Fiona Monbet is a Franco-Irish artist. As a violinist, conductor and composer, she works at the frontiers of several musical genres, bringing together jazz,
symphonic music and traditional music.

She works mainly with European stages and orchestras (Berlioz Festival, Cosmopolite Festival in Oslo, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Ulster Orchestra, Jazz in Marciac, Saint-Denis Festival).

Trained at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris and the Centre des Musiques Didier Lockwood, her music is on the borderline between symphonic jazz and the heritage of French music, with an ever-present element of improvisation. Her Irish influences also shine through, both in her playing and writing. Her latest projects, Trois Reflets (2022) and Faubourg 23 (2023), were premiered respectively in France with the Orchestre national de Bretagne and in the UK with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

Fiona is also a conductor with a wide repertoire ranging from classical to contemporary works. She conducts mainly in Europe as a guest conductor and in 2017 co-founded the operatic creation company Miroirs Étendus, of which she is musical director. Their latest projects include a live recording of Fausto Romitelli’s An Index of Metals (2022), and a collaboration with Christophe Chassol on Paris Noir, presented at Radio France’s Présences festival (2024). Fiona’s dual culture of jazz and classical music, as well as her close ties with traditional music, enable her to conduct projects in which the symphony orchestra bridges with contemporary music, jazz or world music. She collaborates with artists such as Seckou Keita, Abel Selaocoe, Antonio Zambujo, Ana Moura and Gregory Porter.