Cécile-Laure Kouassi, double bass (Grenoble, France) is assistant principal in the Oslo-Filharmonien. She frequently plays with Les Dissonances and has worked as co-principal in the Royal Danish Orchestra. As a chamber musician, she has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, Salle Cortot, Gamle Logen, Festspillene i Bergen, and Stavanger kammermusikkfestival, among others. She regularly tours and records albums with Oslo Kammerakademi. Cécile-Laure trained at The Juilliard School and Rice University after beginning her musical studies in France and Belgium. She received additional training at the Verbier, Aspen and Castleton festivals. At Juilliard, she received the Scholastic Distinction for her thesis on surrealism. Interested in the mind-body connection and injury prevention, she takes advanced classes in anatomy, physiology and psychology at UCLouvain. Cécile-Laure is committed to outreach, and as a Gluck fellow she has presented several performances involving chamber music, dance, group improvisation and audience participation in hospitals and nursing homes. She is active in the Norwegian Kontrabassklubb and studied Suzuki pedagogy with Virginia Dixon at the Hinton Bass Institute 2018. Cécile-Laure Kouassi plays on an Italian bass from 1770, on generous loan from Dextra Musica.