Biography
Irish soprano Helen Hancock has performed in recital, baroque and chamber music concerts in venues and festivals all over Ireland and internationally. Helen has premiered and made first recordings of new music works by Irish composers, including Criostóir Ó Loingsigh, Anne Marie O’Farrell and Christopher Moriarty.
Helen’s debut album TOGETHERNESS with German pianist Paul Cibis is out now on Parma Recordings Navona label. The album page can be found on Navona Records. Her collaboration with Paul Cibis began with recital Zweisamkeit (Two Togetherness) which was performed in Würzburg, Germany in June 2024 as part of Zeitgeist Irland 24, an initiative of Culture Ireland and The Embassy of Ireland, Germany. Helen and Paul performed a tour of a new recital programme Under (the light of) that same moon in Ireland in 2025 and a tour of TOGETHERNESS in Galway, Limerick, Cork and Dublin in early 2026.
Helen performed the role of Molly in Lady Gregory in America, an opera by Alberto Caruso/Colm Toibín at the annual Gregory – Yeats Autumn Gathering in Gort, Co. Galway in September 2025 to great acclaim. This was prodused and directed by Lelia Doolan in association with The Abbey Theatre with musical direction by composer Alberto at the piano.
Helen has recently formed an ensemble – The Triskel Ensemble – with Galway based musicians José Scolaro, violin, Thomas Murphy, violin, Katharina Baker viola and Eszter Cetinceviz, cello. Their informal salon style concerts combine light hearted, popular classics with arias, sometimes even with audience partipication. They have a series of Christmas concerts coming up and are taking 2026 bookings.
Past recital programmes included Schubert’s Auf dem Strom with Eszter Cetinceviz (cello)/Ramin Haghjoo (piano) in Galway and with Yue Tang (cello)/David Leigh (piano) in Dublin. Schubert’s Der Hirt auf dem Felsen was performed in 2023 with Christopher Moriarty (clarinet) and Annalisa Monticelli (piano) alongside the premiere of Christopher Moriarty’s Phosphoresence for voice, clarinet and piano. Helen performed at the Embassy of Ireland, Germany for the James Joyce Centenary in 2022 and again in 2024. Notable appearances include Galway Culture Night 2024 and 2025, The Galway Early Music Festival (2020, 2021 and 2023), Castleknock Music Festival (2023), Clifden Arts Festival (2023), Farmleigh House, Dublin (2023) and The Mick Lally Theatre, Galway (2023).
Born and raised in Dublin, Helen spent her school years playing piano, recorder ensemble and singing in choirs. Helen studied singing at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin part-time while at university studying engineering. She was heavily involved in choral singing during her engineering career but after starting her family she left her career to return to music. Helen returned to vocal studies in 2015 with RIAM Professor Owen Gilhooly-Miles at the Mid-West Vocal Academy in Limerick, Ireland until 2021; she studied with UK based Christine Cairns until recently and now studies with US based Valerie Sorel. Helen has augmented her lessons with masterclasses and summer schools abroad and intensive periods of coaching in Berlin, Germany supported by the Irish Arts Council. She continues to work on song repertoire with Gerhard Gall and Professor Richard Stokes. Helen taught recorder, voice, wind ensemble and choir at Coole Music and Arts, Galway from 2010-2022. She attended Sing Ireland courses in choral conducting and was choral director of the Marine Singers, Galway from 2018-2024 and continues private voice teaching, teaches choir in primary schools and gives choral workshops.