Helen Winter - Soprano
Helen Winter was born in Grantham, Lincolnshire, into a very musical household. Following her singing ambition she studied at Trinity College of Music, London, with Professor Susan McCulloch. After graduating, Helen was a member of the BBC Singers ad hoc chorus whilst studying at ‘The Knack’, an Opera training course with English National Opera. Helen currently studies with Phillip Doghan (RAM) and is coached by Linnhe Robertson (GSMD).
Operatic roles have included Ninetta in The Love for three Oranges (Prokofiev) for English Pocket Opera Musician in Manon Lescaut (Puccini), Apparition in Macbeth (Verdi), Barena in Jenufa (Janacek), Voce Interna in L’amore dei tre Re (Montemezzi), and Monterone’s daughter in Rigoletto (Verdi), all for Opera Holland Park, Musetta in La Boheme (Puccini) and Adele in Die Fledermaus (Strauss) in Spain for ‘Singing in Aragon’ with European Chamber Opera, and Lucy in The Telephone (Menotti).
Recital and Concert work regularly takes her abroad. She has performed most of the major Oratorios and has had the pleasure of working with conductors including Nicholas Cleobury (Britten Sinfonia), Mark Elder (Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment), Nigel Morley (Boston Sinfonia), Peter Robinson (City of London Sinfonia) and Stephen Jackson (BBC Symphony Chorus). Helen has performed in many prestigious venues as a soloist, such as Saint Thomas Kirche (Leipzig), The Royal Festival Hall (London), Symphony Hall (Birmingham) and St. David’s Hall (Cardiff), amongst others.
In 2008 Helen was a finalist in the Berlin Komische opera auditions and later the same year she performed as principal soprano at the Thursford Christmas Spectacular.
In 2009 Helen performed the role of Barbarina with Opera Brava’s tour of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and then performed the role of Susanna with Candlelight Opera’s performance of the same opera, this time in Italian. To finish the year, Helen performed at the 2009 Thursford Christmas Spectacular.
Earlier this year Helen performed a recital with harpist Eleanor Turner in Lincolnshire. She also recently appeared as one of the professional opera singers in the ITV series Popstar to Operastar, performing alongside Mexican tenor Rolando Villazon.
Forthcoming concert work this year includes Mendelssohn's Elijah in Birmingham as well as Jenkins' The Armed Man and Poulenc's Gloria in Sollihull.