Swiss pianist Lionel Monnet was awarded a “Virtuosity with Distinction” diploma in 2003 from the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne, where he studied under Christian Favre. He continued his training in Paris with his mentor Abdel Rahman El Bacha, and also worked with Menahem Pressler of the Beaux-Arts Trio of New York and with the Trio Wanderer of Paris.
Since 1999, he has been the pianist of the Trio Nota Bene, with which he continues to perform regularly on both the Swiss and international music scenes.
Lionel Monnet won First Prize at the International Music Competition of Rotterdam, as well as First Prize by unanimous jury decision at the 28th Géraldine Whittaker Prize for Instrumental Trios in Neuchâtel. He was also honored with the Philippe Chaignat Prize for outstanding performance at the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, and received the Audience Prize at the 2009 edition of the Zulawski–Ville de Chamonix Prize.
He has performed internationally at venues and festivals including the Sion International Festival, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, La Roque d’Anthéron, Folles Journées in Nantes, Ljubljana Festival, Castres Festival, Zermatt Music Festival, the Tonhalle in Zurich, Bodrum Festival, Jerusalem Music Center, the Tel Aviv Museum, Nice Festival, and as a soloist with the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, and the European Concert Orchestra.
Lionel Monnet has shared the stage with numerous renowned artists such as Tibor Varga, Renaud Capuçon, Svetlin Roussev, Fabio Di Càsola, Malin Hartelius, Rachel Harnisch, Christoph Schiller, Shlomo Mintz, Nobuko Imai, Gérard Caussé, Pierre Amoyal, Ilya Gringolts, Blythe Teh Engström, Ophélie Gaillard, Svetlana Makarova, the Terpsycordes Quartet, the Sine Nomine Quartet, Edgar Moreau, Michel Dalberto, Brigitte Engerer, Dany Bonvin, and Shmuel Ashkenasi, among others.
He has received support from the Irène Dénéréaz Foundation, composer Henri Dutilleux, and the Swiss Global Artistic Foundation.
Since 2011, Lionel Monnet has been a piano professor at the Valais Cantonal Conservatory of Music. In July 2016, he was appointed professor of piano and chamber music at the International Academy of Biarritz, Côte Basque.
In January 2017, he was invited on an American tour with performances at festivals in New York, Philadelphia, and Princeton. That same year, he also served as a jury member for the Musique Riviera Piano Competition in Vevey.
He is the pianist of the “Quinteto del Fuego”, a group specializing in the music of Astor Piazzolla.
He is also the founder and artistic director of “Espace Consonance”, a concert hall and recording studio located in Saxon, Switzerland.
Lionel Monnet is represented by the Swiss record label Claves and the American label Naxos.