Trio SR9

SR9: The Sound of Exploration
You might think SR9 is the name of some experimental rocket meant to explore new galaxies. That’s not quite the case… and yet, in a way, it is! The trajectory of the trio bearing this name—founded in 2012 by Paul Changarnier, Nicolas Cousin, and Alexandre Esperet—indeed resembles that of a stellar craft on a mission to discover new sound worlds, even setting the music of the spheres swinging along the way.

Marimba, My Love
These three musicians—equal parts scholarly and ingenious—met in the percussion class of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Lyon. They share the singular fate of percussionists: true artists in their own right, yet entirely set apart, often called upon to play the most unusual instruments and sound objects in the orchestra. All with the precision of a Swiss watchmaker—or perhaps a cuckoo clock.
Along this adventurous path, they fell in love with the marimba—a noble xylophone with rosewood bars, which only entered European musical scores in the mid-20th century after many journeys. These musical “savanteers” recognized its potential: capable of spanning five octaves and adapting to any repertoire. Looking back through music history, they began transcribing and arranging classical and contemporary works for their favorite instrument.
It began with Bach, whose structure inspired their own: Paul Changarnier handles the bass lines, Alexandre Esperet takes on the soprano voice, while Nicolas Cousin, playing in the midrange, provides the counterpoint.
The trio has won several international prizes and released their debut album BACH au marimba (Naïve, 2015). This was followed by Alors, on danse? (Naïve, 2018) and Ravel Influence(s) (Evidence Classics, 2022), with collaborators Shani Diluka, Kyrie Kristmanson, and Astrig Siranossian DÉJÀ VU (NO FORMAT 2022 !).

Sound Alchemists
While the marimba remains at the heart of their work, their hunger for sonic experimentation knows no bounds. They build a unique instrumentarium from anything capable of making a sound—wood, metal, glass, even bones. Their toolkit includes donkey jaws, thimbles, bird calls, crystal glasses, a prepared piano, sheet metal, and other oddities scavenged from scrapyards and salvage shops—places rarely visited by professional musicians.
You have to see these musical MacGyvers in action: armed with mallets and tuners, digging through dumpsters in search of the perfect sound. Sometimes they find nothing—but often, they collect rare objects that sow the seeds of future projects. They embrace this serendipity as a method. After all, being an alchemist means turning lead into gold.
This magic perhaps found its most dazzling expression in their 2022 album Déjà Vu, created with composer and arranger Clément Ducol and released on NØ FØRMAT! The record transforms American studio mega-hits into delicate, handcrafted acoustic gems, featuring voices from the French music scene (Camille, Malik Djoudi, Camélia Jordana, Sandra Nkaké, Blick Bassy…).
These collaborations came to life in exceptional concerts—at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, the Opéra de Lyon, Japan’s Kyotophonie Festival, and Les Suds in Arles—joined by artists like La Chica, Barbara Pravi, Gabi Hartmann, and Flèche Love. Whether working with classical or pop musicians, the trio effortlessly adapts and evolves their sound identity.
In 2024, they released Venus Rising (Evidence Classics) with French-Canadian folk singer Kyrie Kristmanson—a new album paying tribute to long-forgotten women composers, from medieval times to today’s pop landscape. In 2025, he collaborates with singer Thomas Fersen on the album Le Choix de la Reine (Tôt ou Tard), produced by Clément Ducol.

So, Shall We Dance?
From the start, these three sonic explorers have believed that the "scholarly" and the "popular" can—and should—coexist. After all, many classical masterpieces were born from folk dances. SR9 has never forgotten this, and they delight in making music (and bodies) dance—beginning with their own.
Watching them perform live is a show in itself. Beyond their eclectic instrumentarium—resembling a mad inventor’s lab—they bring a choreographic dimension to their playing. Their synchronized gestures become a dance: mallets gliding across keys, arms moving in harmony, instruments changing, sonic punctuation marking the air in poetic patterns—like astronauts floating gracefully in zero gravity.
From the United States to Australia, Japan to Europe, their concerts and masterclasses follow one another in a whirlwind of joyous energy. Beneath the hard work lies boundless curiosity, wild inventiveness, and an infectious desire to share the joy of sound.
Make no mistake: although their name may seem like a mathematical formula—SR9, the square root of 9, which equals 3, like the number of trio members—its meaning has been transformed. Thanks to the alchemy of their creativity, it has become a poetic equation, synonymous with virtuosic and unquenchable curiosity.

The Trio SR9 is supported by the French Ministry of Culture / DRAC Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, the City of Lyon, CNM, Spedidam, Adami, the Institut Français, and SACEM.
They are sponsored by ADAMS Percussions, Zildjian, Absa and Resta-Jay Percussions.

Their stage outfits are designed by Issey Miyake.

May 2025