Biography
Irish soprano Helen Hancock has performed in recital, baroque and chamber music concerts in venues and festivals all over Ireland and internationally. An advocate for new music, she has premiered and made first recordings of works by Irish composers Criostóir Ó Loingsigh, Anne Marie O’Farrell and Christopher Moriarty.
Helen’s recent recital with Ramin Haghjoo for Culture Night at Galway Museum 2026 was funded as part of the Culture Programme for Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2026, Galway City Arts Office and The Arts Council. Other recent engagements have include a recital at Boyle Arts Festival 2026 with pianist Daren Lane.
Helen’s debut album TOGETHERNESS with German pianist Paul Cibis was released on Navona Records in 2025. Her collaboration with Paul began with a recital Zweisamkeit (Two Togetherness), 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 toured in Ireland in 2025 and in 2026 -to Galway, Limerick, Cork CSM and The Goethe Institut, Dublin.
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 produced and directed by Lelia Doolan in association with The Abbey Theatre with musical direction by Alberto Caruso.
With The Triskel Ensemble – Galway based musicians José Scolaro, violin, Thomas Murphy, violin, Katharina Baker, viola and Eszter Cetinceviz, cello – Helen programmes informal salon style concerts which combine light hearted, popular classics with arias, sometimes even with audience partipication. They have performed in Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin, The Mick Lally Theatre, Galway and venues in Ennis, Athlone and Mount Carmel Loughrea..
An Agility Award in 2023 funded a performance with Christopher Moriarty (clarinet) and Annalisa Monticelli (piano) which featured 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 studied singing at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin part-time while at university studying engineering. After starting her family she returned to music teaching and then to vocal studies in 2015 with RIAM Professor Owen Gilhooly-Miles at the Mid-West Vocal Academy in Limerick, Ireland. She subsequently studied with UK based Christine Cairns and now studies with US based Valerie Sorel. Helen has augmented her lessons with masterclasses, summer schools and intensive periods of coaching in Berlin, Germany supported by Agility Awards from the Irish Arts Council.
Helen taught recorder, voice, wind ensemble and choir at Coole Music and Arts, Galway from 2010-2022. She has attended several of Sing Ireland’s acclaimed summer schools in choral conducting and was choral director of the Marine Singers, Galway from 2018-2024. She is also a TAP+ (2025-2026) and BLAST residency (2026-2027) artist in primary schools and has a residency from Galway County Arts Office for Arts in Schools 2026. Her vocal workshops for choirs – often focussing on aging voices – have been extremely received by choirs included Athlone Choral Society, Athlone a Capella, Le Chéile, Tullamore, Galway Sings and Cantóirí, Dublin. She has a small private studio of singing students in Galway.