Trio Talweg

A generous and passionate soloist and chamber musician, Sébastien Surel is unanimously acclaimed by his peers and by the critics. He is a passionate advocate of the great repertoire, from Baroque to contemporary music. He is also an improviser, sharing the stage with leading jazz, world music and tango artists.

After winning 1st prizes for violin and chamber music at the Paris Conservatoire in the classes of Sylvie Gazeau and Christian Ivaldi, he went on to study with Pavel Vernikov, Shlomo Mintz, György Sebök, Eugène Istomin and the Ysaÿe Quartet. In 2004, he founded the Talweg Trio with Eric-Maria Couturier and Romain Descharmes, with whom he has toured Europe and Asia. 

Sébastien Surel's career has been marked by numerous projects with Martha Argerich, Roland Pidoux, Antoine Tamestit, Abdel Rahman El Bacha, Claire Désert, Xavier Philips, Nicolas Altstaedt, Michel Moraguès, the Ébène Quartet, the Belcea Quartet and the musicians of the Trio Wanderer. 

In 2014, he formed the Camara Pop trio with Vincent Segal and Tomás Gubitsch, whose virtuoso repertoire, interwoven with original compositions and arrangements, takes up the codes of chamber music by bringing in the singular culture and influences of the three musicians. 

In 2018, he also became 1st violin in the Ludwig Quartet. His musical adventures have taken him beyond the boundaries of so-called classical music to work with artists such as Juanjo Mosalini, Jean-Philippe Viret, Ibrahim Maalouf, David Linx and Richard Galliano, with whom he has given over 500 concerts around the world. His discography boasts some twenty recordings spanning all these worlds.

Sébastien Surel has held a C.A. in violin since 2011 and teaches violin and chamber music at the Conservatoire in the 12th arrondissement of Paris. 

Alongside the violin, he has studied harmony, orchestration and composition since the age of 12, and continued his writing studies in Paris with Alain Margoni. Passionate about music production since he was a teenager, he is a composer of music for images and masters all the stages of project production, from recording to editing, mixing and mastering.

He plays a Giuseppe Guadagnini violin from 1788. 

June 2024