Frans Helmerson

Swedish cellist Frans Helmerson began his musical training with Guido Vecchi in Gothenburg before studying in Rome and London. Sergiu Celibidache and his mentor Mstislav Rostropovich also played a very influential role in his artistic development. In 1971, he won the renowned Cassado Competition in Florence – the first of many distinctions. His recordings of Dvořák’s Cello Concerto with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 are highly praised. He is a regular guest at major European festivals, including the Verbier Festival, the Pablo Casals Festival and the Ravinia Festival. In 2002 he co-founded the Michelangelo String Quartet which is active until today. From 2011 to 2016 he was guest professor at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin and in 2016 he became professor at the Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin. Frans Helmerson has been teaching at the Kronberg Academy as principal professor since 2006 and plays a cello by Stefan-Peter Greiner.