Felix was a child prodigy who learned music as well and as quickly as other disciplines, such as languages and drawing. He began composing at the age of twelve and, together with his equally gifted sister Fanny, benefited from a favorable environment, his parents entertaining the cultural and musical elite in Berlin. He played piano, violin and organ. He stayed in Paris with his father in 1825 and was offered a place at the Conservatoire, but preferred to return to Berlin, where he enrolled at university. At sixteen, he composed an Octet for strings, then the following year a Sonata for piano in E major op. 6 and an Overture to Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, which he had read in a German translation. This work reveals his talent as an orchestrator. First performed in early 1827, it was completed much later, in 1843, by twelve numbers of incidental music, including the Notturno and the famous Wedding March.

At the end of his university studies, Mendelssohn conducted Bach's long-forgotten St. Matthew Passion in Berlin before the King of Prussia and important figures such as Hegel. He then travels to England and Scotland, where he is much appreciated and returns often. Then it was on to Italy, where he composed his first piano concerto, whose Andante contains marvels akin to those of Chopin, his near-twin, born a year later in 1810. The piano's dialogue with the orchestra alternates themes in a climate of sensuality inspired by the work's dedicatee, Delphine von Schauroth, a young pianist and composer whom he met before his departure. The first and third movements have a different, very lively character, demanding of the pianist a virtuosity of which Felix himself was capable.

Now a musical celebrity, Mendelssohn was offered several positions, and chose to become director of the Leipzig Gewandhaus. He remained in this position until his death. A close friend of Schumann in particular, Mendelssohn included works by his contemporaries in his repertoire, as well as his own, such as the Scottish Symphony, conceived during a trip to Scotland in 1829, and successfully premiered in 1842. As a conductor, Mendelssohn also conducted works by Bach, which he wanted the German public to rediscover.

The Second Violin Concerto is still one of the most frequently played by violinists today. It took several years to compose, until 1844. The first movement begins with a nostalgic violin solo, whose theme is taken up by the orchestra in a flamboyant tutti. The gentle melody of the second movement is a summit of Romanticism, and the last movement a fairy tale reminiscent of A Midsummer Night's Dream. The work, premiered at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, was an immediate success.

In 1846, the oratorio Elias was quickly composed and premiered in Birmingham, on the model of Handel's much-loved oratorios. It was premiered in England at the triennial Birmingham Festival the same year. Berlioz heard it in London shortly after the composer's death, and made no secret of his admiration.
The death of his sister Fanny, in May 1847 at the age of 42, plunged Mendelssohn into deep grief. It inspired him to write the String Quartet in F minor, Op. 80, his ultimate work. Mendelssohn died six months later, on November 4, 1847, a stroke victim like Fanny. He was 38 years old.

Along his university studies (DEA in musicology, University of Paris IV-Sorbonne), Frédéric Cellier was awarded three first prizes and a development prize at the CNR of Nice and won first prize at the International Competition of Musical Execution - soloist category – of Stresa (Italy).
He is the laureate of the Fondation de France and the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation and accredited teacher at the CNR of Nice, the CNR of Marseille, and at the CRR Olivier Messiaen of Avignon (France).
Frédéric Cellier is the interpreter of Francis Poulenc’s Sonata for clarinet Bb and piano with Jean-Michel Damase, Jean Françaix or Gabriel Tacchino, but also performs his own version for clarinet, piano and string orchestra of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in blue for Wynton Marsalis or under the baton of Adrian Gershwin, grandson of the composer.
Founder and artistic director of STRADIVARIUS Editions, he is the author of pieces of light music and a considerable number of arrangements in all styles and for all instruments acclaimed by numerous personalities in the music world:

"Frédéric Cellier has produced a number of adaptations of Georges Auric's works with such talent and precision that I consider them a natural addition to his chamber music catalogue."
Michèle AURIC - Georges Auric's widow

"To Frédéric Cellier, excellent musician and tireless arranger."
Jean FRANÇAIX - Composer and pianist

"Arranging a musical work is always a delicate and risky exercise, because it requires both modifying it so that it can be played by the desired instruments and preserving its very essence. But that is exactly what Frédéric Cellier has done, preserving the nuances, subtleties and soul of the original works while breathing new life into them.
His arrangements give all the musicians the chance to perform these compositions specially revisited for their instrument, and make music lovers rediscover them in a new light."
Adrian GERSHWIN - George Gershwin’s grandson

"Congratulations for your beautiful new orchestration and rendition of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in blue."
Wynton MARSALIS - Trumpet player, composer, bandleader, general and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York

"It is outstanding that Frédéric Cellier has managed to transpose Saxophone Marmalade from the saxophone to the clarinet. I thank him for it and wish its great and deserved success. "
Manuel ROSENTHAL - Conductor, composer and Maurice Ravel’s pupil

"I am very happy to tell you how much I appreciated your transcription of the Capriccio, based on Francis Poulenc's Le Bal Masqué. It perfectly reflects the spirit and verve of the score for two pianos that I had the opportunity to play and record with Jacques Février, and it was a great pleasure for me to premiere it in Montpellier."
Gabriel TACCHINO - Pianist, Francis Poulenc’s specialist

"I must tell you that I really like your transcriptions and that I think the tone of the instruments you have chosen suits perfectly our beloved composer."
Ornella VOLTA - Musicologist, president of the Erik Satie’s Foundation