HELENA LEONARD
Soprano
Successes such as Tosca for Opera Project and Scottish Opera (understudy) the title
role in Aida for Opera Box and Welsh National Opera (understudy) and her acclaimed
Lady Macbeth in Verdi’s Macbeth for Scottish Opera Go Round have confirmed Helena
Leonard as a very exciting talent. Helena has recently performed in a gala Opera
concert at The Cadogan Hall with The Hillingdon Choral Society & Orchestra. In the
spring of this year Helena sang Leonora in Il Trovatore (understudy) for Welsh National
Opera. Last Autumn Helena sang the title role in Ariadne auf Naxos (understudy) also
for WNO.
Born in Cheshire, Helena Leonard studied at Trinity College of Music in London;
gaining a LTCL she then completed a Postgraduate Vocal Diploma at the Guildhall School
of Music and Drama before going on to advanced studies at the National Opera Studio.
Her professional debut came with ENO, with roles and covers including First Lady
in Die Zauberflöte and Second Niece in Peter Grimes, Helena in A Midsummer Night’s
Dream. This led to further appearances as Musetta in La Boheme for Scottish Opera
and Marcellina in Le Nozze Di Figaro for Grange Park Opera. These engagements were
followed by Donna Anna in Don Giovanni and Giulietta in Les Contes d’ Hoffmann for
Opera Box.
Other roles include Pamina in Die Zauberflöte for Bloomsbury Opera; Micaela in Carmen
for Commedia productions & The Carmen Project; Amelia in A Masked Ball for Wilmslow
Opera and Kentish Opera; Leonora in La Forza del Destino for Kentish Opera & Candid
Opera; Leonora in Il Trovatore for Wilmslow Opera and Phoenix Opera; Rosalinda in
Die Fledermaus for Somerset Opera; Helmwige in Die Walkure for Mastersingers and
Hanna Glawari in Die Lustige Witwe for Phoenix Opera. Helena enjoyed particular success
as Leonora in a gala performance of Beethoven’s Fidelio with the Edinburgh Symphony
Orchestra.
No stranger to the concert platform, her appearances have included I Am
Richard Strauss and Sempre Verdi at the Purcell Room with The Company of Singers,
Richard Strauss’ Four Last Songs with the Boston Sinfonia, and 13 Moravian Duets
by Dvorak in Czech for the Petworth Festival and Songs of the Auvergne - Series 1
with the Somerset County Orchestra. Oratorio performances have taken Helena throughout
the British Isles including venues such as the City of London Festival (Broadgate
Arena), Salters Hall Barbican, Blackheath Concert Halls, St James’s Guernsey and
The Purcell Room. Recent oratorio work includes Beethoven’s Mass in C and Gounod’s
St Cecilia Mass for Spelthorne Choral Society and Verdi’s Requiem and Beethoven’s
Choral Symphony for Lancaster Choral Society.
Helena’s television work has included
the Countess in La nozze di Figaro in Nicholas Nickleby for Carlton Television.
A new venture for Helena is running Relative Pitch Opera (The Classical branch of Little Pixie Productions) set up with her two sisters Rebecca & Victoria in 2009.
