Léa Legros Pontal

viola

Léa Legros Pontal, born in Marseille in 1988, is a freelance violist based in Bern (CH). After completing a Bachelor's degree with honours at the CNSMD in Lyon (2012), she continued her studies in Switzerland with a Master's degree in Performance and a Master's degree in Orchestra at the Lucerne University of Music and Performing Arts, studying with Isabel Charisius and Sylvia Zucker.

A keen chamber musician, she studied with the Quatuor Ysaÿe at the Paris Conservatoire and was a member of a flute, viola and harp trio for five years. She has performed at various festivals alongside musicians such as Peter Bruns and Franz Helmerson.

Léa has worked with a several orchestras, including the Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen, the Basel Sinfonietta, the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse and Festival Strings Lucerne. She is principal viola of the Camerata Ataremac (Lausanne) and a member of the Berner Kammerorchester.

Contemporary music and free improvisation are central to her career. Trained in improvisation in Lyon, she has furthered this art with Garth Knox, Joëlle Léandre and others. In 2018, she and Ensemble Nachhall developed a 24-hour improvisation marathon at the crossroads of free-jazz and improvisation. With saxophonist Silke Strahl, she founded the Duo Klexs, winner of second prize in the 2019 Nicati Competition, with whom she has created numerous pieces.

Since 2022, she has been a member of collective lovemusic, which specialises in contemporary music and won the Ernst von Siemens Foundation 2025 Ensemble Prize.

Léa is also interested in early music, and has trained on the baroque viola with Sabine Stoffer.