Leonor is passionate about exploring repertoire across different musical periods through chamber music, orchestral performance, and interdisciplinary collaborations.​

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Leonor Mateus is a portuguese cellist/baroque cellist based in Geneva.  

 

Leonor studied in Lisbon with Ana Raquel Pinheiro and Luís Sá Pessoa before completing her Bachelor's degree at the Lisbon School of Music (ESML), where she studied with Paulo Gaio Lima. Supported by a scholarship from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, she completed a Master's degree in Performance and a Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) at the Haute École de Musique de Genève, in the class of David Pia (modern cello) and Bruno Cocset (baroque cello).

 

​As a soloist, she was awarded First Prize at the Cidade do Fundão International Competition and the Artur Fernandes Fão International Competition, and performed as a soloist with the ESML Symphony Orchestra.​

 

Passionate about chamber music, Leonor is a founding member of the Dialecticae Piano Trio. The ensemble was awarded First Prize at the Prémio Jovens Músicos and released its debut album, Soir et Matin, devoted to French repertoire, in 2025 with the support of GDA. At the Cidnay Music Festival, the trio worked with Micha Maisky and was awarded First Prize in the Chamber Music Masterclass.​

 

She is  also an active orchestral musician. She is a substitute cellist at the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and has also collaborated with the Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, Orchestre des Pays de Savoie, and Orquestra XXI, performing under renowned conductors and alongside internationally acclaimed musicians such as Heinz Holliger, Gabor Takács-Nagy, Truls Mørk, and Raphaël Merlin. Alongside her performing career, Leonor is actively involved in orchestral coaching as principal cellist and cello section coach with ensembles including the Orchestre de Chambre de Carouge, Philarmonique International de Genève, Orchestre AMA, Orchestre de l'Université de Genève...​

 

Leonor has received artistic guidance from Alban Gerhardt, Micha Maisky, Peter Maintz, Miklós Perényi, Anne Gastinel, Thomas Demenga, Giovanni Sollima, Denis Severin, Raphael Rosenfeld, Xavier Gagnepain, Mats Lidström, Eszter Haffner, Enrico Dindo, Kyril Zlotnikov, Miguel da Silva, and the Belcea Quartet.​

 

Inspired by these artistic experiences, she is equally committed to education, with extensive experience teaching cello and developing educational work with students of all ages and levels.