French-Dutch violist Sào Soulez Larivière is a versatile musician and winner of several international competitions. An advocate for expanding the horizons of the viola repertoire, he enjoys arranging works for his instrument and promoting contemporary music. He was appointed Professor of Viola at the Mozarteum University in 2023.
Sào Soulez Larivière is quickly building a thriving career as a versatile musician. Fascinating audiences with his playing and original programming, he strives to broaden the accessibility and perception of classical music in our modern world. Recent competition successes have significantly shaped his international career: he won First Prize at the Prague Spring International Competition and received top prizes at the Tokyo, Oskar Nedbal, Max Rostal, Cecil Aronowitz and Johannes Brahms competitions. In 2023 he was named Young Artist of the Year by the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) and was selected as a “Rising Star” by the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO), leading to performances in major European concert halls during the 2024/25 season.
Chamber music has always been central to his artistic life. He shares his love of music with his sister, violinist Cosima Soulez Larivière, with whom he still performs frequently, and is a member of the Frielinghaus Ensemble, whose recent recording of string sextets by Dvořák and Tchaikovsky received critical acclaim. Committed to broadening the accessibility and perception of classical music, he collaborates closely with living composers and continues to expand the viola repertoire through arrangements and contemporary works.
Born in Paris in 1998, Sào Soulez Larivière initially learnt the violin and at a young age, he was awarded a scholarship to study with Natasha Boyarsky at the Yehudi Menuhin School in England. After discovering the viola while playing chamber and orchestral music in his schooldays, he decided to devote his time fully to the instrument. He later completed his Bachelor’s degree at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin with Tabea Zimmermann and went on to earn his Master’s degree at the Kronberg Academy, where he is currently completing the Professional Studies programme. His artistic development has been further enriched through collaborations with musicians including Jean Sulem, Nobuko Imai, Antoine Tamestit, Boris Garlitsky and Steven Isserlis.
In 2019 he was awarded the Ritter Prize of the Oscar and Vera Ritter Foundation. The following year he received the Fanny Mendelssohn Förderpreis, which enabled the release of his debut album Impression in 2021. Most recently, he was named Young Artist of the Year by the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) in 2023.
Teaching has become an important part of his musical life. In addition to his appointment at the Mozarteum University, he is a fellow of Yehudi Menuhin “Live Music Now” Berlin and has been generously supported by the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes and the Stiftung Villa Musica Rheinland-Pfalz.
Sào Soulez Larivière plays a viola made by Frédéric Chaudière in Montpellier in 2013.