Biography

Swiss flutist, Helena Macherel, is a versatile musician who enjoys her career as a soloist and chamber musician in Europe and in the United States. At the age of nineteen, she was awarded the Paul Streit Prize of the Concours de Genève.

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Praised for her “luminous musicality”, she had the opportunity to record three new CDs in 2021 (including Dances for Flute and Harp with harpist Tjasha Gafner, on the Euro-American label Orpheus Classical, and ...du silence au silence with pianist Veronica Kuijken, on the Dutch label Challenge Records). Recently, she premiered Martin Skamletz's Concerto for Flute and Orchestra in Austria, one of her recitals was broadcasted on the Austrian Radio (ORF), and she was invited as a soloist by the Orchestre de Chambre Fribourgeois. She is also currently engaged by the 2B Company for regular tours in Europe. Passionate about chamber music, she is a member of the Basilea Wind Quintet.

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Helena Macherel is a laureate of various international competitions, such as the Maxence Larrieu Competition, the International Jeunesses Musicales Competition in Belgrade, the Anton Rubinstein International Competition in Berlin, and also is supported by Leenaards, Friedl Wald, Lyra, Minkoff and Casino Barrière, Pour-Cent Culturel Migros scholarships. These distinctions led her to perform as a soloist with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra at the Tonhalle in Zurich, the Belgrade Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, the Orchestre de Chambre Fribourgeois, the Budapest Radio Orchestra, and the Nice Philharmonic Orchestra. She has also shared the stage with François Benda, Cédric Pescia, Sine Nomine Quartet and Terpsycordes Quartet. 

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Helena Macherel plays regularly as principal flute with the Basel Symphony Orchestra and is a member of the Verbier Festival Orchestra since 2021. Prior to this, she had the opportunity to enrich her orchestral experience through two years of internship with the Musikkollegium Winterthur Orchestra. She played under the direction of Gianandrea Noseda, Charles Dutoit, Klaus Mäkelä and Michael Sanderling.

 

She recently graduated from the Juilliard School in New York with Robert Langevin and is currently studying with Nolwenn Bargin at the Landeskonservatorium Feldkirch in Austria. At the age of fourteen, she was admitted to the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne in the class of José-Daniel Castellon, where she was awarded the Fritz-Bach scholarship upon completion of her soloist master's degree. She also studied in Berlin with Silvia Careddu at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler, and in Paris with Claude Lefebvre.

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​Since 2018, she plays the baroque flute with La Fontana Cantabile Ensemble. In addition to her flute work, Helena Macherel has a passion for composition. She is currently writing instrumental concertos and is interested in developing her style and expression through orchestral works. She took composition lessons with William Blank at Lausanne University of Music.