Curieux et inventif, le quatuor MOMO explore répertoire, création et improvisation, multipliant les découvertes artistiques pour repenser la notion de concert et de spectacle
Curious and inventive, the MOMO quartet explores repertoire,
creation, and improvisation, constantly seeking new artistic discoveries
to rethink the very notion of concert and performance
Curious and inventive, the MOMO quartet explores repertoire, creation, and improvisation, constantly seeking new artistic discoveries to rethink the very notion of concert and performance.
A luminous staging
of György Ligeti’s String Quartet No. 1
MÉTAMORPHOSES NOCTURNES
In this project, we offer a scenic and visual reinterpretation of György Ligeti’s String Quartet No. 1, Métamorphoses nocturnes (1953–54).
Through a light design entirely conceived and created by the quartet, we explore an additional dimension of the work — a visual extension of our musical interpretation.
The lights, operated live by the musicians on stage, become a true performing partner, engaging in dialogue with Ligeti’s score. This stage concept — at the crossroads of music, visual theatre, and performance — heightens the tensions, ruptures, and transformations inherent in the quartet. Darkness, bursts of light, shadows, and silence intertwine to create a space inspired by the very title of the piece.
Two versions of the project coexist:
• a subtle and immersive version,
• and an expanded version enhanced by perforated light panels, allowing beams to pass through in abstract and graphic patterns.
The project also includes moments of musical improvisation created by the musicians, resonating with the expressive and dreamlike universe of the quartet.
This staging grew out of a close collaboration between the four members of the ensemble, born from a shared desire to blend practices and let our artistic sensitivities dialogue beyond the purely musical realm.
Duration: 25 minutes
For more information (technical rider, performance conditions, etc.), please feel free to contact us.
Inspired by musical theater and mime, this piece aims to explore stage rituals, as well as the quirks and habits specific to each musician: breathing, preparatory gestures... Each movement, initially intended to be controlled, forms a counterpoint of gestures, a narrative that leads to a loss of control, a state of trance, until the final reminiscence of a string quartet repertoire piece. The piece is composed of three parts: the first highlights the gestures and non-verbal communication methods established within a string quartet. These are true rules of etiquette and playing, never written on the score, yet essential to the ensemble's smooth functioning. The second part shifts into a world of metal music. It begins with a fast, rhythmic play featuring 'crushed' accents, using only the friction of the bows on the strings without producing any pitch, with marked accents and a complex rhythm, recreating the sounds of drums or electric bass. The third part is a reflection on the notion of disappearance, drawing on our collective memory. Ghosts from Mozart's past emerge in a strange, silent concert. Written as a tribute to the third movement of the quartet 'The Hunt' by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (No. 17 K458), this part evokes a radio stuck between two frequencies, two eras.
FOR MOMO
A piece for string quartet in three movements
by Hortense Airault
This piece, at the crossroads between musical theatre and classical recital, tells fragments of life:
A Russian grandmother who refuses to play the balalaika,
A childhood in Andalusia under the weight of others’ gaze,
A sudden departure from Mayotte to Paris,
A conductor who no longer wants to justify herself.
On stage, the musicians share their stories, their sounds, their memories.
In this piece, the quartet is no longer a single entity — one can hear the individuality behind each instrument.
And now that you know...
Do you still hear the same music?

A co-production by the MOMO Quartet and Ludmilla Mercier for string quartet, electronics, lights, and projections.
With music from String Quartet No. 5 by Dmitri Shostakovich
Lighting and technical direction: Erwin Fonseca
INUK
For string quartet, live projections and electronics
MOMO & Ludmilla Mercier
The Quartet The Quartet The Quartet The Quartet The Quartet The Quartet
In June 2022, the Haute École awarded them the Daisy de Saugy Prize, given to a particularly deserving quartet. In April 2023, they received the Ponticello Prize at the Osez! competition, which honors innovative and creative artistic projects, with their staging of György Ligeti’s String Quartet No. 1 Métamorphoses Nocturnes. They presented the full project at Groove in April 2024, during the Ponticello concert season. Since then, they have performed at many events and festivals (Overflow by Ash and the OCG, Quatuor à Vendôme, Les Musicales du Golfe, Festival L’Autre Saison, Les Rendez-vous des Princes, among others). In November 2024, the MOMO quartet won third prize at the “Orpheus” competition, and in March 2025, they were awarded first prize at the “Osez!” competition. They are also supported financially by the Eva Zurbrügg Foundation.

