The Arcanes Duo, composed of Juliette Malek Mansour Kadjar (violin) and Gabriel Diaconu (piano), has its roots in a long-standing friendship. Their meeting dates back to their years of study at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, where their musical chemistry quickly became apparent.
Gabriel was completing his studies under the guidance of Eugene Moguilevsky, while Juliette joined the class of Véronique Bogaerts. It was during this time that their first musical collaboration took place, with a performance of Ernest Chausson's Poème, a moment that would mark the beginning of their artistic partnership.
Born in Brussels, Juliette studied music at the Jean-Philippe Rameau Conservatory in Dijon, where she discovered chamber music at the age of 13. This practice then became a true vocation, a passion that has never left her.
After graduating in France, she continued her training at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels in the class of Véronique Bogaerts, while studying chamber music with Muhiddin Dürrüoglu Demiriz and Guy Danel. She also benefited from the advice of renowned artists during master classes: Yossif Ivanov, Lorenzo Gatto, Régis Pasquier, Koyoko Takezawa, Tatiana Samouil, Wilfried Strehle, Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden, Jean-Luc Fafchamps, Benoît Mernier, as well as members of the Pražák, Talich and Fine Arts Quartets, to name a few.
Since 2017, Juliette has been directing the Fil'harmonique de La Hulpe, with which she has performed in prestigious venues such as Flagey, Bozar and, soon, the Aula Magna in March 2025.
Juliette is committed to passing on her passion to her students, encouraging them to push their limits through ever more ambitious projects. In October 2024, with her colleagues from Brabant Wallon, she led her students from the Académie de La Hulpe on stage for the closing of the Musiq'3 Brabant Wallon festival, where she conducted a student orchestra accompanying Dmytro Udovychenko, winner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition.
Gabriel was born in Romania into a family of musicians. It was his mother who first introduced him to the piano, before he entered Alain Raës' class at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Lille at the age of nine. In parallel with a Scientific Baccalaureate, he obtained the Gold Medal and a Diploma of Musical Studies.
He then continued his training at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, where he perfected his skills in the class of Evgeny Moguilevsky, obtaining his Master with Distinction. Throughout his career, he benefited from the advice of many renowned artists, such as Claire Chevallier, Muhiddin Dürrüoglu-Demiriz, Thierry Huillet, Alexander Moguilevsky, Virginio Pavarana, Simone Perrier, Howard Shelley, André Siwy, Vladimir Soultanov and Olga Roumchevitch.
Very early on, Gabriel developed a particular interest in pedagogy. He taught in music schools in the north of France throughout his studies, an experience that allowed him to obtain an Agrégation de l'Enseignement Supérieur Secondaire by devoting a thesis to sight reading.
In 2010 Gabriel joined the teaching staff of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, where he accompanied the classes of Véronique Bogaerts, Vincent David, Endre Kleve, Hugues Navez, Tatiana Samouil, Aki Saulière, Alain Crepin, Ronald Van Spaendonck…
Accompanist of numerous competitions and master classes, he regularly collaborates with various prestigious ensembles and institutions such as the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, the Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth and the Musiques Royales de La Défense.
In 2018, Juliette Malek Mansour Kadjar and Gabriel Diaconu officially founded the Arcanes Duo during the Europ'Art Festival. From that moment on, their musical collaboration took a decisive turn, with a repertoire as demanding as it is eclectic: Debussy, Franck, Beethoven, Poulenc, Brahms, Prokofiev, and Ravel. The duo's partnership deepened with each concert from 2018 to 2023, until in 2023, the Arcanes Duo project truly took flight. Two years of intense preparation to present to you today our project Symbiosis: to learn more, click here.