Staff
Born in 1991 in Geneva, Antoine Gilliéron studied the piano with Christian Favre at the Lausanne’s University of Music, where he completed Bachelor with honours and Master degree’s in instrumental pedagogy. He continued his studies at the Musikhochschule Luzern, where he obtained a second diploma in interpretation of contemporary music.
Antoine Gilliéron is three times laureate of the Swiss Youth Music Competition in piano solo and chamber music and was a recipient of the Ernest Göhner’s prize for artists in training. He was also chosen by the European Conservatories Association to participate as an expert to many missions of accreditation and management of higher education quality in Belgium (Conservatoires royaux de Bruxelles et Liège), Austria (Vorarlberger Landeskonservatorium), Estonia (Estonian Academy of Music and Theater), Poland (Karol Lipinski Academy of Music), Sweden (Malmö Academy of Music) and Lebanon (Faculty of Music and Musicology of University Antonine in Beirut).
As a pianist, Antoine Gilliéron has received valuable advice from renowned professors like Émile Naoumoff, Florian Hoelscher, Sébastien Risler, Alberto Nosè, Tatiana Pikayzen, Laurent Cabasso, Yvan Klansky, Thomas Hecht, Mùza Rubackyté, Aleksandar Madzar or Abdel Rahman El Bacha. He played among others in the Paul Klee Museum in Bern, the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste, the Steinway Hall in Lausanne, and in festivals such as Geneva Piano Festival, Pro Musica Festival (France), and Wege der Wahrnehmung in Luzern ; he also played with the contemporary ensemble of HEMU, the ensemble HELIX and the Lemanic Modern Ensemble.
Since 2016, he has been teaching the piano at École de Musique de Pully. In 2017 he teached at the École Sociale de Musique de Lausanne and since 2018 he is piano professor at the Conservatoire Populaire de Musique, Danse et Théâtre de Genève.
With an humanist vision of music, Antoine Gilliéron has, among other associative activities, took part in projects of musical mediation for Les Concerts du Coeur, Lavaux Classic, the Library of Geneva, or Week-end Musical de Pully, and often gives concert socially oriented.
He is director of Morges International Music Academy since 2016. At the same time, he studied cultural management at the Geneva University of Music and, since 2018 has been studying public administration at Lausanne University of Public Administration. Furthermore, he is an expert for the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation, also in charge of strategic mission at the Lausanne's University of Music.
Antoine Gilliéron, as a passionate of poetry, studied Modern Litterature and graduated from Bourgogne University. His poetic work was published by the Prix Interrégional des Jeunes Auteurs and awarded the first price of the Conseil d’État de Genève, “For his whole artistic qualities”.
Erika Lukin-Mertz is a musician, music teacher and organiser. She started her violin studies in Finland in Porvoo at the age of 6 with Ritva Jokiaho-Heikkilä and finished her Bachelor degree in Violin Pedagogy in Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences in the class of Silja Raitio-Heikinheimo. She worked in the administration of Karhusaari art center during 7 years in parallel to her music studies. After finishing her Bachelor studies she worked as a producer at Särestöniemi Chamber Concerts and in the administration of Särestö Masterclasses and International Minifiddlers Project alongside with Maarit Rajamäki and Géza Szilvay, while working as an assistant violin teacher in the Conservatory of Helsinki.
Since her arrival in Switzerland in 2012, Lukin-Mertz has finished two Master Degrees, the Orchestral Master with Professor Francesco de Angelis (Concertmaster of La Scala Theatre) and the Pedagogy Master with Professor Sergiu Schwartz (soloist and member of jury in many international violin competitions) in the Sion site of the Conservatory of Lausanne. She has completed her studies in masterclasses with Marianne Piketty, Hagai Shaham, Guyla Stuller, Christian Svarfvar and Karel Boeschoten, to name a few.
Performing and teaching are both passions of Lukin-Mertz. Her organisational skills are also appreciated in different organisations like the Morges International Music Academy. Besides working as the Project Manager of the Academy, Lukin-Mertz works actively as an orchestra musician in the Sinfonietta of Lausanne and in the Chamber Orchestra of Valais since 2013 and as a violin teacher in the International School of Lausanne and in Ecomuse Music School since 2016. She works also in different boards of cultural organisations in the Suisse Romande, she is especially the treasurer of the Association of the Musicians of the Sinfonietta of Lausanne.
She has been supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation with the loan of a violin by Antonio Capela in 2007-2012 and by the Paulo Foundation in 2010.