Distinguishing herself at an early age, cellist Marie-Elisabeth Hecker began studying her instrument at 5, and started entering music competitions when she was 12. She began training with Wieland Pörner at the Robert Schumann Conservatory in Zwickau, and continued her studies with Peter Bruns at the Saxon State Grammar School for Music in Dresden. In 2005, she enrolled in the Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" in Leipzig. That year, she won the first prize in the Concours Rostropovich in Paris as one of the youngest competitors. Hecker has participated in the Kronberg Academy's "Chamber Music Connects the World" project, and she performed in the "Junge Wilde" series at the Konzerthaus Dortmund. In 2010, she appeared with Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin in a celebration of Schumann's bicentennial, performing the Cello Concerto in A minor. Hecker frequently performs with her husband, pianist Martin Helmchen, and they have recorded works by Brahms and Schubert on the Alpha label. ~ Blair Sanderson, Rovi