"Florybel Music"
How a dream became true...

The organiser of International chamber music workshops Floryse Bel Bennett is an amateur violinist born in Switzerland, who thought of putting together her taste for contacts, her imagination and her experience in the organisation of meetings with her passion for music.

Floryse went to the United States in 1990 where she stayed for 4 years. There, she met a wonderful teacher in New York, Sandy Schipior. Among the Chamber music courses was the Bennington Conference in Vermont, which she still attends regularly. It was here that the desire for developing such music activity was first inspired.

In 1993, Floryse Bel Bennett joined the Opera Studio Orchestra, then the Orchestre Symphonique in Geneva. She became a member of the Musicians of Europe based in Strasbourg, and later was asked to be an adviser for ACMP (Amateur Chamber Music Players), a large and active association in New York, that encourages amateur musicians to meet and play music. This is how the idea came of having friends coming from overseas to Switzerland and meet and play with European friends.

In 1994, the first Alpeggio took place at the Hindemith Foundation in Blonay with 36 participants from 7 different countries. This was the first adventure. Since then, the Bridge Quartet from London joined as coaches in 1996. Two years later, Floryse discovered another region that she loved, the Haute Provence, and a wonderful place to hold a chamber music workshop, the monastery of Sainte Croix. This became CROscendo, with the Kocian String Quartet from Prague. Since then, the Terpsycordes Quartet from Geneva and the Quatuor Antarès from Paris have been invited to support the work of the enthusiastic musicians.

In 2006, she was asked by the Verbier Festival (Switzerland) to share some organisational experience and was invited to participate in the first Verbier Festival Amateur Chamber Music Week (with Gábor Takács-Nagy, Paul Coker and the Badke String Quartet).

In 2006-2007, under the direction of Aude Hauser, the physiotherapist and Jung analyst, Floryse took the "Artitude" course of the "Ecole du Beau" in Geneva; following the presentation of her dissertation, entitled "VIBRArTO or the Inspiration/Respiration of the String Quartet", she was awarded her diploma.

In 2010 she was nominated International Board member of ACMP, the Chamber Music Network, and subsequently became Chair of the International Advisory Council.