Léa Legros Pontal, born 1988 in Marseille, is a freelance violist based in Bern. After a Bachelor's degree with honours at the CNSMD in Lyon (2012), she moved to Switzerland to complete her studies with a Performance Master's degree followed by an Orchestral Master's degree at the Musikhochschule Lucerne with Isabel Charisius and Sylvia Zucker.

 

Passionate about chamber music, Léa studied in the Ysaÿe Quartet’s class at the Paris Conservatory. She was also member of a flute, viola and harp trio for almost five years. She has performed at various festivals alongside Peter Bruns, Franz Helmerson and Isabel Charisius.

 

Even while she was still a student, Léa performed regularly with several orchestras, including the St Gallen Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, and the Festival Strings Lucerne.

Since 2018, she has been a member of the Camerata Ataremac in Lausanne, performing regularly as principal viola. She has also been a member of the Berner Kammerorchester (BKO) since 2020.

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Contemporary music and free improvisation are two important aspects of her musical activity. During her studies in Lyon she took part in improvisation classes directed by Henri-Charles Caget and Jean-Marc Foltz. Afterwards Léa continued receiving artistic advice from Garth Knox, Joëlle Léandre, Laurent Estoppey, Nils Wogram, Jacques Demierre, Lauren Newton and Gerry Hemingway.

Together with saxophonist Silke Strahl she founded the Klexs Duo, which won second prize at the 2019 Nicati Competition. She is also a member of Ensemble Nachhall (a quartet with Sara Käser-cello, Raphael Loher-piano and Silke Strahl), whose music fluctuates between free jazz and free improvisation.

Since 2022 she has been a member of the Strasbourg-based ensemble collective lovemusic,, which specialises in contemporary music and won the ensemble prize of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation 2025.

 

Since her studies in Lyon Léa has also been very interested in early music. She chose this subject as a Minor for her first Master’s gaining a lot of experience. Between 2018 and 2023, she studied the baroque viola under the guidance of violinist Sabine Stoffer at the Bern Conservatoire.