Swedish cellist Frans Helmerson studied in Göteborg, Rome and London with G. Vecchi, G. Selmi and W. Pleeth, as well as having been able to benefit from the formidable guidance and support of M. Rostropovitch.

Frans Helmerson has performed with many of today's finest conductors such as Seiji Ozawa, Colin Davies, Neeme Järvi, Evgeni Svetlanov, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Sergiu Comissiona, Frübeck de Burgos and Rostropovich as well as with a number of the major orchestras, touring throughout Europe, the USA, South America, Asia and Australia.

Helmerson's love for chamber music led him to take the position as artistic director of the Korsholm Festival in Finland 1994-2001, and he is frequently appearing at a number of international festivals, such as in Verbier, Prades, Naantali, Kuhmo and Ravinia. Since 1992 Helmerson holds a professorship at the Musikhochschule Köln, and he has earlier held similar positions in Stockholm and Madrid.

During the next season Helmerson will be touring both as cellist and conductor in Finland, Sweden, Norway, France, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Romania, as well as the US and Japan. Frans Helmerson can be heard on CD in concertos by Dvorak and Shostakovich, the Brahms Double Concerto with violinist Mihaela Martin and on a recent release of the Bach Solo Suites.