Biography

  Hugo Svedberg , born in London in 2008, began studying the cello at the age of six with his father. At 16, he won Sweden’s prestigious Pole Star Award, appearing as soloist with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, before representing Sweden at Eurovision Young Musicians, where he was awarded the Silver Medal following a televised performance with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra.  Hugo has since appeared as soloist with orchestras including the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Musica Vitae, Västerås Sinfonietta, Jönköping Sinfonietta, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, London Mozart Players, the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn and the Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock. In 2027, he returns as soloist with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.  In 2026, Hugo was awarded the Frans Helmerson Förderpreis from the Kronberg Academy. He is part of the Stretton Excellence Mentorship Programme, where he is mentored by Kian Soltani and Pablo Ferrández. A scholarship holder at the Musikakademie in Liechtenstein, he participates in the intensive weeks and activities of the Academy. He is an EMCY artist, a member of the Voksenåsen Talent Program in Norway and has received awards from the Hattori Foundation and the Drake Calleja Trust in the UK. From 2027, he is an artist with the Career Advancement Program of the Günther Caspar-Stiftung.   Hugo is active as a recitalist and chamber musician, performing at international festivals including Festspillene i Bergen, Båstad Kammermusikfestival, Change Festival, Tree of Strings, Bath Mozartfest and the Gstaad Menuhin Festival Academy. Upcoming engagements include performances at Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival as well as featuring as a New Generation artist at the International Chamber Music Festival Utrecht. He has collaborated in chamber music performances with artists including Rainer Schmidt, Lawrence Power, the Nash Ensemble and Gautier Capuçon.  Hugo has participated in masterclasses with distinguished cellists including Jens Peter Maintz, Frans Helmerson, Torleif Thedéen, Maximilian Hornung, Johannes Moser, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, Daniel Müller-Schott, Gary Hoffman and Clemens Hagen. After several years of study with Adrian Brendel, he now studies with Louise Hopkins on the Jacqueline du Pré Scholarship at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London.   Hugo plays a rare and important violoncello by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, Paris c. 1850, a generous loan by a member of the Stretton Society.  October 2026