Hélios Trio

Posted in Trios

Alexis Gournel piano
Eva Zavaro violin
Raphaël Jouan cello

Has been Resident Artist since 2021

Surrounded by Chamber Music since their youngest age, Eva Zavaro (violin), Raphaël Jouan (cello) and Alexis Gournel (piano) have been exploring with passion the gorgeous repertoire for piano trio.

After meeting at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse of Paris, they founded the Hélios Trio in 2014. They have had the opportunity to play in different venues such as the Philharmonie de Paris, Salle Cortot, Wigmore Hall, the Lyon Opera House, and the Phoenix Hall in Osaka. They are regularly invited to numerous festivals such as the Festival de la Roque d'Anthéron, the "Folles Journées" (Nantes, Tokyo, and Warsaw), Festival Pablo Casals in Prades, Rencontres Musicales d'Evian, Festival des Arcs, Festival d'Auvers-sur-Oise, Festival de Beauvais… They have been invited to perform multiple times during the live radio show "Générations France Musique".

In 2016, the composer Patrick Otto dedicated his piece "Orients" to them. The same year, they perform for the first time Beethoven's Triple Concerto which they have played several times since then with orchestras in Paris, Metz and Rennes, as well as with the Lyon Opera House Orchestra.

Over the past years, they have gained visibility through several international prizes such as their 2nd Prize at the Lyon International Chamber Music Competition in 2018, as well as their Special Prize at the Liszt Competition and 2nd Prize at the Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition in 2019. They were also awarded 2nd Prize and the Audience Prize at the International Chamber Music Competition of Illzach, the Grand Prize at the AEAFC "Prix d'Europe" Competition, the Honor Prize at the International Léopold Bellan Competition, a Grant from the FNAPEC after their performance during the "Musiques d'Ensemble de Paris" Competition, and the KammerMusik Preis (2018), Klavierkammermusik Preis and Wiener Klassik Preis (2019) at the Isa Festival in Reichenau, Austria.

Their first CD “D’un matin de printemps” was released in April 2021 with the label Mirare. With an all french program (Ravel, Saint-Saêns, Boulanger), the album was critically acclaimed, and in April 2023 the Trio released their second album “Bohemia”. This time with a czech program (Smetana, Novàk, Fibich) they have been awarded the CHOC Classica.

They studied at the CNSMD of Paris (Bachelor & Master’s degree then Artist Diploma) with teachers like Claire Désert, Itamar Golan and François Salque. ECMA members (European Chamber Music Academy) since 2018, they regularly receive the teachings of Johannes Meissl, Patrick Jüdt, hatto beyerle, Avedis Kouyoumdjian... The Trio also benefited from masterclasses with the Wanderer Trio, Emmanuel Strosser, Yovan Markovitch, Gary Hoffman, Christian Ivaldi, Guillaume Sutre, Kidon Kremer, the members of the Ebene, Talich and Modigliani Quartets… In March 2018, they were counseled by Gautier Capuçon on the Triple Concerto during a masterclass at the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris filmed by Medici.tv.

The Trio is represented by the Claire Laballery Agency.

Photos: Lyodoh Kaneko