Clara Germont, concert cellist, Young Leader France-China 2025.

Clara Germont: I am the youngest of several  siblings. My parents wanted their children to be  introduced to music. My mother regularly took  me along to my older siblings’ music lessons.  That is how the cello teacher noticed me. I was a  well-behaved little girl and I kept telling my  parents that I wanted to play the “violin-sky” (a  child’s mispronunciation of “violoncelle”). When I  was old enough, I began my musical training  and I have never stopped since, despite the  difficulties that can mark such a path.

Music is a demanding environment. It is not only  about practicing one’s instrument, but also  about music theory, orchestra, chamber music,  and music history. At the same time, I was  practicing classical dance at a high level. I had  to make a choice around the age of 13 and  decided to devote myself fully to music. It was  an early decision, but as in high-level sport,  training must begin early to acquire the  necessary dexterity. I therefore continued my  schooling with an adapted timetable.

The choice of the cello came through this  singular human connection with my first  teacher. But the defining moment in my interest  in the instrument was a cello concert at the  Théâtre des Champs-Élysées where Yo-Yo Ma  performed Bach’s Suites. That concert gave me  a deep desire to follow this path. Within my  family, we all received musical training, but I am  ultimately the only one who made it my  profession; my brothers and sisters chose other  paths.

My musical journey began in this way. Then,  after several years of training, it is customary to  leave one’s first teacher to discover other  approaches, other methods and other  conservatories. At 15, I joined the class of Philippe  Muller, one of the great masters of the cello in  France, who has trained some of the most  brilliant musicians. After the Paris regional  conservatory, I went to Switzerland to study for  my bachelor’s degree, before returning to Paris  to the École Normale Supérieure de Musique.  There, I completed a three-year advanced cycle  under Professor Henri Demarquette.

What were the key moments or decisive choices in  your musical journey? Is there an encounter, a  person or an event that profoundly influenced your  trajectory?  

Meeting Philippe Muller was a true catalyst in my  quest for excellence. At 15, working with a  teacher who had trained some of the greatest  French and international cellists immediately  creates a high level of expectation. His  standards, his rigor, his approach to sound and  interpretation deeply marked me. It pushed me  to aim higher.

Moreover, the difficulties and trials I have faced  have played an essential role in shaping me.  They have nourished my determination and  strengthened my capacity for self-questioning.

Each setback forced me to refine my work,  clarify my musical identity and develop greater  inner strength. I sincerely believe that such  moments are structuring: they do not weaken a  trajectory, they shape it.

You develop a plural artistic universe, combining  chamber music, solo projects, more contemporary  inspirations, the creation of a label and the  organization of festivals. How do you choose these  different projects and where do these multiple  inspirations originate?  

My albums and various projects were first born  out of a form of frustration: I wanted to propose  my own vision of the concert, an experience that  could reach everyone, including young  audiences, and that would allow for greater  inclusion of the public.

In order to practice the cello in my own way, I  chose to organize my own concerts and to  develop a festival, the Festival des Cours  parisiennes. It was born in the midst of the  Covid-19 pandemic: I was playing with the  windows open in my Paris apartment when one  day neighbors knocked on my door to thank me  for accompanying the lockdown with my music.  They suggested organizing a concert in the  building’s courtyard.

This initiative was a genuine opportunity and  gave birth to the festival, with the desire to bring  music into unexpected places closer to the  audience.

The creation of a label stemmed from the same  impulse: to offer formats different from  traditional classical music, more in line with my  artistic vision. More recently, I also launched a  concert season in the south of France, Les  Concerts de l’Heure Dorée.

The very first concert of the Festival des Cours  parisiennes remains a very strong memory. I  was responsible both for production and  performance. That experience deeply marked  me and gave me the momentum to continue  producing and developing my own musical  projects.

You are at once a producer, musician, composer  and, in certain respects, an entrepreneur. How do  you manage to balance these different  responsibilities? Do you operate through  segmentation, or through constant back-and-forth  between these roles?  

