Born in Turin, Italy, in 2003, Maria Clara began studying the cello at the age of five.
A decisive moment came at just 15 years old, when she met Antonio Meneses, who selected her for advanced training courses at the Walter Stauffer Academy in Cremona, where she obtained the Stauffer Artist Diploma. She is currently continuing her studies at the same academy under the guidance of Frans Helmerson.
At the same time, she is attending the Master’s program at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich with Maximilian Hornung.
From 2021 to 2023, she was a student at the Accademia Chigiana with Antonio Meneses, where she received the Diploma di Merito, and was recently selected for the project “Talenti Musicali Italiani nel Mondo,” in collaboration with CIDIM.
At just 17 years old, she was admitted with special merit to the Bachelor of Arts in Music program in the class of Asier Polo at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana, where she graduated in 2024.
Since 2012, she has won national and international competitions.
Among her most important awards: First Prize at the Verão Classic Festival Award in Lisbon, awarded by Frans Helmerson; First Prize at the New Year’s Competition in Vienna, followed by her solo debut with the Wiener StadtOrchester performing Elgar’s Cello Concerto; First Prize at the G. Mahler International Cello Competition in Prague; and First Prize à l’unanimité at the Cap Ferret International Competition in France.
She made her first solo debut at just 10 years old with the Leopold Mozart Sinfonietta as part of the Atelier Giovani project promoted by the Unione Musicale of Turin. Since then, she has performed regularly as a soloist and in chamber ensembles for concert seasons across Italy and abroad.
She has attended masterclasses with internationally renowned musicians, such as Frans Helmerson (at the Kronberg Academy), Mischa Maisky, Steven Isserlis, Sol Gabetta, Jens Peter Maintz, Troels Svane, Jérôme Pernoo, Maximilian Hornung, Mario Brunello, Peter Bruns.
She currently performs on a “Stradivari Piatti 1720” model cello by Luiz Amorim, made in Cremona in 2024.
