2027 Virtual Session
Éric-Maria Couturier
A versatile and outstanding performer, Éric-Maria Couturier regularly appears on major international stages as both a soloist and a chamber musician with the Talweg Trio. He has performed alongside artists such as Maurizio Pollini, Martha Argerich, and Giuliana Steinhardt, and has collaborated with the Ensemble Intercontemporain for the past 24 years. Together with composer Olivier Derivière, he worked on the scores for the video games A Plague Tale: Innocence/Requiem, Dying Light and Vampyr.
He premiered a concerto by Arnulf Herrmann at Prades Casals festival conducted by Pierre Bleuse and Ensemble intercontemporain. A concerto by Yann Robin at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, performing with the Tokyo Sinfonia under the baton of Jonathan Nott.
He has engaged in improvisational collaborations with dancers Akaji Maro and Seiichi Yamamoto, Noh singer Ryoko Aoki, and percussionist Shun Tsuchitori. Tsuchitori has collaborated with numerous renowned musicians, including Peter Brook, Vincent Courtois, Senny Camara, Sébastien Lanson, and the electronic trio “Plug” (with Michele Rabbia and Nicolas Crosse). Additionally, he created a work expressing the energy of karate in collaboration with artist Bertrand Chavarría and recently premiered a piece by the acclaimed saxophonist Vincent David.
Éric-Maria Couturier has performed with many great conductors, including Pierre Boulez, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Georg Solti, Carlo Maria Giulini, Péter Eötvös, Susanna Mälkki, Jonathan Nott, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Pierre Bleuse. As a soloist, he has performed cello concertos by composers such as Dutilleux, Elgar, Haydn, Dvořák, Brahms, Shostakovich, Eötvös, Fujikura, Kurtág, Merlin, Pfitzner, Saariaho, Francesconi, Lindberg, Herrmann, and Robin—with Robin having dedicated a concerto to him.
Passionate about teaching methods rooted in improvisation and the discovery of new techniques, he co-founded “Les Ateliers du violoncelle” (Cello Workshops) with Noémi Boutin and Vincent Courtois, and regularly performs in duos with them.
Zoë Martlew
A polymath creative force, Zoë Martlew has travelled the globe as cellist, cabaret artist, writer, broadcaster, curator and educator – from classical to contemporary, exploring improvisation, film, dance, theatre, pop, rock, jazz, electronica and the entirely uncategorisable – in a kaleidoscopic path that now converges in her voice as composer.
Her critically acclaimed debut release as composer – Album Z (NMC Records) features a stellar cast of internationally acclaimed solo performers, and gathers pieces that chart a lifelong journey through performance, ritual, and fearless artistic experiment.
Ekahuil
Ekahuil is a Mexican cellist, performer, composer, and researcher redefining the role of the cello in contemporary music. Inspired by his Mexican heritage, his name, “shadow” in Nahuatl, embodies a musical journey between light and darkness, where ancestral memory meets contemporary experimentation. His hybrid cello-percussive language fuses Neo-Aztec and Mexican Indigenous influences with Cello Metal, Post-Rock, Neoclassical music, and rhythms inspired by ancient Mexican dances. Through original compositions, improvisation, and interdisciplinary collaborations across music, dance, film, theatre, and sculpture Ekahuil challenges the classical canon and transforms the cello into a voice for identity, resistance, and contemporary expression.
Dalai Cellai
Dalai Cellai is a Berlin-based Greek-Mongolian cellist, singer, composer and educator. Classically trained with distinction, her work brings together composition, improvisation and expanded modern approaches to the cello. She moves between cinematic, alternative and heavy music, with a strong focus on texture, atmosphere and melodic storytelling.
As a solo artist, Dalai produces and performs her original music for cello and voice, with both acoustic and amplified electric cello, sound effects and looping. She also creates interdisciplinary performance work, including Ta Panta Rhei / Everything Flows, a dance and cello piece. Her solo music releases include “Harem’s Conspiracy”, “Ellipsis to Infinity” and “Bolero”. In 2026, she released “The Summoning”, a live full-length album with her dark cinematic duo Black Veil. She is also member of chamber black metal ensemble Antiqva and the Havoc Quartet.
Her collaborative work encompasses heavy and experimental music, neoclassical music, theater, modern circus, and film. She performs and tours internationally across a wide range of music styles and theatre productions, including Black Veil, The Ocean Collective, Sólstafir, Cirque Bouffon, Dirty Granny Tales and Le Cirque’s World Top Performers show “Alis”. Her interdisciplinary work also includes Little Big World by Sebastiano Toma, a production combining circus, dance, visual projections and live music, as well as co-composing a contemporary adaptation of Schiller’s the Robbers at Staatstheater Meiningen in Germany. Dalai also works as a recording artist for film, television, and for music records, as well as collaborating with established composers on international productions.
With over 20 years of teaching experience, Dalai is a co-founder of the Berlin Cello Academy and creator of the Cello Circle, where she explores creativity, improvisation, musical storytelling and personal expression with cellists of all levels. She also helps cellists discover their own voice and presence on stage, working with both emerging and professional performers.