Until recently, all this remained rather blurred  and sometimes difficult to manage. Today, on  the contrary, I try to segment my time very  clearly, because without this organization it  would be impossible to handle everything at  once. Composition requires a very particular  state of mind, completely different from daily  instrumental practice. Nothing must interfere  with that moment.

I even took a break of several months before  immersing myself again in writing my next  album, scheduled for release before the  summer. I am currently finalizing several pieces  that I wish to include. I now devote two or three  mornings per week to production, alongside my  associate. The rest of the time is dedicated to  composition. This segmentation allows me to  preserve distinct mental spaces and to find a  more effective balance in my work.

As a composer, what is your creative process? How  do you enter that particular state where inspiration  takes shape and notes come to life on paper?  

I discovered my creative process on my own.  During my training, I did not really learn to write,  nor to detach myself from the highly structured  frameworks that are transmitted to us. Yet every  musician possesses, through their training, the  necessary tools to compose.

What most often holds one back is a lack of  confidence and difficulty in letting go. To  overcome this, I began by improvising, simply to  search for melodies. A few years ago, certain  ideas emerged almost naturally in this way, and  this is still how I work today.

Concretely, I take my cello and improvise. A  melodic line emerges. Then comes the writing  stage: I transcribe the melody, orchestrate it for  several instruments, build the harmony,  establish verticality within the chords.

For me, composition is always born of a  spontaneous gesture: improvisation is the  starting point, writing is its structured extension.

Are you able to describe the mental state you are in  when you compose or improvise? Improvisation is  often associated with an intense state of  concentration, like a bubble. Is that how you  experience it?  

Exactly. I am incapable of composing in the city.  It is not a deliberate choice, but inspiration  comes to me when I am isolated. Nature, in  particular, deeply inspires me. In the very first  piece I composed, Pantai, which means “dream”  in Provençal, I sought to reproduce the wind in  the trees, the movement of air, the presence of  birds.

Nature is a major source of inspiration for  many composers, and it is just as much so  for me.

To create, I need that bubble of calm and  silence. It is in that environment, in contact with  nature, that I am able to fully enter into writing.

Nature seems to occupy a central place in your  music. During the Young Leaders France-China  2025 seminar, you notably performed one of your  compositions at the Château d’If, echoing this  place isolated by sea and wind. You also regularly  accompany museum visits on the cello, notably as  part of the exhibition Voir la mer at the Maif Social  Club. Could you tell us about your relationship with  nature and how you seek to integrate it into your  music?  

It probably stems from a desire for unity, from a  wish to become one with nature. I feel  particularly at ease when I play outdoors. That is  why most of the concerts I organize take place  outside. There is something fascinating about  the unpredictability this implies: birds, wind, the  sea, the elements add themselves to the  original composition and give it an additional  dimension. This interaction with the environment  fully forms part of the musical experience.

It is also the spirit of the exhibition Voir la mer,  with which I collaborate: bringing nature and its  elements back into the heart of the city. For my  next album, I would like to capture sounds from  nature and integrate them directly into certain  pieces.

You toured China in 2025 and another tour is  planned for June and July 2026. How did you  perceive the reception of Chinese audiences  compared with other international audiences? Did this experience change your approach to certain  works or your relationship to the stage?  

Yes, absolutely. Three weeks on tour in China,  with twelve concerts from Shanghai to  Shenzhen, were a wonderful discovery. At the  very first concert in Shanghai, in a magnificent  hall before nearly 1,500 people, the audience  applauded rather briefly at the end. I was initially  surprised, almost worried, wondering whether  they had truly appreciated our performance.  Then, during the signing session, the audience  crowded in large numbers to speak with us. I  understood that the expression of enthusiasm  was simply different from that of French  audiences, who often applaud at length but do  not always extend the moment afterward.

This cultural difference marked me deeply, and I  particularly appreciated the quality of the  exchanges after the performances. There were  also nuances from one city to another. This tour  was a profound enrichment.

