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 CDs (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, and "Mozart" with the London Mozart Players, on the Swiss Label Claves Records). Recently, she premiered Martin Skamletz's Concerto for Flute and Orchestra in Austria, and was broadcasted on Austrian Radio ORF, Italian Radio RAI and Swiss Television RTS. 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 (Maxence Larrieu Competition, International Jeunesses Musicales Competition Belgrade, Anton Rubinstein International Competition Berlin) and is supported by numerous foundations (Leenaards, Kiefer-Hablitzel, 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 Budapest Radio Orchestra, 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 regularly plays as principal flute with the Basel Symphony Orchestra and is a member of the Verbier Festival Orchestra. She also 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 Zubin Metha.

 

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

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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 interested in developing her style and expression through orchestral works and writes her own cadenzas. In her desire to refresh her instrument's repertoire, she has made numerous arrangements (notably The Dance of the Seven Veils, or Sonate Posthume). More recently, she has also taken an interest in the art of conducting.