Manon Mullener, born in 1997, is a pianist from Fribourg. Born into a musical family with a father and a drummer brother, she began playing the piano at the age of 4 at the Conservatoire de Fribourg. At the age of 17, her love of jazz, and more particularly Latin music, took her to Cuba, where she was able to deepen her knowledge in this field. On her return to Switzerland, she was awarded the Prix de la Spirale in Fribourg. After studying in Fribourg with Richard Pizzorno and Thomas Florin, Manon continued her studies at the Bern University of Music, where she studied with Colin Vallon and Django Bates.
In 2019, Manon records her first album ”Reflejos” in collaboration with Peruvian pianist Cesar Correa and Zurich percussionist David Stauffacher. They share the stage for numerous concerts in Switzerland and abroad.
In 2023, she releases Insomnia, the first album of her 5tet, which will be followed by a tour of some fifty concerts across Europe. Manon has been described by Le Temps magazine as “the next generation of Swiss jazz musicians to watch closely”.
Despite her young age, Manon has performed and toured in numerous clubs and festivals in Switzerland and abroad, including France, Germany, Spain, Mexico and Colombia. In January 2024, she was invited to perform at the prestigious Havana Jazz Festival in Cuba, where she appeared as a duo with Emmet Cohen, Dayramir Gonzalez and Jorge Luis Pacheco.
In 2024, she won a grant from the Canton of Fribourg which enabled her to stay in New York for 4 months to write her 2nd album, scheduled for release in spring 2025. The same year, his project is selected by the prestigious Jazz à Vienne festival in France to represent Switzerland at the festival. Her project also received creative support from the Franco-Swiss festival JazzContreband.
A versatile pianist, she is at ease in many musical styles, which has led her to be active in a wide variety of projects, including Nicole Johänntgen’s Robin, La Comédie Musicale Improvisée, Nolan Quinn’s 5tet and a duo with Cuban pianist Dayramir Gonzalez.
Since August 2020, she has been part of the team of moderators for the “Jazz am Sunntig” radio show on Radio RaBe, which has enabled her to produce a series of episodes in English in collaboration with Indian radio station Boxout. In 2024, she presents a series of podcasts entitled Jazz am Sunntig Unplugged: New York Series, in which she interviews musicians from the New York scene.
