Frans Helmerson, new Cello Professor at the Stauffer Academy

The Stauffer Academy announces the appointment of Frans Helmerson as Professor of the Advanced Cello Course starting from the Academic Year 2024-2025. Internationally acclaimed cellist and appreciated teacher, Maestro Helmerson takes over from Antonio Meneses, bringing with him his vast concert experience and his profound commitment to the training of young talents.

Throughout his long and prestigious artistic career, Frans Helmerson has always combined his activity as a soloist with that as a chamber musician. He has collaborated with some of the world’s most celebrated conductors, including Seiji Ozawa, Evgeni Svetlanov, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Frübeck de Burgos, Kurt Sanderling and Mstislav Rostropovich. His recording of Dvořák’s Cello Concerto with Neeme Järvi and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra was acknowledged as the “best recording currently available on the market”. As a chamber musician, he is a regular guest at major European festivals, including the Verbier Festival, the Pablo Casals Festival in Prades and the Ravinia Festival. He served for many years as the artistic director of the Umea-Korsholm International Chamber Music Festival, and in 2002 he co-founded the Michelangelo String Quartet, active to this day.

His teaching activity is intense: he is Principal Professor of Cello at the Kronberg Academy since 2006 and at the Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin since 2016, as well as Guest Professor at Juilliard in New York since 2012. He also taught at the Conservatories of Cologne and Madrid and was Guest Professor at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin from 2011 to 2016.

“I am very excited to have the opportunity to work with young and promising Italian cellists. I am grateful to the Stauffer Foundation for the trust they placed in me,” – states Frans Helmerson.

The connection with Italy dates back to the years of his training, which began with Guido Vecchi in Gothenburg and continued in Rome with Giuseppe Selmi. Sergiu Celibidache and Mstislav Rostropovich also played a very influential role in his artistic development.

“With the arrival of Frans Helmerson, the Stauffer Academy confirms its purpose to give its students the opportunity to learn from remarkable and charismatic professors and musicians. Alongside the founding Maestros, Salvatore Accardo and Bruno Giuranna, he will share his wide-ranging experience with the new generations. It is an honour and a pleasure for the Stauffer Foundation to welcome a musician of such stature,” says Alessandro Tantardini, President of the Stauffer Foundation.

“Frans Helmerson is an outstanding musician and dedicated teacher; he will be a stimulating guide and a source of great inspiration for our students’ artistic growth and professional development,” – adds Angelica Suanno, Director of the Stauffer Academy.

For information on our Cello course and application deadlines please visit this page.