Born in Ithaca, New York to German parents, Helene Pohl spent her childhood on both sides of the Atlantic. Starting with the Suzuki Method at 4 ½, she first learned with Sanford Reuning, one of the seminal teachers in the spread of the Method in the USA. She must have not practiced enough, because she also had time for lessons in piano, guitar, and clarinet, and played the baritone saxophone in her high school jazz band.  At 17 she began tertiary study at the Musikhochschule Cologne. She continued her studies with members of the Cleveland Quartet at the Eastman School of Music and at Indiana University with Josef Gingold, and spent many summers at the Aspen Music Festival.  She also had voice lessons with Renee Fleming and viola lessons with Kim Kashkashian.  From her teenage years she was irresistibly drawn to chamber music in general and string quartet in particular, and enjoyed receiving coaching from members of many great quartets, including the Amadeus, Juilliard, Orion, Emerson, Vermeer and Tokyo.

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As first violinist of the San Francisco based Fidelio String Quartet (1988-1993), Helene performed extensively in the USA, Germany, England, Italy and South America. The Fidelio Quartet was a prize winner in the 1991 London International String Quartet Competition and quartet in residence at both the Tanglewood and Aspen Music Festivals.

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Helene joined the New Zealand String Quartet as first violinist in February 1994. As well as performing, she also is a devoted teacher to a select group of students as well as coaching chamber music at Victoria University’s New Zealand School of Music Te Kōki.  In 2001 she became Artistic Director, with fellow quartet member Gillian Ansell, of the Adam Chamber Music Festival. She is also the Patron of Arohanui Strings+, the longest running Sistema music teaching programme in New Zealand.

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In 2014 she was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for her outstanding services to music in New Zealand.  

 

In her spare time she enjoys being involved with local Suzuki and Sistema programmes, cooking, baking, getting out into nature and playing even more music with her cellist husband Rolf and violinist son Peter, who has recently begun tertiary music study.  She has also played concertos around New Zealand, including with the Napier, Nelson, and New Plymouth orchestras; St. Matthews Chamber Orchestra in Auckland, Kāpiti Concert Orchestra, Orchestra Wellington and Wellington City Orchestra.

 

Helene plays a Pietro Guarnerius violin made in Venice in 1730.

Find out more about her instrument here.