Helene Guilmette

A native of Quebec, the soprano Helene Guilmette graduated in music education and piano from Laval University, and continued her vocal training with Marlena Malas in New York, going on to win third prize in the Voix Nouvelles Competition in Paris and second prize in the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium International Competition. Since 2004, she has had numerous concert engagements in Canada (with the soloists of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Les Violons du Roy), Benelux, Germany, Switzerland, Turkey (Istanbul Festival), Australia, and most recently South America. Helene Guilmette has sung under the direction of Marcello Viotti, Paul Goodwin, and Sigiswald Kuijken, and alongside Jose Van Dam in a recital of lieder and melodies.

On the operatic stage, she was heard in 2003 in the roles of Crobyle (Thai's) in Montreal and Countess Ceprano (Rigoietto) in Quebec; in 2004-05, she sang Pedro (Massenet's Don Quichotte) and Frasquita (Carmen) at the Opera d'Avignon, Papagena in Nancy, and Nadia in Jerome Savary's production of Die lustige Witwe at the Opera-Comique in Paris. Among her operatic projects are Die Zauber-flb'te (Pamina) at the Theatre de La Monnaie in Brussels, Ariane et Barbe Bleue (Melisande) at the Paris Opera, La clemenza di Tito (Servilia) in Montreal, and Werther (Sophie) in Lille.

In the spring of 2005 she released her first recording, a recital of melodies from France and Quebec (Poulenc, Hahn and Daunais) with the French pianist Delphine Bardin.

Helene Guilmette has received support from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Quebec, and the Fondation Jacqueline Desmarais.