- Cello
The Swedish cellist Frans Helmerson began his musical training with Guido Vecchi in Göteborg before moving on to study with Giuseppe Selmi in Rome and William Pleeth in London. Sergiu Celibidache and Mstislav Rostropovich also played a very influential role in his artistic development. In 1971 he won one of the most famous music prizes for cellists, the Cassado Competition in Florence - the first of many other distinctions. Tours have taken him to other countries in Europe as well as to Japan, Russia, South America, Australia, New Zealand and the USA.
Frans Helmerson plays with many well-known orchestras and receives outstanding critical acclaim for his concerts and recordings.
His love of chamber music is another important driving force in his musical endeavours. He is a regular guest at the major European festivals such as Verbier, Pablo Casals-Festival or the Ravinia Festival, and spent many years as the artistic director of the Umea-Korsholm International Chamber Music Festival. In 2002 he founded the Michelangelo String Quartet with Mihaela Martin, Stephan Picard and Nobuko Imai. In addition to his career as a soloist, chamber musician and conductor, Frans Helmerson taught many years as a professor at the Conservatories in Cologne and in Madrid. Since 2011/12 he has been teaching as a guest professor at the Academy of Music Hanns Eisler Berlin. Frans Helmerson plays a cello by Domenico Montagna (1690-1750).
He teaches at the Music Academy of Villecroze in 2012, 2014 and 2020
Official website : http://michelangelostringquartet.com