Permanent faculty
François Lana – pianist
Théo Duboule – guitarist
Noé Tavelli – drummer
Manu Hagmann – bassist
External faculty
External specialized teachers are hired depending on the participants in order to bring specific expertise concerning all other instruments. Within previous editions, following musicians have been teaching:
- Vocals: Tenzin Ngingthatshang, Joanne Gaillard, Soraya Berent, Ernie Odoom, Sandrina Rakotozafiminahy, Sylvie Klijn
- Saxophones: Philippe Helfer, Louis Billette, Melvin Marquez
- Trumpet: Rémy Labbé, Shems Bendali, Carlos Baumann, Zacharie Ksyk
- Trombone: Zacharie Ksyk, Olga Trofimova, William Jacquemet
- Clarinet: Christian Gavillet
- Accordeon: Stéphane Plouvin
- Violin: Baiju Bhatt, Marc Crofts
- Flute: Ewan Dayot, Calen Gayle
Profils
Noé Tavelli
Noé Tavelli (born 1992) was exposed to the world of improvised music from a very young age.
In 2010, after several years of training at the AMR (Geneva), he joined the Conservatoire Populaire de Musique de Genève, where he studied in the class of Raul Esmerode.
In the summer of 2012, he attended courses at the Drummers Collective in New York.
From 2012 to 2015, he studied with Marcel Papaux at the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne.
In 2015, after obtaining his Bachelor’s degree in Music, Noé was admitted to the Manhattan School of Music in New York, where he studied with John Riley, Justin DiCioccio, and Jim McNeely.
He earned his Master’s degree in Performance there in 2017.
In 2021, he obtained a Master’s degree in Jazz Music Pedagogy from the Jazz Campus Basel.
He has also studied with leading jazz drummers such as Jeff Ballard, Jorge Rossy, and Eric McPherson.
Noé has developed a unique sound on his instrument, both modern and deeply rooted in the long tradition of jazz drumming. He has performed alongside artists such as Dee Dee Bridgewater, David Liebman, Ohad Talmor, as well as Richard Sears, Florian Favre, Gabriel Zufferey, Nat Su, Jean-Lou Treboux, and Shems Bendali.
In 2019, he released his first album as a leader, Noé Tavelli & The Argonauts Collective (Double Moon/JazzThing, Next Generation Vol. 78), which was named a “Révélation” album by Jazz Magazine (France).
In 2022, he released his second album as a leader, Inner Streams (Fresh Sound Records).
Alongside his career as a performing musician, Noé is also deeply involved in jazz and improvised music education. He is the project leader of the Lemanic Jazz Workshop summer program, which he founded in 2017. He also teaches drums at Espace Musical and at the Conservatoire Populaire de Musique de Genève, where he is a professor of jazz drums.
Noé Tavelli is a recipient of the Friedl Wald scholarship for young talents.
Théo Duboule
Théo Duboule (1992) is a Swiss guitarist and producer based between Geneva and Berlin. An active figure in the new European improvisational scenes, he develops a personal aesthetic in which a certain radical expressiveness intersects with elements drawn from modern popular music. Centered on improvisation, his artistic direction blends influences as diverse as John Coltrane, Steve Lehman, Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana, and hip-hop culture, without establishing a hierarchy between these sources.
Since 2014, he has gradually established himself as one of the singular voices of his generation, supported by sustained activity in ensembles such as Mega Mass, the BIG TUSK, Duboule | Tavelli | Oester, In Motion, and more recently Théo Duboule’s Slang.
Over the years, Théo Duboule has collaborated with leading musicians such as Ohad Talmor, Jorge Rossy, David Virelles, Scott Robinson, Matthieu Michel, Bänz Oester, Colin Vallon, Gerry Hemingway, Uli Kempendorff, Otis Sandjö, and Philipp Gropper. He is also a member of la Fanfare du Loup, an emblematic institution in Geneva, and teaches at the Lémanic Jazz Workshop, a summer program in Geneva.
