Claire Piganiol studied recorder and modern harp at the Conservatoire de la Vallée de Chevreuse near Paris, where she discovered her love for historical harps. Her fascination for these instruments, rarely played today, led her via Milan and Toulouse to Basel, where she obtained a master's degree in historical harps at the Schola Cantorum in 2012. During these studies, as well as during postgraduate studies in medieval and renaissance music in Trossingen, complemented by a maîtrise at the Sorbonne in Paris, she acquired extensive knowledge of the repertoire, iconography, instrumentology and historical playing techniques of her instruments.
She plays repertoire from the Middle Ages to contemporary works on period instruments. In the field of medieval and renaissance music she regularly performs together with the ensembles Le Miroir de Musique, Gilles Binchois, Tetraktys, per-Sonat and others.
She sets musical accents at international festivals such as Oude Muziek Utrecht, Laus Polyphoniae Antwerp, Wunderkammer Trieste, Festival de Davos, Festtage Basel, Festival international de musiques sacrées de Fribourg and at the Musiksommer am Zürichsee and performs in concert series at renowned operas such as Lucerne, Lille, Semperoper Dresden and Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam.
She taught historical harps at the Conservatoire de Besançon (FR) from 2015 to 2021 and is a master class lecturer at Medieval Music Besalú, Spain and at the Settimana Musicale del Trecento in Arezzo, Italy. Her desire to share her passion for historical instruments and their repertoire with the widest possible audience of amateurs and professional musicians is also realized through the publication of editions of early music for harp.
At the Schola Cantorum she has been teaching Medieval and Renaissance harp since the autumn semester 2022-23.