An Afternoon with Frans Helmerson & Mihaela Martin
Solegio Signature Event: Artist Encounters
This event is in partnership with Biglake Arts
Sunday August 24th, 2025 | 10:00 AM - 3:30 PM
Wellington Music Hall, Prince Edward County ON
Application is due on August 6th
Apply today!
Enjoy a rare and delightful afternoon of music, mentorship, and connection in the heart of Prince Edward County. This private, carefully curated event offers just eight advanced students the chance to perform for and learn from two extraordinary artists, share a beautifully catered lunch, and make music together in an inspiring chamber music sight-reading session. With no public audience, the focus is entirely on growth, artistry, and meaningful exchange. Select viewers are by invitation only. A special day designed for those ready to deepen their craft in an intimate and memorable setting.
Learn about the Artists
Mihaela Martin, Violin
Equally at home as a soloist with orchestra and as a chamber music performer, Mihaela’s performances in season 2023-24 include performances with Bucharest Philharmonic, Staatsorchester Hamburg, Berlin Academy for American Music, appearances at the Verbier Festival, Enescu Festival, Budapest Academy Festival, Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival, Kronberg Festival, Santander Festival, Ravinia Festival, Suntory Hall
She has performed with leading orchestras such as the BBC Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. She has worked with conductors such as Manfred Honeck, Andrew Davis, Andrew Litton, Gabor Takacs, Thierry Fischer, Thomas Sanderling, Constantine Orbelian, Nicholaus Harnoncourt, Charles Dutoit, Kurt Masur, Neeme Järvi and Paavo Järvi.
Chamber music has a very important place in Mihaela’s life. In addition to participating in many chamber music festivals, she is a founding member of the Michelangelo String Quartet with whom she has performed in Carnegie Hall, Boulez Hall-Berlin, Wigmore Hall-London, Library of Congress, Concertgebouw, and Theatre de Champs Élysée.
Since 2017 she is artistic director of the Rolandseck/Bad Honnef Chamber Music Festival and frequently collaborates with musicians Daniel Barenboim, Sergei Babayan, Lera Auerbach, Krill Gerstein, Denis Kozhukhin, Sharon Kam, Nobuko Imai and Gabor Takacs.
Mihaela Martin is a professor at University of Music in Cologne, at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin and at the Kronberg Academy. She gives masterclasses throughout the world and is a regular jury member at important international competitions such as the Queen Elisabeth (Belgium), Indianapolis (USA), Concours Musical (Canada), Enescu (Romania) and Tchaikovsky (Russia).
Mihaela Martin plays a violin by J.B. Guadagnini that dates from 1748.
Frans Helmerson, Cello
Swedish cellist Frans Helmerson began his musical training with Guido Vecchi in Gothenburg before moving on to study with Giuseppe Selmi in Rome and William Pleeth in 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. 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 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”. His recording of Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No 1 is also highly praised.
Frans Helmerson’s love of chamber music is another important driving force in his musical endeavours. He is a regular guest at the major European festivals, including the Verbier Festival, the Pablo Casals Festival in Prades and the Ravinia Festival, and spent many years as the artistic director of the Umea-Korsholm International Chamber Music Festival. In 2002 he co-founded the Michelangelo String Quartet which is active until today.
In addition to his career as a soloist, chamber musician and conductor, Frans Helmerson taught for several years as a professor at the conservatories in Cologne and in Madrid. From 2011 to 2016 he has been teaching as a guest professor at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin. 2016 saw him gain an additional professorship at the Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin. Frans Helmerson has been teaching on the Kronberg Academy Study Programmes as a principal professor since 2006. He plays a cello by Stefan-Peter Greiner.