Trio Colores
TrioColores, winners of a 2025 Opus Klassik Award, is a renowned percussion ensemble recognized as one of the foremost interpreters of a diverse percussive repertoire spanning classical masterworks to celebrated contemporary compositions. Matthias Kessler, Luca Staffelbach, and Fabian Ziegler have established themselves as a versatile and innovative trio, bringing their joy for percussion to each performance and captivating audiences with their virtuosic playing and imaginative programming. The trio has been praised by the jury of the Migros Kulturprozent Competition for their “range of colors, holistic approach, and the performative power that always took center stage,” and hailed by the Luzerner Zeitung, which wrote, “they play so passionately and at a level rarely heard before.”
In the 2025/26 season, TrioColores will tour In Flux, a new triple percussion concerto by Avner Dorman, commissioned by and written for the ensemble, with the Jugendsinfonie Orchester Zürich in Bremen, Potsdam, Berlin, and Zürich. They will also give recital performances across Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. Highlights of the 2024/25 season included the world premiere of In Flux with the Staatstheater Braunschweig in Germany, as well as recital appearances in Austria, Switzerland, South Korea, and Lithuania. The trio also released their debut album, “En Couleur,” on the Solo Musica (Munich) label, featuring music by Saint-Saëns, Debussy, Milhaud, Tailleferre, and Ravel, an album that earned them the 2025 Opus Klassik Award in the Klassik ohne Grenzen (Classical Music Without Limits) category.
Over the past decade, TrioColores has appeared at major venues and festivals throughout Europe, including the Davos Festival in Switzerland and the Lausitz Festival in Germany, performing uniquely designed programs that highlight the expressive range of percussion instruments. Their repertoire includes both traditional percussion literature and ambitious arrangements of classical works, a specialty that has earned them wide acclaim. Their 2021 debut at the Chamber Music Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic, featuring an original arrangement of Ravel’s complete Le Tombeau de Couperin, exemplifies their skillful integration of percussion into the classical concert stage.
TrioColores has won several awards including the prestigious Swiss Chamber Music Competition “Migros Kulturprozent,” and its audience prize in 2019, and in 2022 they received both the Lerman Gold Prize and the Audience Choice Award at the Chesapeake Chamber Music Competition located in Easton, MD. The trio is also a prizewinner at the International Anton Rubinstein Competition and the Berliner International Music Competition.
Competition and Awards
2025 - OPUS KLASSIK with Debut-Album "En Couleur" in the category "Klassik ohne Grenzen"
2022 - Lerman Gold Prize and Audience Choice Award of the International Chesapeake Chamber Music Competition
2019 - Jury and Audience Award of the Chamber Music Competition of the Migros-Kulturprozent
2019 - Silver Medal "Berliner International Music Competition"
2019 - Prize Winner of "International Anton Rubinstein Competition"
Fabian Ziegler
Born 1995
Fabian Ziegler
Fabian Ziegler completed his studies at the Zurich University of the Arts from 2014 - 2021 with professors Klaus Schwärzler, Benjamin Forster, Raphael Christen, Rainer Seegers and Martin Grubinger Junior.
Ziegler has already gained a lot of experience as a soloist, chamber and orchestra musician. As a soloist, he has performed with the Musikkollegium Winterthur, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Argovia Philharmonic, Orchestra Wellington, Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, and other orchestras worldwide, and has been a guest at major venues such as the Tonhalle Zurich, Konzerthaus Berlin, Meistersingerhalle Nürnberg, Die Glocke Bremen, Kölner Philharmonie, Philharmonie Essen, Staatstheater Braunschweig, Berliner Philharmonie, KKL Lucerne, Lincoln Center in New York City, and many more. In 2023/2024, his debut with the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana will follow.
As a chamber musician, Fabian Ziegler is active in his TrioColores, co-founded in 2018, and with his partner Akvilė Šileikaitė, as well as in many other formations. But Fabian Ziegler also plays in the orchestra as a percussionist with the City Light Symphony Orchestra and as an adjunct with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich and the Musikkollegium Winterthur.
Luca Staffelbach
Born 1996
Luca Staffelbach
Luca Staffelbach not only catches the public's eye through his performative activities, but also engages intensively in arranging and composing. He graduated with honors, earning his Bachelor of Arts in Music and a Master's in Music Education from the Zurich University of the Arts under the guidance of Prof. Raphael Christen, Prof. Benjamin Forster, Prof. Klaus Schwärzler, Prof. Rainer Seegers, and Martin Grubinger Junior.
He is an experienced soloist, chamber, orchestral, and band musician, having performed in renowned concert halls such as the Berlin Philharmonie, the KKL Luzern, or the Tonhalle Zürich. As a soloist, he has shared the stage with orchestras such as the Orchestra Wellington, the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, the City Light Orchestra Lucerne, or the Kammerorchester Arpeggione Hohenems. He is a founding member of the award-winning TrioColores, known for their exceptionally designed programs and compelling musicality.
His arrangements resound on international stages with TrioColores and are partly available for purchase. Compositions by Luca Staffelbach have already been performed in the USA, Latin America, Sicily, Finland, and Switzerland.
Matthias Kessler
Born 1997
Matthias Kessler
Matthias Kessler completed his bachelor's studies from 2016 to 2019 at the Zurich University of the Arts under the guidance of Professors Klaus Schwärzler, Benjamin Forster, Raphael Christen, and Martin Grubinger Junior. After graduating in 2019, he was awarded the scholarship of the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic, where he received instruction from Jan Schlichte and Wieland Welzel. Since 2021, Kessler has been pursuing his master's studies at the Hanns Eisler School of Music with Prof. Franz Schindlbeck and Prof. Rainer Seegers.
During his studies, he gained orchestral experience through participation in various youth orchestras in Austria, Switzerland, and Germany, and as a member of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra. Matthias Kessler is a sought-after guest musician in orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, and the Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin.
Since January 2022, Matthias Kessler has held the position of Principal Timpanist and First Percussionist with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra. As a chamber musician, he is active in various ensembles and is a co-founder and member of TrioColores.
