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    Soprano Helen Todd is known for her intense portrayals of tragic characters.  Ms. Todd began her career in the lyric coloratura repertoire and began to achieve national recognition in the 1996-97 season with her portrayal of Violetta in LA TRAVIATA with Minnesota Opera  (the English National Opera / Jonathan Miller production). Also with Minnesota Opera, under the baton of Maestro Richard Bonynge, Ms. Todd has appeared as the Queen of the Night in DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE.
 

     Ms. Todd debuted with Canadian Opera Company in the Canadian premiere of THE HANDMAID'S TALE in the fall of 2004 as Aunt Lydia (picture below). In the spring of 2005, Ms. Todd debuted the role of Madame Mao in NIXON IN CHINA at Minnesota  Opera.  Engagements during the 2003-04 season included the title role in LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR with Opera Illinois and Juliette in ROMEO & JULIETTE with Sugar Creek Symphony & Song Festival. Engagements during the 2002-03 season included a return to Minnesota Opera as Aunt Lydia in the North American premiere of Poul Ruder's THE HANDMAID'S TALE (pictured right) ;

appearances with Cleveland Opera as the Queen of the Night in DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE; and Wanda in a semi-staged production of THE GRAND DUCHESS OF GEROLSTEIN with the OK Mozart Festival. Also during the 2002-03 season, Ms. Todd founded the Sugar Creek Symphony & Song Festival, and became its Artistic Director. 
 

     Engagements during the 2001-02 season included a debut with New York City Opera as the Queen of the Night in THE MAGIC FLUTE, Violetta in LA TRAVIATA with Asheville Lyric Opera, and Clorinda in a semi-staged production of LA CENERENTOLA with the OK Mozart Festival (conducted by Ransom Wilson).

     Recent career highlights have included the Queen of the Night in DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE with Arizona Opera, Tulsa Opera, Nevada Opera, Opera North, and the Colorado Opera Festival; Gilda in RIGOLETTO with Calgary Opera (her Canadian debut), Annapolis Opera, and Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre; Fiorilla in Rossini's IL TURCO IN ITALIA with Cleveland Opera; Alexandra in REGINA with Baltimore Opera; Curley's Wife in Carlisle Floyd's OF MICE AND MEN with Arizona Opera and Cleveland Opera (conducted by Anton Coppola); Fiordiligi in COSÌ FAN TUTTE with Arizona Opera; the title role in LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR with Gold Coast Opera; Violetta in LA TRAVIATA with New Jersey's Bohème Opera Company; the title role in SUSANNAH with Opera North; Mimi in LA BOHÈME with Asheville Lyric Opera and the Wildwood Festival of Music and the Arts; Marguérite in FAUST with Mississippi Opera; Juliette in ROMÉO ET JULIETTE with Shreveport Opera; Susanna in LE NOZZE DI FIGARO with Connecticut Opera and Abilene Opera; Musetta in LA BOHÈME with Indianapolis Opera; Susanna in THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO, Pamina in THE MAGIC FLUTE, Despina in COSÌ FAN TUTTE, and Anne Edgerman in A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC with the Wildwood Festival of Music and the Arts; Marie in the North American premiere of Gurlitt's WOZZECK with California's Long Beach Opera; Mabel in THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE with Mobile Opera; and Julie Jordan in CAROUSEL with Opera Illinois.
 

     Concert highlights have included Mozart's MASS IN C MINOR with the Detroit Oratorio Society; Darius Milhaud's CHANSON DE RONSARD with Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music Concert Orchestra; CARMINA BURANA with the Elmhurst Symphony; and A NIGHT AT THE OPERA with the Colorado Symphony.   
 

     Helen Todd received her operatic training as a young artist with the Pittsburgh Opera Center at Duquesne where she performed the roles of Adina in  L'ELISIR D'AMORE and Serviglia in LA CLEMENZA DI TITO. She received her Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance at DePaul University, and her Master of Music in Voice Performance at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of the Patricia Berlin; performance highlights in Cincinnati included Cunegonde in CANDIDE.
 

     Numerous awards have included first place in the Houston Opera Studio Eleanor McCullom Auditions, first place in the Corbett / Treigle Opera Scholarship Competition, and first place in the Bel Canto Competition. Ms. Todd was a regional winner of the Metropolitan Opera Competition and a winner of the Liederkranz Foundation Awards in New York City.