Marcel Cellier (1925–2013), Swiss ethnomusicologist, musician, and producer, together with his wife Catherine Cellier (1931–2023), artist and photographer, devoted their lives to discovering and sharing the music of Eastern Europe. From the 1950s onward, the couple traveled through Romania and Bulgaria, recording voices, instruments, and popular traditions.

Marcel brought these treasures to the airwaves through his radio program From the Black Sea to the Baltic and introduced the world to Gheorghe Zamfir, the exceptionally talented Romanian pan flute player, with whom he recorded several acclaimed albums. In 1975, he released the first album of a female vocal ensemble that would become legendary — Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares — whose global success was crowned with a Grammy Award in 1989.

This concert pays tribute to the visionary legacy of this remarkable couple. It brings together Alexandre Cellier, their son — a genre-defying musician, improviser, and sound inventor, nurtured from childhood in this rich musical universe — Dimitar Gougov, master of the Bulgarian gadulka (traditional fiddle), composer, and member of the trio Violons Barbares, representing the living vitality of tradition in a contemporary approach; and Ion Miu, the undisputed master of the Romanian țambal (cymbalum), whose dazzling virtuosity ranks him among the greatest interpreters of this instrument.

Ion Miu – țambal (cymbalum)
Dimitar Gougov – gadulka (fiddle)
Alexandre Cellier – piano

Concert recorded by RTS – Espace 2
Program “L’écho des pavanes” with Anne Gillot and Vincent Zanetti (11.10.2025): RTS podcast link