Fiona Hengartner is a Swiss pianist active as a concert pianist, teacher and accompanist. Passionate about chamber music, she performs with a variety of ensembles and explores the connections between musical styles and artistic disciplines with curiosity and openness.

As a member of the Quatuor Essor, an original ensemble bringing together two pianos and two percussionists, she takes part in projects that combine arrangements of orchestral works with contemporary compositions. In 2021, the quartet released its debut album, Music for 4 Musicians, featuring influences from jazz, Latin music and minimalism. Music for 4 Musicians, aux influences jazz, latines et minimalistes.

In her duo with cellist Isabel Gehweiler, she presents eclectic programmes that bring lesser-known works to light and explore different facets of the repertoire. Their album Notre amour, released on the Solo Musica label, explores the many dimensions of love through Swiss and French compositions from the Belle Époque. A second album, devoted to Romantic sonatas for cello and piano, was released by the Swiss label Claves in 2024. Notre amour, paru chez Solo Musica, explore les multiples visages de l’amour à travers des compositions suisses et françaises de la Belle Époque. Un deuxième album consacré aux sonates romantiques pour violoncelle et piano paraît chez Claves en 2024.

Always curious to explore new forms of artistic expression, Fiona Hengartner also develops projects spanning a wide range of musical worlds. With Café 1930, she explores the connections between classical music and jazz in a violin-piano duo. La Belle Nuit is a theatrical concert inspired by the texts of Swiss writer Robert Walser, featuring mezzo-soprano Sophie Marilley, narrator Yann Pugin and Fiona Hengartner at the piano. With the Quatuor Essor, she also presents Sherlock Junior, a film-concert featuring Buster Keaton’s film, accompanied by an original score composed for the ensemble by Julien Painot. She also explores the music of composer Betsy Jolas through songs for mezzo-soprano and piano, performed with Sophie Marilley and interspersed with insights from musicologist Delphine Vincent.

In August 2026, Fiona Hengartner records her fourth album at Zurich’s Tonhalle, in duo with violinist Alican Süner, and it is available on all major streaming platforms. Featuring works by Grieg, Gershwin, Albéniz, Rachmaninoff and Saygun, the album brings together diverse musical worlds through a shared pulse, at times buoyant, tender, languorous, fiery or feverish.

Fiona Hengartner studied with François Beffa at the Fribourg Conservatory before continuing her studies with Christian Favre at the Lausanne University of Music (HEMU). During her studies, she received several distinctions, including the Prix Pisler for her Bachelor’s thesis and recital, and the Prix Paderewski for her Master’s recital in music pedagogy. She went on to earn a second Master’s degree in specialised performance, specialising in chamber music and Lied, at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK). She subsequently completed a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Piano Performance in the class of Christoph Berner. She has also attended numerous piano and chamber music masterclasses, working with artists including Abdel Rahman El Bacha, Brigitte Meyer, Filippo Gamba, Pierre Amoyal and the Sine Nomine Quartet.

A prizewinner in several competitions, she received the Longines Prize at the final of the 5th National Competition of the Festival du Jura, won first prize at the International Piano Competition of Fribourg and received the interpretation prize for the compulsory work. At the Swiss Youth Music Competition, she won first prize twice and also received the Astona Prize. Her artistic development has been supported by several grants and foundations, including the Pierre and Renée Glasson Fund, the Casino Barrière de Montreux Foundation for Talent and Creativity, the Swiss Richard Wagner Society, the Vincent Merkle Foundation and the Rotary Club, which awarded her the Elsner Prize.

Fiona Hengartner teaches piano and works as an accompanist at the Fribourg Conservatory. She regularly accompanies musicians in competitions and concerts, works with choirs as a rehearsal pianist and performs as an orchestral pianist with various ensembles and wind bands.