Discovered by a wide public when she won the young soloist category at the Victoires de la Musique Classique in 2002, Emmanuelle Bertrand is one of the leading representatives of French cello.

She was a pupil of Jean Deplace and Philippe Muller at the Conservatoires Nationaux Supérieurs de Musique of Lyon and Paris and went on to be a prizewinner in the 1994 Rostropovich International Competition in Paris. In 1996, she received first prize in the Japan Chamber Music Competition in Tokyo and was also awarded the Prix de l’Académie Internationale Maurice Ravel. Emmanuelle Bertrand held a grant from the Fondation d’Entreprise Natexis from 1995 to 1999.

In 1999 she met the composer Henri Dutilleux whose support has been essential since: “Among the young artists of her generation, Emmanuelle Bertrand belongs to those who impressed me the most… Her intrepretation and the transparency of her playing filled me with great satisfaction, I do not hesitate to say that is for me a real revelation”.

Edith Canat de Chizy, Nicolas Bacri, Janez Maticic and Pascal Amoyel have composed for her. In 2000 she gave the first world performance of Luciano Berio’s latest work for cello solo “Chanson pour Pierre Boulez”. In 2002, Emmanuelle was also awarded the Grand Prix de la Critique by the Professional Union of the Drama and Music critic, as the “Musical Revelation of the Year”.

As a soloist, she is regularly invited by major Orchestras such as l’Orchestre Metropolitain du Grand Montréal, the Ukrainian National Orchestra, Moscow Soloists, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Orchestra Musica Vitae from Sweden, the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, RTV Slovenija Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, the Orchestre National de Lille, the Orchestre National de Lorraine, the Orchestre de chambre d’Auvergne, the Orchestre de Bretagne, the Orchestre des Pays de Savoie…

For several years, she has constituted a duo with the pianist Pascal Amoyel with whom she explores original works as well as the Grand Repertoire. In 2005-2006, they created together the Block 15, theatrical performance staged by Jean Piat, rehabilitating the statements of two musicians saved by music during World War 2. This show has been adapted for French television.

Her recordings released by Harmonia Mundi (solo or duo with Pascal Amoyel) all received highest awards: 10 in Répertoire/Classica, CHOC du Monde la Musique, ffff In Télérama, Diapason d’Or de l’Année, Cannes Classical Award… Her latest recording dedicated to Edvard Grieg has just been released.

In 2004, the Ministry of Culture named her “Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres”.