Martin Helmchen

Martin Helmchen has established himself as one of the top pianists of the younger generation. Born in Berlin in 1982, he first studied with Galina Ivanzova at the HfM “Hanns Eisler” Berlin, later switching to Arie Vardi at the HMTM Hannover; other mentors are William Grant Naboré and Alfred Brendel. His career received a first decisive impulse when he won the “Concours Clara Haskil” in 2001.

Martin Helmchen performs worldwide with numerous renowned orchestras, including most of the German radio orchestras, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, the Orchestre de Paris, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonia Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and The Cleveland Orchestra.

He works with conductors such as David Afkham, Marc Albrecht, Herbert Blomstedt, Christoph von Dohnányi, Sir Mark Elder, Edward Gardner, Philippe Herreweghe, Manfred Honeck, Vladimir Jurowski, Andris Nelsons, Emmanuel Krivine, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Christoph Poppen, Michael Sanderling and David Zinman.

Chamber music has a special significance for him – a passion for which Boris Pergamenschikow provided the essential impetus. His close chamber music partners include Juliane Banse, Matthias Goerne, Veronika Eberle, Marie-Elisabeth Hecker, Christian Tetzlaff, Antje Weithaas, Carolin Widmann and Frank Peter Zimmermann. He has a particularly close relationship with the Schubertiade.

Together with Frank Peter Zimmermann, Martin Helmchen starts the new season, with a Beethoven evening the duo can be heard at all the major German summer festivals. He will then be a guest soloist at the famous Mostly Mozart Festival in New York.

Martin Helmchen’s close ties with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig are particularly expressed by his participation in the opening concerts under Andris Nelsons; he then makes a guest appearance with the orchestra at the Lucerne Festival. Other highlights include concerts at the Kölner Philharmonie – with Matthias Goerne as well as in the piano trio with Marie-Elisabeth Hecker and Antje Weithaas. In the orchestral field, he returns to the Frankfurt and Hanover Radio Orchestras, as well as to the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, among others. He makes his debut with the National Symphony Orchestra of the Polish Radio. His collaboration with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under Andrew Manze will continue, as well as with the Bielefelder Symphoniker, with whom he will perform all of Bartók’s piano concertos over the course of two seasons.

Martin Helmchen is an exclusive artist with Alpha Classics. His most recent release was the highly acclaimed album “Novelletten und Gesänge der Frühe” with piano works by Robert Schumann in March 2022. May 2021 saw the release of his recording of Carl Maria von Weber’s Concert Piece with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin under Christoph Eschenbach. His past releases have included Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations, Messiaen’s “Vingt regards sur l’enfant-Jésus”, and a duo album with Marie-Elisabeth Hecker with works by Brahms and Schubert.

Since 2010, Martin Helmchen has been Associate Professor of Chamber Music at the Kronberg Academy.

Photo: Peter Rigaud