Latvian alto/mezzo-soprano Helēna Sorokina will speak about her latest project, VOICE.ONLY, which seeks to address the lack of solo contemporary works for mezzo or alto voices. She has worked with many composers including Beat Furrer, Carola Bauckholt, Peter Ablinger, and Pablo Ortiz. 

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About Helēna

Latvian contralto/mezzo-soprano Helēna Sorokina began her musical education with the violin and piano at the age of five. She later went on to study choral conducting in her hometown Riga. Helena studied classical vocal performance and vocal pedagogy and since 2021 continues with the Artistic Research at the prestigious Doctorate School at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria.

Notable highlights include solo appearances in some of the biggest concert halls of Germany, Austria, Italy and Latvia (e.g., “Die Glocke” Bremen, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Muffathalle Munich, Stefaniensaal Graz) performing works like Messiah by Handel, Christmas oratorio by J. S. Bach, Petite messe solenelle by Rossini and Stabat Mater by Haydn. As a soloist, Helena has worked with Hamburger Symphoniker, Thüringen Philharmonie, Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester, Mainzer Staatsorchester, Georgisches Kammerorchester Ingolstadt and sung under the baton of Sir Roger Norrington, Joshua Rifkin, Beat Furrer, Paolo Paroni, Joshard Daus, Erwin Ortner, Johannes Prinz. Helena has sung in operatic productions under Stadttheater Leoben, Theater im Palais Graz, MUMUTH Graz and Oper in der Krypta in Vienna. Her roles include Paulina (Pique Dame), Orlofsky (Fledermaus), Mercedes (Carmen), Anita (West Side Story), Suzuki (Madame Butterfly), Lola (Cavalleria Rusticana) among others.

As a Lied and Chanson singer, Helena has had solo recitals in festivals such as Riga Early Music and Dance Festival 2015 (Riga, Latvia), Himmelrausch 2016 (Linz, Austria) and 2nd Operetta Festival 2017 (Ikskile, Latvia). She also specializes in German and French chansons, especially that of Zarah Leander, Edith Piaf, and Marlene Dietrich, which she performs with pianist Prof. Karlheinz Donauer as well as various jazz musicians and bands.

Her gift of perfect pitch exposes her to contemporary music performance, which has become one of her biggest passions. Notable highlights include solo performances at the Steirischer Herbst Festival in Graz, Austria: Asteroid 62, opera by Dmitri Kourliandski (2013) and Paradise by Laure M. Hiendl (2016). Since August 2017, Helena is a resident member of the vocal ensemble Cantando Admont and has performed in different festivals and venues, namely, Klangspuren Schwaz 2017 (composer in residence – Sofia Gubaidulina), Salzburger Festspiele 2018 and 2020, Imago Ljubljana 2018, Azorean Festival of Music 2019, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires and Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin 2019 and in countries such as Argentina, Austria, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Singapore, Slovenia, and Switzerland.

Since 2018 Helena has held masterclasses and lectures on different topics of the New Vocal Music (New Vocal Music in Austria, Extended Vocal Techniques, Singers Challenges, Art of Collaboration etc.) at the NUS Yale College (Singapore), University of California Berkeley, University of California Davis, New York University (USA), and Conservatory of Terceira (Azores, Portugal).

In 2020 she started a new project for an unaccompanied solo voice called VOICE.ONLY, which she premiered at CNMAT in Berkeley, California, and further developed into a new concert series in Styria, Austria. One of the parts called Shades of Solitude has been dedicated to the exploration of different possibilities of a solo alto voice a cappella. In 2022 Helena performed at Salzburg Festival, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Munich Biennale, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Onassis Center Athens, Wien Modern, Musikverein in Vienna and Graz, Steirischer Herbst, Festival Arena in Riga among other venues and festivals.