04/27/2026
Introducing the violist Claire Pass- Lanneau and the cellist Fiona Robson from the Quatuor Magenta.
CLAIRE PASS-LANNEAU
Viola
When her hands are not covered in paint, Claire Pass-Lanneau transposes her interest for colours and textures to music, the art to which she dedicated herself after growing up in Paris. Awarded the first prize and contemporary prize at the 2017 Concours National des Jeunes Altistes, Claire completed her Master's degree at the Conservatoire de Paris, under the guidance of renowned violists such as Sabine Toutain, Christophe Gaugué, David Gaillard, Lise Berthaud and Adrien la Marca. At the same time, she obtained a bachelor degree in chamber music (string quintet).
Passionate about ensemble playing even before joining the Quatuor Magenta in 2021, she was involved in the development of an nonprofit orchestra called Ensemble Orchestral Clair de Lune since its first edition in 2018, which she was invited to join as a soloist. Currently first chair of the Orchestre des Lauréats du Conservatoire, she was a member of the Verbier Festival Orchestra 2020 and she regularly plays in renowned French orchestras.
As a chamber musician, she loves exploring different configurations and all kinds of repertoire at festivals such as Présences Radio France and les Belles Musiques de Claix. Her string quartet journey with the Quatuor Magenta allows her to perform at renowned concert venues such as the Biennale des Quatuors à Cordes at the Philharmonie de Paris or the Festival de la Chaise-Dieu, and to collaborate with wonderful artists including the Modigliani Quartet, Pierre Fouchenneret, Romain Descharmes and Theo Fouchenneret.
FIONA ROBSON
Cello
Canadian cellist Fiona Robson completed her Master’s degree in cello performance at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris in 2022, in the class of Marc Coppey and Pauline Bartissol . Previously she studied with Matt Haimovitz at McGill University, and performed in Haimovitz’s Grammy-nominated cello ensemble Uc***lo in Canada, the US and Germany. Fiona was born in London, Ontario, where she studied cello with Julia MacGregor, and has since performed as a soloist with the London Youth Orchestra, London Community Orchestra, and London Concert Band.
Particularly enamoured with string quartet playing, she was a founding member of the Lafontaine String Quartet, with whom she won the 2018 McGill University chamber music competition and was a semi-finalist of the 2019 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. In 2021, Fiona and pianist Elsa Bonnet formed Duo Névé, and were soon invited to the prestigious Concours International de Musique de Chambre de Lyon in April 2022.
Excited by the exploration of contemporary music, Fiona commissioned an original piano reduction for Philip Glass’ Cello Concerto No. 1 in 2018, which she performed for the composer at Scotia Festival of Music. In 2023, Fiona commissioned a new piece for cello and piano from Canadian composer Chris Goddard. The result, Murch Studies, is an evocative four-movement suite inspired by the work of Chris’s great uncle, Canadian painter Walter Tandy Murch, and was premiered with pianist Raymond Truong in Toronto in March 2024. This performance was part of a five-stop recital tour that was generously sponsored by the Canadian Council for the Arts.
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PROGRAM
Two Pop Songs on Antique Poems - Dinuk Wijeratne* (b. 1978)
String Quartet No. 5 - Grażyna Bacewicz (1909-1969)
La Jeune Fille - Raphaël Merlin (b. 1982)
Piano Quintet in F Minor, Op. 34 - Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
On May 3, at 3pm, Syrinx welcomes the Quatuor Magenta
(Ida Derbesse- violin, Elena Watson-Perry- violin, Claire Pass-Lanneau- viola, Fiona Robson - cello)
with guest Maxime Alberti, piano
Heliconian Hall, 35 Hazelton Avenue, Toronto
