Léa Legros-Pontal
Viola/Violin
Léa Legros Pontal, born in 1988 in Marseille, is a freelance violist based in Bern. After a Bachelor's degree with honours at the CNSMD in Lyon (2012), she moved to Switzerland for the end of her studies for a Master's degree in Performance followed by a Master's degree in Orchestra at the Haute École de Lucerne with Isabel Charisius and Sylvia Zucker. Passionate about chamber music, Léa studied in the class of the Ysaÿe Quartet at the Paris Conservatory. She was also part of a flute, viola and harp trio for almost 5 years. She has performed in various festivals alongside Peter Bruns, Franz Helmerson and Isabel Charisius. Léa works regularly with several orchestras such as the Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen, the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse or the Festival Strings Lucerne. She is also solo viola with the Camerata Ataremac (Lausanne). Since 2020 she is also a member of the Berner Kammerorchester (BKO). Contemporary music and free improvisation are two important aspects of her musical activity. During her studies in Lyon she took part in the improvisation class directed by Henri-Charles Caget and Jean-Marc Foltz. Thereafter Léa continued to receive artistic advice from Garth Knox, Joëlle Léandre, Laurent Estoppey, Nils Wogram, Jacques Demierre, Lauren Newton and Gerry Hemingway. Together with saxophonist Silke Strahl she founded the Klexs Duo, which won second prize at the 2019 Nicati Competition. She is also a member of the Ensemble Nachhall (quartet with Sara Käser-cello, Raphael Loher-piano and Silke Strahl), whose music develops on the borders of free jazz and free improvisation. With bassoonist and composer Mathilde Bigler, Léa initiates the collective Cie Le Berschould whose first project in 2017 is a bilingual show for children: the story of Babar reinterpreted as an introduction to contemporary music thanks to the work of composer Nicolas von Ritter-Zahony. Since her studies in Lyon, Léa has been very interested in early music. She chose this discipline as Minor for her first Master's degree while accumulating a lot of experience. Since 2018 she has been studying baroque viola with the violinist Sabine Stoffer at the Bern School of Music. Léa performs regularly with the ensembles Arpa Festante (DE) and Chiave d'Arco (CH). Léa teaches violin and viola in the private music school of Kerzers Studio Musicale. Since 2017 she has been in charge of the viola section of the Jungend Orchester Köniz BE (Köniz Youth Orchestra).