About

Artist Statement

I think of myself first as a storyteller.

A great part of what drives me is a wish to give voice to hidden gems – works that have lived too long in the shadows – in addition to the core repertoire works that I love. When I find a piece I feel close to and believe in, I feel a responsibility to present it as faithfully and fully as I can. To help its meaning shine through my playing.

I grew up in Asia, moving between countries, cultures and languages. It gave me an open-mindedness I’m grateful for. But when I returned to France, I was a foreigner there too, in the eyes of others if not often my own. My roots were the love of my family, and music. The violin was where I found myself, and it still is.

I relate to pieces of music the way I relate to people — one to one, with patience and curiosity. And just as in life, some people you simply click with. For me that happens with music that has a certain depth of feeling, and that keeps you nourished in some way.

When I play, I feel that each note carries meaning, the way a word does in a song. Technique exists to serve that meaning — never to announce itself. Virtuosity for its own sake has never interested me. What interests me is the phrase that lands somewhere in a listener’s chest and stays there.

My deepest wish is to inspire, stimulate, touch people — to provoke a reaction, an emotion that stays with you. Curating a programme is, for me, curating a menu of emotions and possible reactions around a particular idea. It needs to be balanced but also should follow a common thread. A special experience of discovery, beauty, and enjoyment. One that makes you feel, when it’s over, that something has shifted inside you.

Biography

Violinist Irène Duval is establishing herself as one of the most distinctive voices of her generation — praised for her ‘poised, fearless energy, chamber intelligence and musical finesse’ (Charlotte Gardner, 2024) and ‘mastery of phrasing and of the dramatic dimension’ (Diapason). She is one of Bachtrack’s Ten Rising Stars to Watch for 2025–26.

At the heart of her artistic identity is a passion for combining works central to the repertoire with little-known gems. Her second disc, Fauré and Friends, pairs two rarely performed second violin sonatas — Fauré’s and Enescu’s. Her forthcoming recording project takes that instinct further, built entirely around three violin concertos that were lost for more than half a century before their rediscovery.

Recent highlights include her participation in Stephen Kovacevich’s 85th birthday concert at Wigmore Hall alongside Martha Argerich, her debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra at the first symphonic concert given by an international orchestra in Mauritius, her debut with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe at the inauguration concert of the Casals Forum in Kronberg, her first appearance at the Verbier Festival playing with Janine Jansen, a Debussy concert with Jean-Efflam Bavouzet at Wigmore Hall, and her fourth collaboration with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Last November, she played in a five-concert celebration of the centenary of Gabriel Fauré at Wigmore Hall, performing sonatas and ensemble works with Joshua Bell, Jeremy Denk, Blythe Engstroem, Steven Isserlis and Connie Shih.

As a soloist, she has collaborated with major orchestras including the Dresdner Philharmonie, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Orchestre d’Auvergne, Sinfonia Varsovia, and Kremerata Baltica, working with conductors including Maxim Emelyanychev, Michael Sanderling, and Robert Trevino. Irène gives recitals at major venues and festivals in Europe, Japan and Australia, including the Konzerthaus Berlin, Wigmore Hall, Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Salle Gaveau, Dresdner Kulturpalast, Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, Philharmonie de Paris, the Liszt Academy in Budapest, and Les Folles Journées in Nantes, Niigata and Tokyo. She frequently appears with pianists Sam Armstrong, Alasdair Beatson, Ariel Lanyi, Mishka Rushdie Momen, and Angus Webster.

Irène also enjoys the world of chamber music, participating in Open Chamber Music at IMS Prussia Cove in Cornwall each year, at the Krzyzowa Chamber Music Festival in Poland, and in Kronberg’s Chamber Music Connects the World festival. She has performed with musicians including Gidon Kremer, Khatia Buniatishvili, Olli Mustonen and Christian Tetzlaff.

Born in France to a French father and Korean mother, Irène Duval grew up in Japan, Indonesia, and Hong Kong before returning to France at the age of 11. She studied with Suzanne Gessner and Jean-Jacques Kantorow, before entering the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris in 2008 in the class of Roland Daugareil; in 2014 she joined the Kronberg Academy in Germany, where she studied with Mihaela Martin for three years. In 2021, she was a prize-winner at the Young Classical Artists Trust International Auditions.

Irène plays a Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin, generously loaned by a private sponsor.