The MOMO quartet collaborates with composer Ludmilla Mercier, whose piece Inuk — written especially for them — they premiered in September 2025 at the Swiss Chamber Music Festival in Adelboden, and performed again on October 12 at Salle Ansermet in Geneva.
Creative and enthusiastic, the MOMO quartet stands out for its open-mindedness and its ability to explore different musical styles and artistic practices. The musicians founded the quartet in September 2021 and shared their passion for the string quartet at the Haute École de Musique in Geneva, guided by the Voce quartet. In 2024, with the arrival of their new violist, the members of the MOMO quartet continued their training in the specialized chamber music program at the HEM, in the class of the Belcea quartet.

All passionate about chamber music, they have previously studied with renowned musicians such as Miguel Da Silva, Ophélie Gaillard, Gábor Takács-Nagy, and Noémie Bialobroda. Through masterclasses and academies, they have also received guidance from the Belcea quartet, Kyril Zlotnikov, Sergei Bresler (Jerusalem quartet), Constance Ronzatti (Diotima quartet), Axel Schacher, and members of the Mosaïques quartet.
Maria Kalugina is a Russian violinist, born in 1999 in Saint Petersburg. She began playing the violin at the age of five. After graduating with honors from the Central Music School in Moscow, where she studied with Anna Sokolova, she continued her studies at the Haute École de Musique in Geneva with Alexander Rozhdestvenskiy, earning both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Performance.
She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree
in Pedagogy at the same institution.
Maria Kalugina is a Russian violinist, born in 1999 in Saint Petersburg. She began playing the violin at the age of five. After graduating with honors from the Central Music School in Moscow, where she studied with Anna Sokolova, she continued her studies at the Haute École de Musique in Geneva with Alexander Rozhdestvenskiy, earning both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Performance. She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Pedagogy at the same institution. A laureate of several international competitions, she has won First Prize at the Spezzaferri Competition (Verona, 2023), Second Prize at the International Festival of Burgos (Spain,2017), Third Prize at the Glazounov Competition (Paris, 2017), as well as the Henryk Szeryng Prize (Geneva, 2022). At present, Maria divides her time between the quartet, teaching, and developing her own artistic projects.
Maria Kalugina is a Russian violinist, born in 1999 in Saint Petersburg. She began playing the violin at the age of five. After graduating with honors from the Central Music School in Moscow, where she studied with Anna Sokolova, she continued her studies at the Haute École de Musique in Geneva with Alexander Rozhdestvenskiy, earning both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Performance. She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Pedagogy at the same institution. A laureate of several international competitions, she has won First Prize at the Spezzaferri Competition (Verona, 2023), Second Prize at the International Festival of Burgos (Spain,2017), Third Prize at the Glazounov Competition (Paris, 2017), as well as the Henryk Szeryng Prize (Geneva, 2022). At present, Maria divides her time between the quartet, teaching, and developing her own artistic projects.

Practical note: if you’re looking for the concert venue, don’t ask Maria. She has a talent for getting lost in every possible direction — even vertical ones!
A laureate of several international competitions, she has won First Prize at the Spezzaferri Competition (Verona, 2023), Second Prize at the International Festival of Burgos (Spain,2017), Third Prize at the Glazounov Competition (Paris, 2017), as well as the Henryk Szeryng Prize (Geneva, 2022). At present, Maria divides her time between the quartet, teaching, and developing her own artistic projects.

Practical note: if you’re looking for the concert venue, don’t ask Maria. She has a talent for getting lost in every possible direction — even vertical ones!
Practical note: if you’re looking for the concert venue, don’t ask Maria. She has a talent for getting lost in every possible direction — even vertical ones!
Maria Kalugina
Maria
Kalugina
Trained in Paris, Geneva, and currently completing a Master’s in Composition at the HKB in Bern, she has studied cello with Ophélie Gaillard and Job Ter Haar, as well as composition with Simon Steen-Andersen, Joshua Hyde, and Luis Naón. She collaborates with ensembles such as Contrechamps, the Ensemble Intercontemporain, ONCEIM, and Nomos. She co-founded Duo Imminent, dedicated to free improvisation and electronics, and composes for various ensembles as well as for the contemporary circus company MPTA. Hortense has been awarded the Fritz Gerber Prize of the Lucerne Festival, the Tremplin Leenaards, the Contrechamps Prize, and First Prize at Violoncellenseine.

When it comes to memorizing a musical phrase, Hortense never makes a mistake—but beware when it comes to concert dates! Ever since the day we nearly showed up at the hall one day late and an hour too early, we now double-check our calendars without fail!
Hortense Airault
is a French cellist, composer, and performer, born in 1999. Her work combines classical and contemporary repertoire, improvisation, composition, and
interdisciplinary creation.
Hortense Airault
Hortense
Airault
Always very serious and focused in rehearsal, Judith nevertheless has a knack for what we like to call “Baubéri-nades”— whether it’s spilling her coffee on a score or getting tangled up in cables— to our great amusement!
She has conducted ensembles such as the Geneva Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre des Pays de Savoie, and the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire. Since 2024, she has been the principal conductor of the University of Geneva Orchestra.
Judith is committed to making classical and contemporary music more accessible across all social and economic backgrounds. For her, the string quartet—with all its creative and artistic possibilities—offers an ideal way to achieve this.

Always very serious and focused in rehearsal, Judith nevertheless has a knack for what we like to call “Baubéri-nades”—whether it’s spilling her coffee on a score or getting tangled up in cables—to our great amusement!
Judith Baubérot
Saray Ruiz, a Spanish violist, began her studies at the age of nine. She earned her Bachelor’s degree at the CSMA in Zaragoza, studying with Professor Lara Fernández and the members of the Quiroga Quartet. She then continued her training at the Haute École de Musique in Geneva in the class of Máté Szücs. Passionate about orchestral playing,she has been a member of numerous youth orchestras and collaborates with professional ensembles such as the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Geneva Chamber Orchestra, and Ensemble Contrechamps.
Saray Ruiz, a Spanish violist, began her studies at the age of nine. She earned her Bachelor’s degree at the CSMA in Zaragoza, studying with Professor Lara Fernández
and the members
of the Quiroga
Quartet.
Saray Ruiz, a Spanish violist, began her studies at the age of nine. She earned her Bachelor’s degree at the CSMA in Zaragoza, studying with Professor Lara Fernández and the members of the Quiroga Quartet. She then continued her training at the Haute École de Musique in Geneva in the class of Máté Szücs. Passionate about orchestral playing, she has been a member of numerous youth orchestras and collaborates with professional ensembles such as the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Geneva Chamber Orchestra, and Ensemble Contrechamps.
Saray regards chamber music as her primary source of artistic growth throughout her career. By joining the MOMO quartet in 2024, she found a space for exploration, constant curiosity, and the desire to progress.

Despite her virtuosity on the instrument and her quick grasp of music, Saray loves to take her time —especially when it comes to eating. MOMO’s meals can therefore last quite a while, but this ritual is essential to the group’s balance.
She then continued her training at the Haute École de Musique in Geneva in the class of Máté Szücs. Passionate about orchestral playing,she has been a member of numerous youth orchestras and collaborates with professional ensembles such as the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Geneva Chamber Orchestra, and Ensemble Contrechamps.
Saray regards chamber music as her primary source of artistic growth throughout her career. By joining the MOMO quartet in 2024, she found a space for exploration, constant curiosity, and the desire to progress.

Despite her virtuosity on the instrument and her quick grasp of music, Saray loves to take her time — especially when it comes to eating. MOMO’s meals can therefore last quite a while, but this ritual is essential to the group’s balance.
Saray regards chamber music as her primary source of artistic growth throughout her career. By joining the MOMO quartet in 2024, she found a space for exploration, constant curiosity, and the desire to progress.

Despite her virtuosity on the instrument and her quick grasp of music, Saray loves to take her time —especially when it comes to eating. MOMO’s meals can therefore last quite a while, but this ritual is essential to the group’s balance.
Saray Ruiz
Judith Baubérot is a violinist and conductor. Alongside her violin studies at the Haute École de Musique in Geneva in the class of Sasha Rozhdestvensky, she studied conducting with Nicolas Brochot and later with Laurent Gay.
Judith
Baubérot
Judith Baubérot is a violinist and conductor. Alongside her violin studies at the Haute École de Musique in Geneva in the class of Sasha Rozhdestvensky, she studied conducting with Nicolas Brochot and later with Laurent Gay. She has conducted ensembles such as the Geneva Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre des Pays de Savoie, and the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire. Since 2024, she has been the principal conductor of the University of Geneva Orchestra.
Judith is committed to making classical and contemporary music more accessible across all social and economic backgrounds. For her, the string quartet—with all its creative and artistic possibilities — offers an ideal way to achieve this.
Hortense Airault is a French cellist, composer, and performer, born in 1999. Her work combines classical and contemporary repertoire, improvisation, composition, and
interdisciplinary creation.
Trained in Paris, Geneva, and currently completing a Master’s in Composition at the HKB in Bern, she has studied cello with Ophélie Gaillard and Job Ter Haar, as well as composition with Simon Steen-Andersen, Joshua Hyde, and Luis Naón. She collaborates with ensembles such as Contrechamps, the Ensemble Intercontemporain, ONCEIM, and Nomos. She co-founded Duo Imminent, dedicated to free improvisation and electronics, and composes for various ensembles as well as for the contemporary circus company MPTA. Hortense has been awarded the Fritz Gerber Prize of the Lucerne Festival, the Tremplin Leenaards, the Contrechamps Prize, and First Prize at Violoncellenseine.

When it comes to memorizing a musical phrase, Hortense never makes a mistake—but beware when it comes to concert dates! Ever since the day we nearly showed up at the hall one day late and an hour too early, we now double-check our calendars without fail!
Calendar Calendar Calendar Calendar Calendar Calendar Calendar Calendar
05.02.26 — Private recital with Victoria Karkacheva 📍 Geneva

30.12.25 — 6:00 pm — Recital by Olena Pognoievska 📍 Avenches, Vaud

29.11.25 — 11:00 am / 3:00 pm — “The Nutcracker”
📍 Plainpalais Community Hall, Geneva

22.11.25 — 1:30 pm — “Ma Mère l’Oye”
📍 Maison de l’Enfance et de l’Adolescence, Geneva

12.10.25 — 3:00 pm — “INUK”. 📍 Auditorium Ansermet, Geneva

11.09.25 — 8:00 pm — “INUK”, premiere. 📍 Ciné Rex, Adelboden

21.06.25 — 11:00 am — “Ma Mère l’Oye”, Fête de la Musique
📍 Vieux Manège, Rue Julienne-Piachaud, Geneva

03.05.25 — 11:00 am / 3:00 pm / 5:00 pm — “Ma Mère l’Oye”
📍 Plainpalais Community Hall, Geneva17.03.25 — 10:00 am — Workshop / Interview
📍 Stadtbibliothek, Winterthur

17.11.24 — 2:00 pm — Orpheus Competition
📍 Conservatory of Music, Bern

04.10.24 — 8:00 pm — Voce Orchestra 20th Anniversary Concert
📍 Church, Quinsac
05.02.26 — Private recital with Victoria Karkacheva 📍 Geneva

30.12.25 — 6:00 pm — Recital by Olena Pognoievska 📍 Avenches, Vaud

29.11.25 — 11:00 am / 3:00 pm — “The Nutcracker”
📍 Plainpalais Community Hall, Geneva

22.11.25 — 1:30 pm — “Ma Mère l’Oye”
📍 Maison de l’Enfance et de l’Adolescence, Geneva

12.10.25 — 3:00 pm — “INUK”
📍 Auditorium Ansermet, Geneva

11.09.25 — 8:00 pm — “INUK”, premiere.
📍 Ciné Rex, Adelboden

21.06.25 — 11:00 am — “Ma Mère l’Oye”, Fête de la Musique
📍 Vieux Manège, Rue Julienne-Piachaud, Geneva

03.05.25 — 11:00 am / 3:00 pm / 5:00 pm — “Ma Mère l’Oye”
📍 Plainpalais Community Hall, Geneva17.03.25 — 10:00 am — Workshop / Interview
📍 Stadtbibliothek, Winterthur

17.11.24 — 2:00 pm — Orpheus Competition
📍 Conservatory of Music, Bern

04.10.24 — 8:00 pm — Voce Orchestra 20th Anniversary Concert
📍 Church, Quinsac
Contact Us
Contact Us
quatuormomo@gmail.com