Cyrille Brotto

Based in the south of France, Cyrille Brotto has for more than twenty years developed a path centered on the diatonic accordion, between traditional music, bal folk and projects open to other languages. His playing sits within a rhythmic and melodic approach where the folk repertoire dialogues with more contemporary forms, up to crossings with hip-hop or electronic aesthetics. Cyrille Brotto has formed many ensembles through the years, in France as well as elsewhere in Europe, which has broadened his field beyond the traditional frame. Among his most visible collaborations is the duo formed with the Senegalese kora player Ablaye Cissoko, with whom he published Instant in 2022, then Djiyo in 2025, in an acoustic register attentive to nuances and space. He also forms the Duo Brotto Milleret with Stéphane Milleret, around work on the possibilities of the diatonic accordion duo, and participates in Groove Factory, a project where the instrument sits in a more hybrid material, linked to dance and the movements between popular traditions and urban cultures. In concert, at dances or in master classes, Cyrille Brotto defends a living practice of the accordion, attentive as much to listening as to movement.