Fiona Monbet is a Franco-Irish artist, conductor, violinist and composer. Trained at the Centre des Musiques Didier Lockwood, she began a career in jazz at a very young age before studying classical violin at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, from which she graduated in 2015.

She then turned to conducting. In 2017 she co-founded the lyrical creation company Miroirs Étendus, of which she is musical director, and conducts the ensemble in France (Opéra de Rouen, Théâtre Impérial de Compiègne, Opéra de Lille) as well as abroad (Ireland and Germany). Fiona also conducts in France and abroad as a guest conductor. She has worked with the Orchestre national de Montpellier Occitanie, the Opéra national de Lorraine, the Orchestre national de Bordeaux Aquitaine, the Orchestre national de Bretagne and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

Her repertoire ranges from classical to contemporary works. In 2021, she conducted Elsewhere, the premiere of the opera by Irish composer Michael Gallen, at the Abbey Theater (Dublin, Ireland). Her latest CD (2022) features a live recording with her ensemble Miroirs Etendus of Fausto Romitelli’s An Index of Metals.

Introduced to the jazz scene in her early days by Didier Lockwood, she has collaborated with many artists including Philip Catherine, Marcel Azzola, Biréli Lagrène, Adrien Moignard and Ibrahim Maalouf. Director Tony Gatlif invited her to help create the soundtracks for three films (Indignez-Vous, Indignados, Geronimo). In 2010, she joined him on the international Django Drom tour.

Leader and composer, Fiona has several albums to her credit, including Django Club 2011, O’Ceol 2013 and Contrebande 2018. The latest, Maelström (2022), recorded with jazz trio and chamber orchestra, but also arranged for symphony orchestra, has been widely acclaimed by the critics and will be touring in 2022 at the Django Reinhardt and Jazz à la Défense festivals, in collaboration with students from the Paris Grand-Sud conservatoires, and under the big top at Marciac. Maelström will also be rearranged for the Danish Radio Big Band in 2023.

Fiona’s dual background in jazz and classical music enables her to conduct projects that bring together contemporary music, jazz or world music with the world of symphony orchestras. She has directed several projects with Seckou Keita, Antonio Zambujo and Ana Moura and the Orchestre national de Bretagne, as well as a project with MC Solaar at the Saint-Denis Festival with the Orchestre national d’Ile de France.

Since September 2020, Fiona has been welcomed as artist in residence by the Orchestre national de Bretagne, which she is regularly invited to conduct in several projects during the 2020/2023 seasons (Festival Interceltique de Lorient, Opéra de Rennes, Festival de Saint-Denis). Her new work Trois Reflets, commissioned by the Orchestre national de Bretagne, has been performed several times at the Opéra de Rennes and the Théâtre national de Bretagne. Captured on video with the orchestra, it is broadcast regularly on Mezzo.