My name is Jonathan Gaillard and I are from Valais. Already at the age of 6 I started my musical education on the cornet in the brass band Cécilia with Christophe Pralong. Then I very quickly changed to Eddy Debons at the Cantonal Conservatory in Sion. With him I continued the study of the cornet, and it was he who trained me in trumpet playing. I am currently studying trumpet at the haute école de musique de Fribourg with Marc-Olivier Broillet. I am also learning the art of conducting instrumental ensembles with Jean-François Bobillier.

Twice I participated in the summer academy of the Swiss symphony orchestras of the Jeunesses Musicales Suisse. I have only nice memories of it and I’m looking forward to being a camp counsellor.

Among other things, this orchestra gave me the desire to conduct and make music professionally.

I look forward to passing on what I received there to the next generation: the love of music, timeless friendships, and most of all great, unforgettable memories!

Javier López Sanz received his first musical training at the Conservatory of his home country, Guadalajara (E). Thanks to scholarships from the German Academic Exchange Service DAAD-La Caixa and the Spanish cultural arm, he studied at the Conservatorio Superior de Salamanca with Isabel Vilá (teaching diploma), at the Universität der Künste Berlin with Ilan Gronich (diploma orchestral musician), completed a Master of Arts in interpretation and Concert at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne with Gyula Stuller and a Master of Arts in Music Pedagogy at the Bern University of the Arts with Gertrud Weinmeister and Regula Schwaar Niederhauser, where he graduated with distinction.

During his studies, Javier was able to play under Bernard Haitink, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Paavo Järvi and Lutz Köhler as section leader of the second violins in the European Youth Orchestra (EUYO) and in the Spanish Youth Orchestra.

From 2008-2011 he played in the Spanish orchestra Real Filharmonia de Galicia. Since an internship in the Bern Symphony Orchestra, Javier has played there regularly as a newcomer. Since 2013 he has also played as a newcomer in various orchestras such as the Orchester de la Suisse Romande, the Camerata Bern, the SWR Sinfonieorchester, the orchestra for early music Les Passions de l’Ame, the Bern Chamber Orchestra and the Orchester de Chambre Fribourgeois.

Javier combines playing with his other passion: education. Since 2015 he has been teaching violin and viola at the Music School Region Gürbetal (BE) and is co-director of the Symphonic Orchestra of the music school. After five years in the team, Javier is now taking over the leadership of the Swiss Symphony Orchestra of the Jeunesses Musicales Suisse, where he would like to pass on all his knowledge and extensive experience as an orchestral musician and teacher to young people.

Fréderic Théodoloz grew up in Grone in the Valais and was associated from childhood with the Valais brass bands La Marcelline de Grone and 13 Etoiles Formation B. He started playing the trombone at an early age. As a student of Roland Schnorhk at the Conservatoire Supérior de Musique in Geneva, he won prizes at national soloist competitions. In 1996 he completed his trombone studies with a diploma and in 2000 won the 1st prize for virtuosity.

Between 1996 and 2011 he played in various orchestras such as the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, the Orchester de la Suisse Romande, the Sinfonietta of Lausanne and the Geneva Chamber Orchestra. He was second trombonist in the Porto National Orchestra and bass trombonist in the Durban Philharmonic Orchestra, the Aosta Valley Symphony Orchestra and the Orchester des Lumières.

In 2010 he began his conducting studies in Jean-Claude Kolly’s wind music directing class and graduated with a Master of Arts HES-SO in Music from the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne. He continues to work with great figures in the brass band movement, including Robert Childs, Allan Withington and David King.

From 2009 to 2018 Frédéric Théodoloz led the Echo des Dent-Blanche des Haudères, a first-class brass band, and from 2012 to 2016 conducted the Brass Band Friborg. With this formation he won the title of runner-up at the Swiss Open Contest in Lucerne and the title of Swiss Brass Band Champion at the national competition in Montreux. The latter enabled him to represent Switzerland in the European Brass Band Competition in May 2013 in Oslo.

In addition to his diverse tasks as musical advisor, guest conductor and juror at home and abroad, Frédéric Théodoloz has been conducting the first-class brass band La Lyre in Conthey since 2015 and teaching in Valais.

He is co-director of the BPM Festival (Brass and Percussion Meeting) and leader of the Brass Band 13 Etoiles.

He has been the musical director of the Jeunesses Musicales Suisse Orchestra Academy since 2016 and works with renowned soloists such as Jeroen Berwaerts, Lionel Cottet and Giovanni di Angeli. From 2020 Frédéric will also be co-director of the Swiss Symphony Orchestra of the Jeunesses Musicales Suisse.