Cellist and violist Emmanuel Balssa studied classical cello with Maurice Gendron, baroque cello with Richte van der Meer (Royal Conservatory of The Hague), and viola da gamba with Wieland Kuijken (Diploma with Distinction, Royal Conservatory of Brussels).

Between 2015 and 2018, he participated in a series of quintet concerts with clarinetist Lorenzo Coppola and violinist Isabelle Faust (Mozart and Brahms program).

He has recorded six sonatas for cello and basso continuo by S. Lanzetti with Bertrand Cuiller and Alix Verzier (Lindoro, 2004), CPE Bach's Concerto in A minor with the ensemble Il Gardellino (Accent, 2013), and the 12 Fantasies for solo violin by GP Telemann with the Barak Norman viola from the Museu de la Música in Barcelona (to be released by Incises in 2021).

A member of the Eighteenth Century Orchestra and the Bach Collegium Japan, he also regularly performs in chamber music recitals, mainly with pianist Rémy Cardinale and the ensemble L’Armée des Romantiques (recording of Franck's Quintet in 2016 for L’Autre Monde editions).

He teaches baroque cello at the CNSMD Lyon and viola da gamba and baroque cello at the ESMUC (Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya) in Barcelona.