Helena Macherel is a Swiss flutist from Lausanne, appointed Principal Flute of the Baden-Baden Philharmonic Orchestra in 2024. Throughout her international career, she has performed in France, Belgium, Austria, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Serbia, China and the USA. She has recorded several albums including Mozart with the London Mozart Players (Claves Records) which received a 5-star rating from BBC Music Magazine, Dances for Flute and Harp with harpist Tjasha Gafner, and ...du silence au silence with pianist Veronica Kuijken (Challenge Records). Her performances have been broadcast on prominent radio stations France Musique, Austrian Radio ORF, Italian Radio RAI, Romanian Radio RRM, and Swiss Radio RTS. Additionally, Helena is invited to give masterclasses in Italy.
As a prizewinner in various international competitions, including the Concours de Genève, the Maxence Larrieu Competition and the Anton Rubinstein International Competition Berlin, she has performed as a soloist with the Zürcher Kammerorchester at the Tonhalle Zürich, the Belgrade Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, the Budapest Radio Orchestra, and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice. Helena has collaborated with François Benda, Éric Le Sage, Rafael Rosenfeld, and Cédric Pescia, and forms the Astra Duo with harpist Tjasha Gafner.
In addition to these accomplishments, Helena is a member of Verbier Festival orchestra and has performed under renowned conductors including Simon Rattle, Daniele Gatti, Charles Dutoit, Klaus Mäkelä, and Zubin Mehta. She also plays regularly as Principal Flute with Basel Sinfonieorchester and Musikkollegium Winterthur.
Helena graduated at the Juilliard School in New York with Robert Langevin, and studied with Silvia Careddu at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin and with Claude Lefebvre in Paris. She began her studies at the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne at the age of fourteen with José-Daniel Castellon, and later expanded her education with Nolwenn Bargin.
As a passionate advocate for expanding the flute repertoire, Helena composes and arranges works such as 'Pantomime' from Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé and 'The Dance of the Seven Veils' from Strauss's Salome, and has recorded her own cadenzas for Mozart's concertos. She premiered M. Skamletz's Concerto for Flute and Orchestra and has been part of the 2B Theatre Company, touring Europe for several years with innovative projects. In addition to that she actively participated in projects connecting science (quantum physics and biology) with music. Helena is also actively involved in Baroque music, performing on historical flute with the ensemble La Fontana Cantabile.