The Barbershop Belles

 
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          Helen Bailey

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          Middlesbrough-born soprano, Helen Bailey, is currently studying on the Opera course at The Royal Academy of Music, under the tutelage of Elizabeth Ritchie and Jonathan Papp. Her studies are supported by the Coutts & Co Charitable Trust, The Simon Fletcher Charitable Trust, and the D'Oyly Carte Memorial Fund. 

          After graduating from Liverpool John Moores University with a First class degree in English Literature and Cultural History, Helen trained and worked as a Secondary teacher, before completing two postgraduate diplomas at Trinity College of Music. Helen then studied on the Vocal Studies Masters course at The Royal Academy of Music, supported by the Simon Fletcher Charitable Trust and the Sir Richard Stapley Educational Foundation, during which time she received a distinction for the LRAM vocal teaching diploma.

          Opera credits include Cathleen (Riders to the Sea) for RAO, Waltraute (Die Walküre, St Endellion Festival, conducted by Martyn Brabbins), Frantik/Mrs Pasek/Cock (The Cunning Little Vixen, Ryedale Festival Opera), Fiordiligi (cover, Cosi Fan Tutte, Jackdaws' Opera Plus course). First Lady (The Magic Flute, HGO), Belinda (Dido and Aeneas, Blackheath Halls Opera), Vitellia (The Clemency of Titus, HGO), Giannetta (The Elixir of Love, Blackheath Halls Opera), Countess (Le nozze di Figaro, OperaGold), Anne Truelove (The Rake's Progress, Trinity College of Music), Micaëla (Carmen, Mean Time Opera), chorus/puppeteer in the premier of Peter Maxwell Davis' Kommilitonen! (The Royal Academy of Music), and the title role of Floyd Carlisle's Susannah (HGO).                          

          Helen has appeared with many choral societies across the country: as soprano soloist in an opera gala with Wokingham Choral Society, and singing soprano solo in works such as Poulenc's Gloria (Sutton Valence Choral Society), Brahms' Ein Deutsches Reqiuem (Oxford Harmonic Society), Rutter's Requiem (BOES), Haydn's Nelson Mass (Bromley Oecumenical Singers), Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle (Harpenden Singers), Mozart's Exsultate, jubilate! (Oxford University Press Choir), Handel's Messiah, Haydn's Little Organ Mass, Beethoven's Mass in C, Britten's The Company of Heaven, Mozart's Requiem, and the premier of Wurtz's Message from the soul. 

          Concert performances include Messiaen's Trois Melodies; Barber's Hermit Songs, in the ORNC, Greenwich; Chausson's Chanson Perpetuelle, as part of TCM's French Chamber Music Festival; and Britten's Our Hunting Fathers, conducted by James Judd with the TCM Symphony Orchestra. Helen was awarded Highly Commended in the RAM's prestigious Isabel Jay Operatic prize 2011, was the recipient of the Ernest Butcher prize 2011, and has performed in masterclasses with Dennis O'Neill, Susan Bullock and the late Robert Tear. Helen is also a founder member of the all-female a cappella quartet, The Barbershop Belles. 

          Forthcoming engagements include an opera gala at St Martin in the Fields on New Year's Eve; 'Dido' Dido and Aeneas and Vitellia La Clemenza di Tito for Riverside Opera, with a performance at the Cadogan Hall; 'Mimi' in a repertoire session of La Boheme at The Royal Academy of Music in January, conducted by Dominic Wheeler; the title role in 'Arabella', as part of the RAO scenes showcase in February 2012;  First Lady (Die Zauberflote) with Royal Academy Opera in March 2012; Papagena (The Magic Flute) for Bath Festival Opera in June 2012; several concerts with The Barbershop Belles vocal quartet; and a solo concerts in London and North Yorkshire.