Jean-Marc Phillips-Varjabédian, violin
Raphaël Pidoux, cello
Vincent Coq, piano
Acclaimed by the press for their extraordinary sensitivity and dazzling virtuosity, as well as an almost telepathic complicity, over the years the Trio Wanderer has become an essential group on the international music scene. They have chosen the theme of travellers as their emblem, hence why their name translated to Spanish means "Errante", which on one hand, implies an inner journey, which takes them closer to Schubert and German Romanticism, and on the other, it is a journey inspired by the openness and curiosity to explore music from Haydn to contemporary scores.
The members of the trio graduated from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, and subsequently studied at Bloomington´s School and the Julliard School of New York. They also participated in master classes with great maestros such as Jean-Claude Pennetier, Jean Hubeau, Janos Starker, Menahem Pressler of the Trio Beaux Arts and the Amadeus Quartet. In 1988 they won the ARD Music Competition and, in 1990, the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition in the United States.
When starting out, the members of the Trio Wanderer attended the chamber music master classes of the Festival de la Roque d'Anthéron, masterclasses that they have now been running as teachers for more than ten years.
Acclaimed as a "Wandering Star" by "Strad" magazine, the Trio Wanderer has performed at the most important concert halls, such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Musikverein of Vienna, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées of Paris, the Wigmore Hall in London, Opera House of Bejing, Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeiro, Palau de la Música de Barcelona, Auditorio Nacional of Madrid, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall of Moscow, Place des Arts of Montreal, Herkulessaal of Munich, Washington Convention Center, Kio Hall in Tokyo, Tonhalle of Zurich and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam - and at major international festivals: Edinburgh, Montreux, Feldkirch, Schleswig Holstein, Rheingau Musiksommer, La Roque d'Anthéron, Les Folles Journées de Nantes, Stresa, Granada, Osaka, and three times at the Salzburg Festival.
In the repertoire of triple concertos, the Trio Wanderer has collaborated more than one hundred times with international orchestras, such as the Orchestre National of France, the Orchestre Philharmonique of Radio-France, the orchestras of Toulouse, Nice, Pays de Loire, Picardie, Pau- Pays de Béarn, Montpellier, Liège, Teneriffe, Santiago de Chile, La Coruña, Radio Symphonie Orchestre of Berlin, Malaysia Philharmonia Orchestra, Württembergische Philharmonie, Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería, Sinfonia Warsaw, Grazer Philharmoniker Orchestre, Nürnberg Philharmonic, Moscow National Philharmonic Orchestra, Stockholm Chamber Orchestra, Geneva Chamber Orchestra, Ural Philharmonic Orchestra, Paris Chamber Orchestra and under the baton of Yehudi Menuhin, Christopher Hogwood, James Loughran, François-Xavier Roth, Luis Langrée, Arie van Beek, Marco Guidarini, Ken-David Masur, Ion Marin, José Areán, Charles Dutoit, James Conlon... .
In addition to albums for Sony Classical, Universal, Cypres, Mirare and Capriccio, in 1999 the Trio Wanderer began its collaboration with Harmonia Mundi. Since then, twenty recordings have been released: the Trios by Chausson, Ravel, Haydn, Shostakovitch, Fauré, Pierné, Arensky, Tchaikovsky, Copland, Saint-Saëns, Mendelssohn, Smetana, the complete Trios by Schubert, Brahms and Beethoven, the Piano Quintets by Schubert and Hummel, the Triple Concertos by Beethoven and Martinù with the Gürzenich-Kölner Philharmonic, and works by Liszt and Messiaen.
These recordings have often been recognised by critics and have obtained several awards: “Choc de la Música”, “Gramophone Editor's Choice”, “Fono Forum's Monat”, CD of the month from "BBC Music Magazine", “Golden Diapasón” “Midem Classical Award”... Their recording of the trios by Mendelssohn was selected as a benchmark by the New York Times on the occasion of the bicentenary of the birth of the composer, as well as that of the Trio opus 100 by Schubert in 2016 by the BBC, among the 14 proposed versions.
In May 2019 the Trio Wanderer launched an album devoted to the trios of Rachmaninoff, and subsequently, in August 2020 an album by Shostakovich: Quintet op. 57 / Romances Op. 127, and their most recent recording only went on sale in May 2021 and is devoted to Schumann (trios Op. 63, 80 and 110, Phantasiestücke op. 88, piano quartet Op. 47, piano quintet, Op. 44).
Passionate about contemporary music, the Trio Wanderer has premiered works by Thierry Escaich, Bruno Mantovani, Frank Michael Beyer, Christian Rivet, Matteo Francescini, Philippe Hersant….
In 2003, the Franco-German channel ARTE devoted a documentary to them. In 2017, Editions Art3 published a book by Olivier Bellamy, "Trio Wanderer, 30 ans, le bel Age", which recounts the career of the trio.
The Wanderer Trio has received the French "Victoires de la Musique" on three occasions as the best instrumental group of the year.
In 2014 Jean-Marc Phillips-Varjabédian and Raphaël Pidoux were appointed professors of violin and cello at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, and Vincent Coq has taught chamber music at the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne since 2010.
In 2015, the members of the Wanderer Trio were distinguished with the rank of the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters.
Jean-Marc Phillips-Varjabédian plays a violin by Charles Coquet (Paris - 2014) and a Gand Père (Paris - 1840, on loan from Mr. Nicolas Dufourcq), and Raphaël Pidoux plays a cello by Gioffredo CAPPA (Saluzzo 1680).