Symphonic Brass Quintet
The Quintet
Founded in 2023, the Symphonic Brass Quintet brings together five motivated and dynamic musicians from the brass classes of the Zurich University of the Arts. The ensemble was born from a shared desire to regularly perform brass quintet repertoire at a high artistic level.
Initiated by trumpeters Lucien Papaux and Mik Mohnen, the group soon found its complete line-up with Gabriel Uebigau (horn), Cyprien Gruffel (trombone) and Côme Boutella (tuba). Despite their diverse schedules, the five musicians meet regularly for rehearsals and dedicate themselves enthusiastically to new musical challenges.
In recent years, the Symphonic Brass Quintet has already given numerous performances – including concerts in churches across switzerland as well as within university projects and recitals. Beyond these, the ensemble has also been invited to independent engagements, among them a performance at the Cathédrale de Lausanne as part of a masterclass in homage to J. F. Zbinden and an appearance at the renowned Schubertiade festival organized by RTS.
Initiated by trumpeters Lucien Papaux and Mik Mohnen, the group soon found its complete line-up with Gabriel Uebigau (horn), Cyprien Gruffel (trombone) and Côme Boutella (tuba). Despite their diverse schedules, the five musicians meet regularly for rehearsals and dedicate themselves enthusiastically to new musical challenges.
In recent years, the Symphonic Brass Quintet has already given numerous performances – including concerts in churches across switzerland as well as within university projects and recitals. Beyond these, the ensemble has also been invited to independent engagements, among them a performance at the Cathédrale de Lausanne as part of a masterclass in homage to J. F. Zbinden and an appearance at the renowned Schubertiade festival organized by RTS.
Members
Members
Lucien Papaux
Lucien Papaux first studied trumpet with his father Nicolas Papaux, then with Marc-Olivier Broillet and since 2021 with Laurent Tinguely, as well as in the classes of Frits Damrow (piccolo trumpet) and Simon Lilly (baroque trumpet) at the Zurich University of Arts (ZHdK).
In recent years, he has successfully taken part in a number of competitions, including the Swiss Youth Music Competition (first prize in the final in 2021) and the Valiant Forum competition in Murten (semi-final, 2022). In 2023 he won the position of trumpet academician with the Zermatt Festival Orchestra, an orchestra with which he still collaborates. From September 2024 on, he held the position of academist with the Zürich Opera, where he benefits from the teaching of Bálazs Nèmes.
He also performs regularly as a soloist with various amateur and professional ensembles. Since 2022, he has been teaching trumpet as a substitute at Fribourg Conservatoire and as a private teacher.
︎︎︎ Website
Mik Mohnen
Mik Mohnen began his training in Luxembourg at the age of 9 with Nico Koch, and later at the Luxembourg City Conservatory with Roman Zaremba and Adam Rixer. Since 2021, he has been studying at the Zurich University of Arts in the class of Frits Damrow and also receives lessons from Laurent Tinguely and Simon Lilly. From autumn 2024 on, he’s doing his master's degree in instrumental pedagogy - also in Zurich - after successfully completing the bachelor's degree. He has been teaching trumpet at the Airport Region Music School in the canton of Zurich since September 2023.
During the last years he participated in internships with the Philharmonic Orchestra Luxembourg and the Musique Militaire Grand-Ducale and took part in the Concours Luxembourgeois des jeunes Solistes 5 times. He has also performed several times as a soloist.
Gabriel Uebigau
Gabriel Uebigau was born in January 2002. At the age of seven, he began learning the horn with Mirco Capra at the Frauenfeld music school. He later attended the Weinfelden Talent Development School.
During this period, he was able to take part several times as a soloist in music competitions in the canton of Thurgau, as well as in a national competition, where he achieved good results.
After completing his apprenticeship as an engineer, he enrolled in the PreCollege program at the ZHdK in summer 2021. The following year, he began his Bachelor’s studies in French horn with Nigel Downing and Mischa Greull, which he successfully completed in 2025. He is currently continuing his studies in the Master’s program in Music Education in the class of Félix Dervaux.
Cyprien Grüffel
Cyprien was born in Geneva in 1997. He started playing the trombone at the age of 11. He studied classical trombone in Geneva in Andrea Bandini's class from 2019 to 2022, and obtained his master's degree in performance in David Bruchez's class at the Zurich University of Arts in 2024. He is continuing his studies in the same class in the master's program in pedagogy.
As a freelance musician, Cyprien regularly plays in various classical orchestra projects, but also enjoys a variety of other styles of music. Since 2019, he has played trombone in three music-hall productions with the Broadway Company at the Théatre Barnabé in Servion.
Côme Boutella
Côme Boutella graduated with a master’s of music at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Lyon. He has previously studied at the conservatory of La Roche sur Yon and the conservatory of Poitiers.
Invested in creation, Côme works regularly with composers to promote new compositions for tuba in soloist. His latest collaborations include composers like Demian Rudel Rey (Argentina), Alexandre Singier (France) and Eric Lebrun (France). Côme is also a member of « Duo a2 » (tuba and piano).
Côme received master classes from Roger Bobo, Sergio Finca Quirós, Oscar Abella, Perry Hoogendijk, Daniel Perantoni and Jens Bjorn-Larsen among others.
In parallel, he played with several orchestras such as the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra, Philharmonia Zürich, Orchestre National de Lille, Orchestre de l’opéra National de Lyon as well as Orchestre de Pau Pays de Béarn.
He is currently studying at the Zurich University of Arts with Anne Jelle Visser.
Since 2024, Côme is supported by the « Fondation Safran pour la musique »
Agenda
8th June 2025 - Zürich (ZH)
Messe
Pfingsten-Messe
Messe
Pfingsten-Messe
24th December 2025 - Zürich (ZH)
Messe
Weihnachtsmesse
Messe
Weihnachtsmesse
1st January 2026 - Zürich (ZH)
Messe
Neujahrsmesse
Messe
Neujahrsmesse
Medias