I have also had the opportunity to perform in  Dubai, Scandinavia and Mexico. Each time, I was  struck by listening traditions, codes and the way  audiences express their attention. Everywhere, I  felt great respect for musicians, but expressed  according to very different sensibilities.

Which concert marked you the most in these  experiences?  

I enjoy performing in France because there is  often someone I know in the audience. Abroad,  this is not the case, but it sometimes leads me  to choose one person in the hall and tell myself  that, that evening, I am playing for them.

It creates a particular, even silent, bond. The  concert that marked me most remains  undoubtedly the first one we gave in China, in  Shanghai. It was a major first, in a magnificent  hall, in a country I was very eager to discover.  The moment was both solemn and deeply  moving. Another very strong memory is the  release concert for my latest album, Bleu Nuit. I  was particularly emotional, as it marked the  culmination of a project that meant a great deal  to me.

Looking ahead to 2026, what are your projects?  

I am currently working very intensively on  completing my first solo album. My last record  was a duo with violinist Florestan Raës ; this time,  I will carry the album alone and, for the first time,  it will bring together my own compositions. Its  release will be followed by a tour in China of  around twenty-five concerts, in a four-musician chamber music formation combining classical  repertoire and film music. In summer 2026, I will  also continue developing the festival I organize,  before going back on tour, notably in  Scandinavia.

Through your activities as producer, composer and  musician, how do you assume your role as a leader  in a very demanding musical environment?  

At first, I had many doubts. I partly chose to step  outside the traditional system in order not to be  confined within certain expectations. The  environment in which I was trained does not  always encourage musicians to produce their  own projects—and even less so women  musicians.

I accepted fairly early on that any work would be  criticized. And ultimately, if people talk about it,  even critically, it means it exists. That helped me  gain distance. Moving slightly away from a more  academic framework does not mean rejecting  it, since that is how I acquired my skills. But I  needed another space in which to develop my  vision. My choice to live in the South is also part  of this approach. That breathing space allows  me to take distance and perform better.

I am not sure I was “born a leader,” but I have  always wanted to defend my vision. I learn every  day to delegate and to lead in a healthy way. In  reality, music initiates us very early into leadership  dynamics. The orchestra is structured by a precise  hierarchy. From childhood, I aspired to be principal  cellist. Even today, I know what I wish to carry  artistically and I am ready to defend it, while  keeping in mind that collective balance remains  essential for a project to function.

What does being a “Young Leader” mean to you  today? What do you take away from your  experience within the Young Leaders program of  the Fondation France-Asie, whose second session  will soon be held in China?  

I found this experience particularly enriching. It  allowed me to exchange with people from  backgrounds different from my own, who have a  concrete perspective on project management,  business development or the structuring of an  activity. These exchanges nourished me greatly.  The organization of the program strongly  encouraged dialogue, and I was able to speak  with all participants. I was then in the midst of  preparing my festival, which made these  discussions all the more inspiring. One often  hears that culture cannot generate a viable  economic model.

Yet I am convinced that there are ways to  imagine solid artistic projects with a possible  financial balance. This experience also helped  evolve my vision, sometimes still very academic,  of things. It encouraged me to think differently  about the articulation between artistic exigency  and project viability. I made very meaningful  encounters and I look forward with great  enthusiasm to the continuation of the program.

On the eve of this tour in China, do you wish to  pursue and develop your musical work in Asia in  the years to come?  

Yes, absolutely. I would very much like to  strengthen these ties and anchor my work over  the long term in Asia. I am also considering  surrounding myself more locally. The idea would  be to create genuine artistic bridges with  different Asian countries and to deploy my  projects there over the long term.

Which piece from your album Bleu Nuit would you  recommend listening to while reading this  interview?  

Since we have spoken at length about nature, I  would recommend listening to Morgen by  Richard Strauss, included on the album Bleu  Nuit. It is a piece that resonates particularly with  this universe. Perhaps also Soir by Mel Bonis, a  French composer whom I greatly admire.