Axelle Richez

In November 2024, the Dora Piano Trio was awarded First Prize at the ORPHEUS Chamber Music Competition, enabling them to perform at some of Switzerland’s most prestigious chamber music festivals, including the Swiss Chamber Music Festival in Adelboden, Musikdorf Ernen, Zunftkonzerte Zürich, and Piano Trio Fest in Bern.
In May 2025, the trio was also a finalist at the Brahms International Chamber Music Competition in Gdańsk.

The Dora Piano Trio is composed of violinist Sofia De Falco, cellist Axelle Richez, and pianist Rocco Michela. They met during their studies, first in Lausanne, then in Basel at the Hochschule für Musik, and after performing for years in various formations — duo, trio, and string quartet — they officially founded the Dora Piano Trio in 2024 in Basel.

Over the years, the trio has studied with renowned professors such as Anton Kernjak, Raphaël Oleg, and Claudio Martínez Mehner in Basel, as well as Cobus Swanepoel at Zürcher Hochschule der Künste.

The trio performs regularly in Switzerland and abroad, with recent appearances at Festival Musique et Vie, the Concerts au Lignon, and the concert season of the Swiss Foundation for Young Musicians. In November 2025, they joined Le Dimore del Quartetto network in Italy — becoming part of a select group of ensembles benefiting from curated residencies, professional development opportunities, and a European-wide platform for concerts, masterclasses and cultural collaborations. The trio was recently selected to join the MERITA Platform within the MERITAcubed project.

They have participated in masterclasses with Jonathan Brown, Alexander Lonquich and Benjamin Engeli and are currently continuing their studies at the Musik Akademie Basel with Anton Kernjak, Rainer Schmidt, and Anna Gebert.

The Dora Piano Trio is particularly interested in researching and discovering lesser-known repertoire from diverse genres and cultural backgrounds, and in combining these works with more well-known pieces to create thoughtful and inclusive programs that engage and broaden audiences. One of the composers they are especially passionate about is Dora Pejačević, whose piano trios and broader chamber music output have deeply inspired their artistic vision. The ensemble chose to name itself in homage to her.