Franco-Dutch violist, Sào Soulez Larivière, is quickly building himself an international career as a versatile musician. Already at the age of 21, he is a top prizewinner of several international competitions, including the International Max Rostal Competition (DE, 2019 – 2nd Prize), the Cecil Aronowitz International Viola Competition (UK, 2017 – 3rd Prize), and the International Johannes Brahms Competition (AT, 2017 – 3rd Prize).
He has been featured in prestigious music festivals including the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, the Menuhin Festival Gstaad, the Kronberg Academy Festival and the Verbier Academy Festival. In addition to making numerous solo appearances across Europe, he loves playing chamber music, having performed in festivals such as the Elba Isola Musicale d‘Europa (IT), Hamburger Kammermusikfest (DE), Krzyzowa-Music Festival (PL) and “Chamber Music Connects the World” in Kronberg (DE).
Soulez Larivière’s passion for broadening the viola repertoire has led him to arrange several works for the instrument. He often performs along with his sister, violinist Cosima Soulez Larivière, with whom he also enjoys playing his own arrangements (like ‘The Carnaval of Venice’ by N.Paganini).
Born in Paris, Sào Soulez Larivière originally started playing the violin at a very young age. He was awarded a scholarship at just the age of eight to study in the class of Natasha Boyarsky at the Yehudi Menuhin School (UK). Having discovered the viola whilst playing both chamber music and orchestra there, he decided to fully devote himself to the instrument by 2016. In addition to his early education, Soulez Larivière’s musical development has been enriched by working with world renowned musicians, such as Gerard Caussé, Nobuko Imai, Steven Isserlis, Gabor Tacács-Nagy, among others.
He is generously supported by scholarships from the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes, Yehudi Menuhin ‘Live Music Now’ Berlin e.V. Foundation, as well as the ‘Villa Musicaʼ Foundation and in 2019, was awarded the prestigious ‘Ritter-Prize’ in Hamburg on behalf of the Oscar and Vera Ritter Stiftung.
Sào Soulez Larivière resides in Berlin where he pursues a Bachelor of Music degree with Professor Tabea Zimmermann at the Hochschule für Musik ‘Hanns Eisler’. He plays on an instrument made by Fréderic Chaudière in 2013.
