Jean Balissat was born in 1936 in Switzerland. He studied harmony and counterpoint in Lausanne with Hans Haug, then attended the Geneva Conservatory starting in 1954, studying orchestration and composition with André-François Marescotti and conducting with Samuel Baud-Bovy. At the same time, he studied percussion with Charles Peschier and horn with Robert Faller. From 1960 to 1983, he directed various brass ensembles, including twelve years with the Fribourg Landwehr. From 1972 to 1983, he taught composition and orchestration at the Fribourg Conservatory, and then at the Lausanne and Geneva Conservatories.

Excerpted from the Editions Grammont catalogue