Jean-Samuel Bez - Biography
Devoting himself primarily to chamber music, French violinist Jean-Samuel Bez performs over a hundred concerts each year around the world. Over the course of his career, he has appeared in more than thirty countries, reflecting a rare eclecticism and a constant curiosity for contemporary creation. His playing embodies an open artistic approach, where classical repertoire, new works, and interdisciplinary collaborations converge.
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A member of the Trio Spilliaert, whose mission is to promote Belgian musical heritage through both rediscovery of historical repertoire and the commissioning of new works, he has created several multidisciplinary performances, including Spilliaert’s Moonlights (2023) and Monsieur Pâque (2019), a children’s music-and-theatre production. The trio received the Open Cap Ferret Prize in 2018, the FUGA Trophy, and the Caecilia Prize in 2023. In Vienna, he founded the Paganini in Paris duo with guitarist Raphaël Béreau. Their program, inspired by the virtuosity of Paganini and the refinement of the French school, explores the rare colors of violin and guitar within an atmosphere of delicacy and subtlety.
With Canadian pianist Jean-Luc Therrien, he leads the itinerant project Caléidoscopes – Creations on the Road, combining established masterpieces and contemporary works written during their tours. Jean-Samuel Bez is also a member of the collective Le Jardin Féérique, which produced the album Étincelles with pianist Louise Akili, dedicated to two French women composers contemporary with Ravel: Marcelle Soulage and Joséphine Boulay. Since 2024, he has also formed a duo with Italian pianist Chantal Balestri, centered around a program celebrating Franco-Italian friendship.
In a completely different field, he collaborates with the Icelandic group Arstiđir, with whom he recorded Nivalis (2018), awarded Best Indie/Alt Rock Album at the Independent Music Awards, and later Blik (2023), blending instrumental textures with electronic and vocal sonorities.
His discography reflects the diversity of his artistic path and includes around ten recordings: Secrets (2025, Klarthe) with the duo Paganini in Paris; Étincelles (2025, Passavant) with Louise Akili; Augusta (2024) with the Trio Spilliaert and the Irish collective Sonic Gate; Blik (2023) and Nivalis (2018) with ArstiÄ‘ir; Fantaisies (2022, Klarthe) with Jean-Luc Therrien; as well as monographic albums dedicated to the trios of Jacqueline Fontyn (Cybele, 2022) and Désiré Pâque (Cyprès, 2021). His ventures also include an incursion into electronic music through Les Intrications musicales with composer Arure.
Deeply committed to contemporary creation, Jean-Samuel Bez continually seeks to expand his artistic horizons. Numerous composers have dedicated works to him, among them Nicolas Bacri, Eugénie Alécian, Alithéa Ripoll, Volodymyr Runchak, and Jan Kuijken.
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Born in Pontarlier, France, Jean-Samuel Bez began studying violin with Krystina Mugika. Drawn early to chamber music, he quickly became a familiar figure at local concert series and festivals, and in 2005 was the dedicatee of Guy Leclercq’s Quintette Bichrômie with the Quintette Douze. He went on to receive, unanimously, the First Prize of the Conservatoire of Dijon, followed by the First Prizes of Excellence and Virtuosity at the Conservatoire of Rueil-Malmaison, before joining the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, where he graduated with highest honors and was awarded the Pappaerts Prize in 2016 for exceptional academic achievement.
©Alexandre Mhiri Photography
©Arthur Chimkovitch
He studied under Jean-François Corvaisier, Guy Comentale, Igor Volochine, and Véronique Bogaerts, and later refined his training in Vienna with Michael Frischenschlager at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst. He also benefited from the guidance of Pavel Vernikov, Régis Pasquier, Gérard Poulet, and the Manfred, Danel, and Pražák Quartets.
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A laureate of numerous prizes, grants, and international competitions, he received the Jury Prize at the Malta International Music Competition (2015), was a winner of the Young Bozar Project (2015), and was awarded the Hanseez-Castilhon and Horlais Dapsens Prizes in Brussels (2016). He also won First Prize at both the Musique Svirel International Competition (Slovenia, 2017) and the Luigi Zanuccoli International Competition (Italy, 2017).
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He regularly appears as a soloist, performing the major concertos of the violin repertoire and has also completed a full course of compositional studies, earning three unanimous First Prizes in harmony, counterpoint, and fugue, as well as a special SACEM award.
Jean-Samuel Bez is a member of Chamber Music for Europe, co-artistic director of The Sotiropoulos Camerata, and director of the SineMuro Festival.
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