André Hekking was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 cellist. Born in Bordeaux

Bordeaux

Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...

, he studied with Charles de Bériot

Charles de Bériot

Charles Auguste de Bériot was a Belgian violinist and composer.-Biography:Born in Leuven, where there is now a street named in his honour, he moved to France in 1810, where he studied violin with Jean-François Tiby, a pupil of Giovanni Battista Viotti...

, touring Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 at fifteen. In 1909 he settled in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 to become a teacher of the cello, having in the meantime gained a reputation throughout Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 as a virtuoso

Virtuoso

A virtuoso is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability in the fine arts, at singing or playing a musical instrument. The plural form is either virtuosi or the Anglicisation, virtuosos, and the feminine form sometimes used is virtuosa...

. He joined the faculty of the Paris Conservatory in 1918, becoming a professor a year later; he also taught at the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau

Fontainebleau

Fontainebleau is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the arrondissement of Fontainebleau...

. Among his notable pupils were cellists Charles Houdret

Charles Houdret

Charles Houdret was a Canadian conductor, cellist, radio producer, and composer. He began his career in his native country of Belgium and was highly active as a conductor throughout Europe during the 1940s. In 1952 he immigrated to Canada where he ultimately became a naturalized citizen...

 and Pierre Fournier

Pierre Fournier

Pierre Fournier was a French cellist who was called the "aristocrat of cellists," on account of his elegant musicianship and majestic sound....

. He died in Paris.

Hekking was the brother of the cellist Anton Hekking

Anton Hekking

Anton Hekking was a Dutch-born cellist and teacher. Born in The Hague, he served as first cello of the Boston Symphony from 1889 until 1891; he served in the same post for the New York Symphony from 1895 to 1898...

, and was cousin to the cellist Gérard Hekking

Gérard Hekking

Gérard Hekking was a French cellist.Born in Nancy, he served as first cellist of the Concertgebouw Orchestra from 1903 until 1914. From 1927 until his death he taught cello at the Paris Conservatory...

.