Marc Albrecht, chief conductor of De Nederlandse Opera and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, is highly regarded for his interpretations of works by Wagner and Richard Strauss, as well as contemporary works. He has been a guest conductor with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Munich Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the orchestras of Rome (Santa Cecilia), Dresden and Lyons. He has led operas including Der fliegende Holländer (Bayreuther Festspiele, 2003-2006), Die Bacchantinnen (Salzburger Festspiele, 2005) and From the House of the Dead (Opéra national de Paris, 2005). From 2001 to 2004 he was principal guest conductor at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where his engagements included a highly acclaimed performance of Messiaen’s Saint François d’Assise. He was artistic director and chief conductor of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg from 2006 to 2011. He also enjoys a close association with the Semperoper Dresden, where he led the productions of Die Frau ohne Schatten and La damnation de Faust in 2007. Recent conducting engagements include The Bassarids (Bayerische Staatsoper München), Der fliegende Holländer (ROH Covent Garden), Der Prinz von Homburg (Theater an der Wien), Lulu with the Wiener Philharmoniker (Salzburg), Elektra, Orest and The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia (DNO) and his debut at La Scala with Die Frau ohne Schatten. 

In the 2012/13 Martin Helmchen is soloist both with The Philharmonia, London and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under the baton of Christoph von Dohnányi. He also performs with the Orchestre National de Lyon with Antoni Wit, the Orchestre National de France with Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Radio Symphony Orchestra of Berlin with Marek Janowski and makes his debut with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and John Storgårds.  He collaborates again with Andris Nelsons on a tour in Germany with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and joins Viviane Hagner and Marie-Elizabeth Hecker on tour in Spain with the Munich Chamber Orchestra. Returning to the USA he makes his debut with the Houston Symphony under the baton of Hans Graf.
In recital two important venues are added to a busy schedule including Berlin’s Philharmonie,  San Francisco’s SF Performances series.    With a passion for chamber music largely ignited in early collaborations with the late cellist Boris Pergamenschikow Martin Helmchen performs throughout Europe during 2012/13 with his wife and cellist Marie-Elizabeth Hecker and joining with Veronica Eberle and Antoine Tomastit they perform in Berlin, Amsterdam and Paris. 

The 2011/12 has seen Martin Helmchen as Artist in Residence with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich and David Zinman.  He has also performed with NDR Hamburg and Semyon Bychkov, the Deutsche Symphonie Orchester Berlin and David Afkham, with The Philharmonia and Diego Matheuz, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra collaborating again with Vladimir Jurowski.