His career has been marked by several distinctions: selected in 2013 for the DKSJ tour with a big band led by Ohad Talmor, then in 2014 for the DKSJ Exchange Nights tour with his Infinit Octet; semi-finalist in the Montreux Jazz Guitar Competition in 2016; winner in 2017 of the Sunside Trophies and the Jazz Contreband competition with OGGY & the Phonics. In 2018, the BIG TUSK received the Cully Jazz Prize.
Théo has participated in the production of around twenty albums, all available on digital platforms.
“Between airy blues and neo-materialist beats, the guitar floats with an almost hymnic momentum, creating an energy that is at once lyrical and powerful.” — Bad Alchemy
François Lana
François Lana (1986) begins the piano at the age of 11 years. After studying until 2010 alongside Richard Turegano and Manuel Rocheman in Paris, he continues his training between Lausanne at The Lausanne Conservatory of Music (Switzerland) and Brussels with Émil Spanyi, Eric Legnini, Matthieu Michel, Jacques Demierre, Vinz Vonlanthen and Pierre Audetat and obtaines a Master of Arts In Music Performance in 2014. In 2016, he obtaines a Master of Arts in Music Pedagogy at the University of Arts in Zürich (ZhdK – Switzerland) in the classes of Chris Wiesendanger and Toni Renold.
He has had the privilege of sharing the stage with Benny Golson, Buster Williams, Victor Lewis, Eric Legnini, ZJO, Marcel Papaux and Kaspar Kast. He has performed in Switzerland and France, including his own trio, François Lana Trio, Objectif Lune, Tenzin’s Airbow Collective, Louis Billette Quintet, Iliev Quartet and Gaspard Colin’s Short Cut.
francoislana.bandcamp.com/album/cath-drale
Manu Hagmann
Manu Hagmann (born 1980) began playing electric bass in 1992 and taught himself double bass starting in 1997. He cut his teeth within various bands and projects (Fun Skider, Swing Session, Atrio) on the local contemporary music and traditional jazz scenes.
From 2005 onward, he embarked on a professional career, became part of the AMR network, and undertook higher studies at the Bern University of the Arts (HKB), studying first with Thomas Dürst and later with Patrice Moret.
From that point on, he developed collaborations with successful emerging artists and projects (Orioxy, Red Planet, Jean-Lou Treboux, Maël Godinat) and broadened his stylistic range. He became a regular presence on the Swiss jazz scene, took part in the Suisse Diagonales Jazz exchange programs, and gradually expanded his activity across Europe. He recorded albums for labels such as Unit Records (Switzerland) and GLM (Germany).
From 2010 onward, he began two major long-term collaborations: one with Geneva-based harpist Julie Campiche, and the other with Fribourg-based pianist Florian Favre. As a highly committed sideman, he further extended his international reach. He has appeared on labels such as Traumton and Enja (Germany) and performed on major stages including Jazz à la Villette (Paris), the North Sea Jazz Festival (Rotterdam), the Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg), and the London Jazz Festival.
Over the years, he has shared the stage with headlining artists such as Scott Hamilton, New York Voices, Tom Harrell, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Otis Brown III, and Erik Truffaz. In parallel, he developed a strong interest in teaching and pedagogy. He has taught both privately and in institutional settings as a substitute (HEMU, CMVR), depending on opportunities. He studied with Bänz Oester and earned a Master’s degree in Music Pedagogy at the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne (HEMU) in 2018, under the guidance of Carine Tripet.
In 2015, he received the award for Best Bassist at the B-Jazz International Contest (Belgium). From the following year on, he established himself as an artistic leader (CHOICE, Swincopation, The World Is Stable Now) and co-founded the Lemanic Jazz Workshop. More recently, he developed an educational outreach concert with the AMR that was selected for the “École et Culture” program of the Geneva Department of Public Instruction.
He is currently teaching jazz electric bass and double bass at the Conservatoire Populaire de Genève as a substitute teacher.
manusound.net/