About
Clara Franz, born in 1994 in Rostock, is a cellist who distinguishes herself through her diverse artistic profile. She currently lives in Berlin.
Clara studied violoncello as her main artistic subject at the Hochschule für Musik „Hanns Eisler“ Berlin with Prof. Josef Schwab and Prof. Hans-Jakob Eschenburg. She continued her studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Künste Frankfurt am Main with Prof. Jan Ickert. Other formative teachers in her artistic training were Prof. Leonid Gorokhov and Prof. Lucas Fels.
As an orchestral musician, she was a member of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie for many years. She currently performs mainly on a project basis in various chamber orchestras. In 2023, she took part in the Ensemble Modern Orchestra tour under the direction of George Benjamin.
As an experienced chamber musician, she performs in various ensembles of different genres. With her former string quartet Aavik Quartett, she won the sponsorship prize at the Polytechnic Competition at the HfMDK Frankfurt in 2019.
Clara regularly plays concerts with the guitarist Guy Woodcock in the duo Shiluv. In their concert programmes, they search for unusual connections and combinations of genres, styles and timbres. In her chamber music activities, Clara is committed to the performance and discovery of contemporary music, commissions compositions and works closely with composers.
Clara’s passion and curiosity for contemporary music led her to take part in the contemporary celloweek at the EstOvest Festival in Turin, Italy, in 2021 and 2023. In April 2022, she was a finalist in the Domnick Cello Competition in Stuttgart and played György Ligeti’s Cello Concerto with the Stuttgart University Orchestra. She received comprehensive training in ensemble playing and the literature of contemporary music as an academy student at the International Ensemble Modern Academy (IEMA) in Frankfurt am Main from October 2022 to September 2023.
With the IEMA Ensemble 22/23, Clara has performed over 20 concerts with numerous world premieres, including at renowned festivals such as the Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik, the IMPULS Festival Graz and the Gaudeamus Muziekweek in Utrecht. As a specialist in contemporary music, she is currently the instrumental soloist in the production of the opera „Pnima“ by Chaya Cernowin at the Staatstheater Darmstadt.
Clara has a keen interest in interdisciplinary projects. In 2023, she created a fusion programme of contemporary music for solo cello and dance together with the dancer Ilgim Uz.
As an instrumental teacher for cello, she has been continuously teaching children, young people and adults of all ages and levels since 2015. Initially, she taught for four years at a private music school in Berlin. In Frankfurt/Main and the surrounding area, she taught at the Heusenstamm Music School, at the Taunus Music School, as well as privately. From April 2024 onwards, she is teaching at the Fanny Hensel Musikschule in Berlin Mitte and also gives private lessons in Berlin.
Clara Franz plays a cello made by Karl Weiß in Dortmund in 1956.
Teaching in Berlin
I work with all levels from beginners to advanced.
In my lessons, I strive to find a balance between theory and intuition. It is important to me to lay a solid technical foundation and to teach music theory basics. Learning to read music and a basic understanding of harmony and form in music are elementary.
On the other hand, I value improvisation and always motivate my students to develop their own intuition in dealing freely with sound and harmonies. It is important to me that my students bring along interest, joy and self-commitment.
In addition to learning compositions, my teaching focuses on healthy posture and experiencing the resonance unit between cello and player.
Making music together is a concern of mine from the very beginning. I accompany my students either on the cello or on the piano. I am happy to respond to repertoire wishes and ideas openly and individually.
In my lessons, it is important to me to meet at eye level. Exploring and trying out musical interests and their realisation on the cello together, and learning from each other in the process, is a central part of my teaching.
To arrange a trial lesson and receive an individual offer, just get in touch.
Ensembles
Duo Shiluv
My duo with guitarist Guy Woodcock was formed when we studied music at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin, and we have been a permanent ensemble since 2021. Our repertoire ranges from baroque to modern music. The unusual combination of cello and guitar, which tends to receive less attention in the repertoire canon, challenges us to discover lesser-known composers and tempts us to let well-known pieces sound in new timbres in our own arrangements. Both the love for the universal music of Bach and curiosity for contemporary music influence the choice of our concert programmes.
One particular highlight of our ensemble was the launch of our own concert series „Circling around Brandenburg“, as part of which we performed four concerts in November 2022. As a duo, we are committed to promoting contemporary repertoire and endeavour to commission young composers to write for us.
In our current project „Romantic Echoes: Songs and their Reverberations“, we are adapting songs from the Romantic period for our instrumentation and collaborating with composers. Their commissioned compositions for our duo are intended to build an echo and a bridge to the present in terms of thematic reference.
As a soloist and with my ensembles, I am happy to provide musical accompaniment for festive occasions, such as weddings, funerals, exhibition openings or award ceremonies. I look forward to hearing from you.
Media
You can find videos of selected solo and ensembles performances on my website and my YouTube channel.
Upcoming Performances
For an overview of my upcoming performances, you may check out my calendar.
Contact
For enquiries, I invited you to use the contact form or send an email directly to
clarafranz @ online.de.
Clara Franz 