for jazz. Passionate about music, Lyam also plays the oboe, enjoys composing and is particularly fond of jazz, Celtic music and world music in general.

He has performed as soloist with the UniArt orchestra in Paris, the Yverdon orchestra, the Orchestre National des Jeunesses Musicales Suisses (dir. F. Théodoloz), the Pforzeim Kammerorchester (dir. A. Mayer), the Ponticello (O. Gaillard) and the Quatuor Debussy. Since 2023, Lyam has been generously supported by the Fondation Burkhalter.

Lyam attends gymnasium 2 years early and benefits from a tailor-made private school program. In addition to music, he enjoys cycling, chess, political science and motor sports.