The Belgo-Argentinian cellist Leonor Palazzo got her Masters degree at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels in 2009. She was one of the students under Marie Hallynck and Didier Poskin and she completed her training under Edmond Baert, Guy Danel, Igor Semenoff, Bernard Woltèche, Hervé Douchy, Lluís Claret, Daniel Rubinstein, Alan Black and Muhiddin Dürrüoglu-Demiriz, to name a few. She then decided to broaden her horizons by learning traditional Swedish music and she embarked on a year-long course at the Academy of Music and Drama of Gothenburg under Hans Kennemark.

She is now living in Gothenburg and has been collaborating with many talented Swedish musicians. For instance, she started the Nordic folk band Kurbitz with three other fellow music students and they have since played regular concerts in Europe, including a performance at the Royal Palace in Stockholm.

Practicing traditional dances herself, she also loves to play for dancers – Scandinavian dances of course, but French dances as well with the Duo Guerbigny Palazzo. Alongside this fantastic accordion player she has been playing lively dance music from the Poitou region.

From her mother, the harpsichordist Paule Van den Driessche, she has inherited a deep interest in baroque music. That is why it is second nature for her to explore this specific repertory as a member of the Ensemble Bradamante.

She has recently released a first album with the folk music band Septentrio, published by ARC Music, London. The band was founded in Gothenburg in 2011 and is a combination of three different nations: Sweden with the ‘National Folk Musician’ Hans Kennemark on the fiddle (Riksspelman), Finland with the 5-row free-bass accordion player Hannu Kella and, of course, Belgium with Leonor on the 5-string cello.

Her competition credentials date as far back as 1998, when she won the First Prize in the chamber music category at the contest SONBU in Utrecht. She also reached the semi-finals of the Jong Tenuto competition and won an Axion Classics award.

Moreover, she has taken part in several studio recordings and her credits include her collaboration on «Tarentelle & Cie» with the La Néthen Chamber orchestra, and «Les pieds sur la braise vol 2» where she joined forces with the Trio Guerbigny.

Over the years, Leonor has performed in many European countries, the USA and Korea.

Her desire to dive into the Swedish folk music has led her to acquire a 5-string cello. This instrument is tuned as a usual cello with an extra E string on the top, which gives C-G-D-A-E. This instrument allows her to play traditional tunes in a way that cellists would only dream of, and has also opened up for her a huge repertoire in the ancient music field.

Ellinor & Leonor

Ellinor Fritz and Leonor Palazzo bring a new colour to the Nordic folk music. After many years playing together, they decided to explore the essence of traditional Swedish music in a duo where the fiddle and the cello share a common sensitivity for the incredibly rich musical landscape of Sweden, and especially Southern Dalarna. They play traditional dance music and achieve to marry sensibility and groove.

Their latest album "Årsringar" ("Growth Rings") was released in May 2019 by Kakafon Records.

Ellinor & Leonor lift the traditional music of Dalarna to previously unknown heights with most beautifully exquisite interpretation and arrangement.

Luise Rube, Lira musikmagasin

A collection of traditional fiddle tunes given stunning new arrangements and with both musicians on blistering form.

Richard Hall, Rock’n’reel Magazine, Feb 2020

Both artists give sensitive and superb performances. Årsringar is a really delightful album, graceful and witty, reflective and lively all at once. Released in May 2019, it’s never too late to catch up on such a fine set of tunes so beautifully expressed.

Su O’Brien, Folking, Feb 2020

Alex Monaghan, FolkWorld #71, mars 2020

Their first album "Mormors trädgård" was released in April 2014. You can listen, order and download it here.

Ensemble Bradamante

The baroque quartet Ensemble Bradamante is a constantly evolving ensemble, seeking for interesting repertoires and stories to tell through their music. The ensemble not only performs on historical instruments but also wishes to bring back to life the spirit and the context in which the works were written.

Anne-Catherine Gosselé, Rachel Heymans, Paule Van den Driessche and Leonor Palazzo have studied in different conservatories in Europe (Brussels, Murcia, Berlin, Gothenburg, Basel) and always give the opportunity to their audience to appreciate each instrument at their best through solos or duos.

The album Concerti a quattro was published and released in January 2020 under the label MUSO.

A sharp interpretation that knows how to sing and breathe.

La Libre Belgique, 01/2020

The five-string cello sounds at the same time lively and virtuoso, so close to the viol, and is played with delicacy by Leonor Palazzo. (…) At the end of this fortunate journey through reduced musical forms highlighting each instrument, the seduction undoubtedly operates.

Lexnews, 01/2020

Merje Kägu Ensemble

With this album titled "When Silence Falls", Merje Kägu Ensemble dives into the work of Merje Kägu, Estonian guitar player and composer. The music is interpreted by classical, folk and improvising musicians from many different countries including Merje Kägu (guitar, EE), Anders Jormin (double bass, SE), Jesse Ojajärvi (drums, FI), Åsa B. Johansson (violin, SE), Marina Cyrino (flute, BR) and Blanca Sans Ballart (oboe, English horn, ES). Released in October 2018 by Losen Records.

A surprisingly independent, consistently executed crossover of deeply meditative gait. (…) The magic of this superbly recorded album is hard to resist. A deprivation is under no circumstances appropriate, since it would mean the loss of an experience that enriches the life of everyone seriously interested in music with a new world of sound.

Highresaudio

The leader’s crisp guitar stylings and Palazzo’s moody cello offer the best of the solo work but the entire group integrate together harmonically and rhythmically.

Derek Ansell, Jazz Journal, Feb 2019

Kägu formed the seven-person cross-over group she uses on this album two years ago Gothenburg, Sweden, drawing her players from several different countries and the divergent spheres of classical, jazz, world, and improvised music. The group cohesion is strong, however, and all the players demonstrate equal facility in written and improvised music—a rare thing.

Suzanne Lorge, Jan. 2019

WoodsFolk

The folk rock band WoodsFolk is the sort of creation where vocals, heavy groove and acoustic folk instruments meet without compromise. The journey starts at a post-apocalyptical time and goes on searching for the roots of humankind.

Septentrio

Charming and elegant Nordic folk tunes played in a style that could be described as a kind of "chamber folk music", in a rare combination of 5-row freebass accordion, violin and 5-string cello which makes them unique in the world. Septentrio presents original compositions and arrangements as well as traditional Swedish folk music.

Here you can listen to some of the tunes from their first album released in Autumn 2013 by ARC Music, London.

It is available on ARC Music, Amazon, iTunes and Spotify.

Duo Guerbigny Palazzo

Benoit Guerbigny and Leonor Palazzo invite you to dance on their groovy and sparkling duo. They propose a very unique combination, bringing together tunes from the Poitou region in France, as well as polskas from Sweden and regular folk ball dances.

Benoit's melodeon and Leonor's 5-string cello seem to make their melodies dance in the air and embark your feet with them!