Hélène Desaint lives music through encounters and sharing, with all the demands and satisfaction they bring. These are all experiences rich in learning and exploration of herself and her instrument - a Giuseppe Sgarbi from 1882 on loan from a German patron - in which the young violist shines.

Inspired by the dialogue with performers and composers, Hélène Desaint is naturally drawn to chamber music and the contemporary repertoire - two paths that she has been forging since her formative years. After starting out in Paris and then in Gennevilliers, she entered the CNSMD in Lyon, where she was involved in numerous projects and collaborations with contemporary music. The rest of her career - the Musikhochschule in Lübeck and the Haute École de musique in Geneva, where she obtained a master's degree as a soloist in 2011 - was marked by the teaching of Miguel da Silva. The residency at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, which she concluded with the recording of a Schumann/Kurtág disc released in November 2018 (Fuga Libera-Outhere), offered her new and fruitful musical encounters.
In February 2019, the recording of a Ysaye box set ("Chimay" string trio) was awarded a Diapason d'Or.
Hélène Desaint participates in numerous programmes hosted by the Orangerie de Sceaux, Saintes, Flagey, Savonlinna, La Roque d'Anthéron, Musikfest Goslar, Musiques démesurées, Musique à l'Empéri, Musica, Grame or Présence festivals, where she performs with, among others, Augustin Dumay, Louis Lortie, the Voce, Psophos, Akilone, Ronald van Spaendonck and Gary Hoffman Quartets.
She is also a member of the Ensemble 2e2m, in which she defends the modern and contemporary repertoire. For the Présence 2008 festival, she premiered Bernard Cavanna's Trois Strophes pour Patrice Lumumba for solo viola and ensemble, which were dedicated to her and resulted in a recording by Æon. In 2020, she recorded Olivier Greif's quintet, which was awarded a Choc de Classica.

Recently, she became principal viola of the orchestra Les Siècles under the direction of Françoi-Xavier Roth.

She has performed as a soloist with Ars Nova at the Philharmonie de Paris, with the Gulbenkian Foundation Orchestra in Lisbon and very recently with the Caen Orchestra under the direction of Kanako Abe. Hélène Desaint has been distinguished in the Génération Spedidam 2015, and has benefited from the recognition and support of Mécénat Musical Société Générale (2009) and Adami (2010).