Viola da Gamba and Historical Cello
Who am I ?
After winning two first prizes with unanimous distinction and jury congratulations in both cello and chamber music at the Conservatoire National de Région de Rouen, Franco-Dutch cellist Ronan Kernoa, who was introduced at an early age to early music by his father (a musicologist and lutenist), went on to specialize in historical string performance following masterclasses with Claire Giardelli and Jaap ter Linden. Admitted to Philippe Foulon’s class in Paris, he completed his training with Alain Gervreau at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel (Royal Conservatory of Brussels), where he earned a Master in de Muziek in historical cello with High Distinction.
An insatiably curious musician, he later immersed himself in the study of the viola da gamba and its repertoire—first as an autodidact, then guided by Wieland Kuijken. He eventually returned to the Royal Conservatory of Brussels to study with Philippe Pierlot, earning a Master’s degree with High Distinction in 2018. In 2019, his outstanding achievements on the viola da gamba were recognized with the Ingeborg Köberle Prize.
Ronan’s artistic work also embraces composition: his stage music for Peer Gynt received an award at the Mateszalka Festival (Hungary), and he has written several works for period instruments (notably for Les Abbagliati, an ensemble he co-founded), which have often been met with enthusiasm by audiences. Improvisation plays a significant role in his instrumental practice.
Since 2004, he has performed exclusively on historical instruments (various sizes and tunings of cellos, violone, viols), with a keen interest in musicological research on 17th–19th century repertoires as well as historical instrument and bow techniques. Soon after moving to Belgium in 2004, he was regularly invited—often as continuo player—by most of the country’s leading early music ensembles, including La Petite Bande (Sigiswald Kuijken), Bach Concentus (Ewald Demeyere), Les Muffatti, Inalto(Lambert Colson), Les Agrémens (Guy Van Waas), Vox Luminis, B’Rock, Scherzi Musicali (Nicolas Achten), Il Gardellino (Marcel Ponseele & Jan de Winne), Il Fondamento (Paul Dombrecht), Anima Eterna (Jos Van Immerseel), Ricercar Consort (Philippe Pierlot), A Nocte Temporis (Reinoud Van Mechelen), among others. He also collaborates with other leading European ensembles such as Le Parlement de Musique (Martin Gester), Elyma (Gabriel Garrido), Akademia (Françoise Lasserre), Il Pomo d’Oro (Stefano Montanari), I Fagiolini (Robert Hollingworth), La Chambre Philharmonique (Emmanuel Krivine), Le Cercle de l’Harmonie (Jérémie Rohrer), Le Caravansérail (Bertrand Cuiller), and Les Arts Florissants (William Christie).
As a soloist, he has appeared with ensembles such as La Petite Bande, notably in Haydn’s Morning, Noon and Evening symphonies, and C.P.E. Bach’s Cello Concerto in A major. He frequently performs Bach’s solo cello suites and presents or records a wide range of repertoire for cello or viola da gamba with basso continuo.
Ronan has performed internationally in venues and festivals such as Concert Hall of Tatung University, Taipei (Taiwan), Saint Cecilia’s Hall-Edinburgh (Scotland), Festival Internazionale di Musica Antica Milano Arte Musica (Italy), Salle Gaveau (France), Bozar, Bruxelles (Belgique), Köthener Bach Festtage (Germany), Kadriorg Palace Tallinn (Estonia), Festival Organistico Internazionale della citta di Parma (Italy), Gdanski Festiwal Muzycsny (Poland), Rundale Palace (Lettland), Palau de la musica, Barcelona (Spain), Nagoya International Music Festival (Japan), Haute école de musique de Genève (Ch), Festival de Musica da Madeira (Portugal), Wigmore Hall-London (England) Festivalul de Muzica Veche Bucuresti (Romania), Aldeburgh Festival (England), Barocktage Stift Melk (Austria), Megaron, Athènes (Greece), Bratislava Music Festival (Slovakia), House of Nobility, Elsinki (Finland) Nissay Music Ways Tokyo (Japan), Istanbul Bach Days (Turkey), BarokkFest Trondheim (Norway), Grad Sneznik (Slovenia), West Cork Chamber music festival (Irland),Oude Muziek Utrecht (Holland), Zaryadye Budapest, Liszt Academy (Hungary) , Concert Hall, Moscow (Russia) and many more.
He has recorded extensively with these ensembles and in chamber music settings for labels such as Sony Classical Vivarte, K 617, Ricercar, Accent, Avanti Classic, Ediciones Singulares, Challenge Records, Apotheosis Records, Et’cetera, Ramée, Mirare, Alpha, Harmonia Mundi, as well as for numerous international radio and television broadcasts. In 2025, he records Bach’s cello suites on six different instruments for the Ramée label.
Based in Belgium, Ronan is often invited to teach historical string performance at institutions including the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Leipzig (Germany), Györ University (Hungary), Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel (Belgium), Hogeschool Antwerpen (Belgium), Universidad Veracruzana (Mexico), and Universität Mozarteum Salzburg (Austria). Since 2018, he has devoted much of his energy to teaching, creating the first historical cello and viola da gamba classes at IMEP (Namur, Belgium), where he also teaches chamber music.He teaches (consort playing, viola da gamba, and baroque cello) at the Stedelijk Conservatorium Mechelen. Ronan Kernoa performs on a 7-string bass viol (Bertrand) by François Danger, a treble viol (Colichon) by Tilman Muthesius, a 6-string bass viol (Jaye) by Alexander Batov, and several instruments (baroque cello, piccolo cello, violone) by luthier Gérard Sambot.
VIDÉOS
Recordings corner
