double bass
performance & teaching
Cécile-Laure Kouassi (she/her) is a French-Norwegian bassist who performs across Europe and the US. Recent chamber music appearances include Yellow Barn, Konzerthaus Berlin, Salle Cortot, Bergen International Festival, Stavanger Kammermusikkfestival.
Her debut recording ‘Beaux Jours’, with pianist Ole Christian Haagenrud, is available on all platforms.
Before embarking on a freelance career, she served as assistant principal bass with the Oslo Philharmonic for nearly a decade. She has appeared as guest principal with Les Dissonances, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Les Siècles, co-principal with the Royal Danish Opera, and assistant principal with Orchestre National de France and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, in addition to section work with Orchestre de Paris and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France.
She has been invited to teach at several courses: Voksenåsen, OKA Summerkurs, Ringerike Sommersymfoni and through the Norwegian Kontrabassklubb.
Cécile-Laure Kouassi trained at Juilliard, where she received the Scholastic Distinction for her paper on Poulenc and Surrealism, and holds a master’s from Rice University. Interested in physiology and injury prevention, she pursues further studies in medicine at UCLouvain through their PEPS Program for working artists.
She plays a 1770 Ongaro double bass, on generous loan from the Dextra Foundation and featured in The Strad, a modern instrument by Seth Kimmel and a bow by Boris Fritsch.
EVENTS 2025-2026
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Théâtre du Châtelet
Juillet 2026
La Vie Parisienne - Offenbach
Alexandra Cravero
Les Frivolités -
Tour (FR) : Les Siècles
Janvier - Août 2026
Wagner, Liszt
Jakob Lehmann
Bertrand Chamayou -
DEXTRA MUSICA
20-22 November 2025
Chamber Music & Images from
Tom Sandberg: Vibrant World
Henie Onstad Kultursenter (NO) -
Tour (FR, US) : ONF
November 2025
Barraine, Beethoven, Debussy, Ravel, Saint-Saëns, Tchaïkovsky
Cristian Măcelaru
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Festival Coups de Foudre
3 Octobre 2025
Festival Coups de Foudre
Grande Vallée de la Marne -
Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra
10-11 Sept 2025
Haydn, Beethoven, Mozart
Zurich, Switzerland
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BBC PROM 62
5 September 2025
Shostakovich, Walker, Coleridge-Taylor
Royal Albert Hall, London
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Festival Musique et Nature en Bauges
Août 2025
Beethoven, Bartók, Dvořák
Aix-les-Bains, France
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Festival de Prades
29 Juillet 2025
Elgar, Tchaïkovsky
Orchestre du FestivalAbbaye Saint-Michel de Cuxa, France
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Les Sensationnelles de Sens
27 June - 6 Juillet 2025
Beethoven, Bartók, Dvořák
Sens, France.
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Appassionato
23 May 2025
Berlioz, Dvořák
Ensemble Appassionato
Abbaye Royale de l’Épau -
Arte X Kandinsky
16 April 2025
Beethoven, Bartók
Ensemble AppassionatoDocumentary release: october 2025
Salle Gaveau, Paris
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Ensemble Atmosphères
11 Avril 2025
Stravinsky, Lejet, Schoenberg
Pantin.
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Impressions @ Sentralen
22 March 2025
With Ole Christian Haagenrud, pianoDebussy, Finzi, Holmsen, de Falla, Decruck
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Chamber Music Quintet
3 March 2025
Hiba Tawaji, voice
Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris
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Impressions
November 2024 & February 2025
Den kulturelle spaserstokken tour. Exploring themes of music and light in the context of the Impressionist mouvement. Fauré, Debussy, de Falla and more.
With Ole Christian Haagenrud, piano -
Ensemble Carousel Tour
27 Nov - 9 Dec 2024
Concerts in NL and BE.
Weber, Mozart, Beethoven
Radio broadcast available at NPO Klassiek
download my arrangements
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Available from November 23
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Available from November 23
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Available from November 23
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Available from November 23