Lethiec
An eclectic and passionate artist, violist Karine Lethiec is widely recognized for her artistic rigor and openness, securing her a distinguished place among sought-after musicians, particularly for her expertise as a concert performer and her interdisciplinary approach, forging connections between Music, Fine Arts, History, Archaeology, and Science.
Deeply committed to transmission in all its forms, she is actively engaged in various cultural projects, including making music more accessible through mediation, supporting the professional integration of Young Talents, and promoting contemporary musical creation by bringing music to unconventional venues (museums, prehistoric caves, scientific centers, etc.).
She has served as the artistic director of various events and festivals, including Ensemble Calliopée since 1999, the Amadeus Festival in Geneva from 2004 to 2009, the Rencontres Musicales de Saint-Cézaire from 2001 to 2020, Musique et Sciences at the Scientific Institute of Cargèse, and the Young Talents Academy-Festival Around Ventoux from 2021 to 2023. As a founding member, alongside astrophysicist Jean Audouze, of the AST21 collective (Arts, Sciences, and Technologies of the 21st century), she has been collaborating with the National Archaeology Museum since 2018 and is currently in residence at the Musée de l’Homme in Paris.
Born into a family of musicians, she began her musical studies at a young age at the Nice Conservatory before studying violin, viola, and chamber music at top European conservatories. She graduated from the CNSM de Lyon in violin (studying under Jacques Ghestem and Elisabeth Balmas) and later completed the virtuosity cycle at the Geneva Conservatory in violin (under Jean-Pierre Wallez). In viola, she studied with Hatto Beyerle (founder of the Alban Berg Quartet) and Hartmut Rohde, earning a "Konzert Exam" from the Hochschule in Bern. For chamber music, she pursued advanced studies at the CNSM de Paris in string quartet and took masterclasses with Walter Levin and Hatto Beyerle at the Hochschule in Basel. She further refined her skills in the U.S. at the Ravinia Steans Music Institute for Young Artists in Chicago and has won several competitions, including First Prize at the Greensboro Competition (USA) and the Special Jury Prize at the 2000 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition (UK). She was also supported by the Natexis-Banque Populaire Foundation. Holding a teaching certificate, she is affiliated with the conservatories of the City of Paris and served as a study advisor from 2014 to 2018. Karine Lethiec plays a 1777 Sympertus Niggel viola.
Her expressive playing and extensive repertoire, covering all formations that include the viola, make her a highly sought-after chamber musician. Her musical journey has taken her to prestigious venues such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Gergiev Festival in Rotterdam, the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Hermitage Auditorium in St. Petersburg, the Czech Philharmonic in Prague, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Salle Gaveau, Salle Cortot, La Folle Journée in Nantes, Les Flâneries de Reims, the Festival Présences, the Athens Festival at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, the Tempelhof Festival in Berlin, the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, the Mannes Auditorium in New York, and the Sumida Triphony Hall in Tokyo.
She has performed as a soloist with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Camerata St. Petersburg, the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre Régional de Cannes, the Mulhouse Symphony Orchestra, the Erfurt Philharmonic, the Prague Berg Orchestra, and the Talich Chamber Orchestra.
She has recorded the complete Mozart quintets with the Stradivari Quartet (Dynamic). Passionate about research and repertoire dissemination, her discography includes rare works by Bohuslav Martinů (featuring film H136 on the rediscovery of this score), Jean Sibelius, Louis Vierne, Lucien Durosoir, and Rudi Stephan, released by Arion, Hortus, Salamandre, and Alpha labels.
As artistic director and violist of Ensemble Calliopée since 1999, she curates a flexible programming structure ranging from two to fifteen musicians. Her approach prioritizes cultivating an appreciation for musical heritage while fostering curiosity for contemporary creation by working directly with composers and integrating broader artistic, historical, and scientific contexts as well as contemporary issues.
Karine Lethiec designs and performs interdisciplinary programs and productions in various artistic domains:
- Visual Arts (e.g., Chagall exhibitions at the Musée du Luxembourg, Beyond the Stars at the Musée d’Orsay for the Nuit des Musées, and Degas Danse Dessin)
- History (e.g., residency at the Museum of the Great War from 2011 to 2018)
- Archaeology (in partnership with the National Archaeology Museum – Domaine national de Saint-Germain-en-Laye)
- Literature (musical tales and melodramas)
- Cinema (Comme en 14 cine-concert, Krazy Kat cartoon-concert, the soundtrack for Juste avant l’orage, a feature film by Don Kent)
- Dance (Isadora Duncan, When Music Becomes Dance)
With her friend, astrophysicist Hubert Reeves, she conceived and performed numerous productions, including Cosmophonies and Mozart and the Stars, blending Music, Cosmos, Nature, and environmental awareness. At his request, she continues to share his message through musical and video adaptations.
Recently, she created new musical programs: CosmoSono – Gravitational Waves, Echoes of Our Origins, in collaboration with astrophysicist Peter Wolf, bringing music to one of today’s most significant scientific detectors, the VIRGO interferometer in Pisa, and into prehistoric caves; Musique et Muses – The Oldest Song in the World; and A Stone Tells a Story – Homage to the Ornate Slab of Saint-Bélec, all available for live performances and audiovisual broadcasts on YouTube.
Karine Lethiec has been a devoted champion of contemporary musical creation, commissioning, programming, and performing over a hundred new works. She premiered compositions by winners of the Pablo Casals Festival Composition Competition (2005-2020) and recorded Kryštof Mařatka’s Astrophonia concerto with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France (France Musique). The OrigINnovation CD, featuring Mařatka’s works, was released by Arion in April 2018, followed by a monographic CD of Graciane Finzi in 2021 (ARION).
In 2023, she launched MUSICoMAN, a new audiovisual musical creation project centered on the viola and inspired by archaeology, featuring commissioned works from Graciane Finzi, Philippe Hersant, Kryštof Mařatka, Benoît Menut, and Philippe Schoeller. This project includes a web series, a documentary film, music-video concerts, and international distribution.
This initiative aligns with her goal of expanding the contemporary viola repertoire. In 2024, as part of her residency at the Musée de l’Homme in Paris, she launched PREHISTOMANIA MUSICAL, linked to the museum’s exhibition, commissioning new viola works from Elise Bertrand, Violeta Cruz, Pascale Jakubowski, Sophie Lacaze, and Farnaz Modaresifar, alongside RITUEL(S), featuring works by Michel Petrossian, Olivier Calmel, Daniel Teruggi, and David Achenberg.