Camille Berthollet: the musician who excels at both violin and cello

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Typically, the study of one stringed instrument is enough to keep one occupied for a lifetime. It takes countless hours to become a proficient string player on a single instrument, let alone two.

Defying the odds by excelling at both the violin and cello is French-Swiss musician Camille Berthollet. During her childhood, her teachers warned her that it would be impossible to master both cello and violin - she would spread herself too thin, she had to choose one or the other.

Berthollet first discovered the cello at the age of three, having attended a concert at her hometown of Annecy in the Rhône-Alpes, and began cello lessons at the age of four. 

Alongside this, her older sister by 18 months, Julie, had already embarked on her violin-playing journey from the age of two. Camille grew up listening to Julie play, and it was not long before she decided to try her hand at both instruments.

Berthollet began dual studies in violin aged eight with Hong Anh Shapiro in Geneva. She already understood how well the two stringed instruments complemented each other: ’The cello’s range, deeper and more powerful than the violin’s, allows you to produce lyrical, nostalgic themes with a brilliant roundness of sound,’ she explains.

She studied cello at Lyon Conservatorium with Augustin Lefebvre, before pursuing a  bachelor degree of the Geneva University of Music in the class of François Guye.

Berthollet says that she feels the violin offers a sparkling register and even vaster virtuosity. She studied violin with Mimi Zweig at the Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana University, as well as undertaking courses at the Zakhar Bron School of Music in Switzerland, and in Vienna at the Amadeus School. 

She threw herself wholeheartedly into the Russian school of violin, also applying this to her cello playing. At the same time, she learnt the subtleties of the French school of cello and transposed them to the violin.

’My heart has always swung between the two,’ she says.

The 26-year-old’s latest project showcasing her dual talents is her new album, Legends. It features 16 world-premiere arrangements, from Irish ballads to themes from film soundtracks such as Titanic, The Piano and The Last of the Mohicans, plus songs by U2, Sting, The Cranberries, Enya, and Secret Garden.

Accompanied by the talented Danish pianist, keyboardist, and arranger Johan Daalgard and three other musicians, Berthollet pays tribute to the Celtic musical universe with fragments of spirit and pure emotion. 

Berthollet regards herself as a passionate musical adventurer, where Legends is provides a path that leads beyond the strict confines of the score and ventures into unmarked territory.

’I like doing unusual things,’ she says. ’That’s what feels the most right for me.’

Legends is out on Warner Classics on 10 October 2025. Watch Camille Berthollet’s official video for ‘Fields of Gold’ below: