Xavier Dayer and Raphaël Belfiore

Xavier Dayer, born in Geneva in 1972, studied composition in his hometown with Eric Gaudibert, before continuing his studies in Paris (IRCAM) with Tristan Murail and Brian Ferneyhough.

He has received several composition prizes, including the Bürgi-Willert Foundation Prize, awarded by Heinz Holliger, and the FEMS Prize of the Sandoz Foundation, awarded by Henri Dutilleux.
He has composed works for the Grand Théâtre de Genève, the Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Paris, the Festival d’Automne de Paris, IRCAM, the Lucerne Festival, the Swiss Chamber Soloists, Ensemble Contrechamps, as well as numerous other ensembles and soloists.

He teaches composition and music theory at the Bern University of the Arts (HKB), where he has served as Head of the Master of Arts in Composition program since 2009.
He was a resident fellow at the Académie de France à Rome – Villa Médicis from 2008 to 2009.

In 2020, he received the Music Prize of the Canton of Bern.
In 2023, he was appointed Director of the Department of Music at the ZHdK (Zurich University of the Arts), a position he assumed in August 2024.

Raphaël Belfiore was born in Geneva in 1995 and currently lives in Basel. His compositional practice takes shape through a variety of formats, including composed or improvised interventions, works for soloists and ensembles, mixed-media and video works, installations, as well as verbal and graphic scores.

He has collaborated with ensembles such as Ensemble Proton, the JACK Quartet, and Ensemble Phoenix Basel. In 2025, he received the Artistic Prize of the Nyon Region.

Trained in composition at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) and in vocal performance at the Hochschule für Musik Basel, Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, he also studied musicology and philosophy at the University of Geneva and the New Centre for Research & Practice.

He publishes theoretical and critical writings on music, is active in teaching and editorial work, and sings in several vocal ensembles in Switzerland and neighboring countries.