“Soprano Emily Helenbrook displayed apt regal bearing and resplendent vocal allure.”
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Upcoming Performance
Rehearsal photo courtesy of Gary Payne.
RODELINDA
May 17th & 18th, 2024
7:30pm, San Diego, CA
Handel's Rodelinda was one of the most popular operas of its time, with sumptuous music and tense, fast-paced drama. Rodelinda's husband, Bertarido, is the rightful king, but his throne has been usurped by Grimoaldo with the help of his treacherous ally, Garibaldo. Forced into exile, Bertarido leaves behind his wife and young son, only to return in disguise after faking his own death. Handel’s brilliant music brings to vivid life the intricate twists and turns of this riveting plot.
Performed at First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego in Hillcrest, Handel's drama is reimagined by director Sydney Roslin, with Emily Helenbrook in the title role and Peter Kozma leading Opera Neo's period instrument orchestra.
“How well she floated her many high notes, with such ease and grace, and in Russian yet. ”
Artist Biography
Soprano Emily Helenbrook’s voice has been described as “crystalline” and “hauntingly beautiful” by Buffalo ArtVoice. Thrilled to be returning for her second season, Emily will perform the title role in Opera Neo’s production of Handel’s Rodelinda this May. Emily previously performed the role of Ismene in Mozart’s Mitridate, re di Ponto with Opera Neo in the summer of 2023. Emily also recently completed her second season as a Vocal Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center under the mentorship of Dawn Upshaw where she performed Shakespeare Sonnets by Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon in Ozawa Hall during Tanglewood’s Festival of Contemporary Music. She was also a featured soloist in Bach’s Cantata No. 180 conducted by John Harbison. Previously with Tanglewood, Emily performed as the Sun and the Vole in the U.S. Premiere of Richard Ayres’ The Cricket Recovers with Maestro Thomas Adès.
In 2021, Ms. Helenbrook appeared as a second year Apprentice Artist at Palm Beach Opera where she sang Erste Knabe in Die Zauberflöte. That same season, she covered Papagena and Erste Dame in Die Zauberflöte as well as Giulietta in Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi. In PBO’s previous season, Emily appeared as the Dew Fairy in Hansel and Gretel. Ms. Helenbrook has also performed the roles of L’Eternitá in La Calisto (Rice Opera Theatre), Adele in Die Fledermaus (Opera in the Ozarks), Suor Genovieffa in Suor Angelica (Eastman), Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro (Eastman), and has covered La Bergère and La Chouette in L’enfant et les sortilèges (Aspen Opera Center).
As an experienced concert soloist, Emily has appeared several times with the Buffalo Philharmonic under the direction of JoAnn Falletta and most recently returned as a soloist in the fall of 2022. Ms. Helenbrook also premiered the song cycle Tippet Rise Songs by Anton Garcia Abril for the inaugural season of the TippetRise Art Center in Montana with pianist Christopher O’Riley.
Emily has received Encouragement Awards at the Florida and North Carolina Districts of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition as well as the Gerda Lissner Song/Lieder Competition.
Emily attended the Eastman School of Music/University of Rochester receiving undergraduate degrees in both Vocal Performance and Political Science. Ms. Helenbrook graduated from Rice University with her Master’s in Vocal Performance where she studied with Dr. Stephen King.
In addition to operatic performing, Emily is a passionate concert artist and is pleased to be returning to ArsNova Chamber Musicians as a featured soloist in their upcoming Viva Vivaldi Festival concert this fall.