Jean-Luc Darbellay, born 1946, graduated at the Berne Conservatory and studied first clarinet and later composition with Cristóbal Halffter and Dimitri Terzakis. He then attended masterclasses at the IMF Lucerne with Heinz Holliger, Klaus Huber and, as his assistant, with Edison Denisov. Furthermore, he attended the seminars of Pierre Boulez in Paris in the Sorbonne (Collège de France) and in the IRCAM and conducting classes with Franco Ferrara.