On 15 March at 7.30pm Helena is performing along with the Petersfield Musical Festival Chorus with Southern Pro Musica in a concert entitled “Gloria! Vivaldi, Haydn & Corelli” at Petersfield Festival Hall.
How did you get in touch with the Petersfield Musical Festival?
I found out about the Petersfield Musical Festival when I got emailed about taking part as a soloist through the Josephine Baker Trust. I then had a google to find out a bit more about it, and realised it was this wonderful mix of different concerts and with a clear focus on making classical music accessible with youth concerts, and a family concert, as well as providing young musicians such as myself with performance opportunities – booking young singers supported by the Josephine Baker Trust as well as having a dedicated recital in aid of the Michael Hurd Fund for Young Musicians. I am excited to be a part of it!
What are you looking most forward to when performing at the festival this year?
I am most looking forward to meeting the people I will be musically collaborating with! It’s always fun being introduced to another musical hub. Singing with a professional orchestra is also always a joy – it never gets old!
Singing in a space I am not familiar with is a unique challenge – being brought up in the English choral tradition means that I am most at home singing in churches, which usually have kind acoustics, so I’m intrigued to experience what the Festival Hall will be like.
What do you feel about the role/repertoire you are singing in the festival? What are the musical challenges of the role you are preparing for?
The two alto arias in the Vivaldi Gloria capture very different things emotionally: the Domine Deus, Agnus Dei has this enduring moving quality, which contrasts with the Qui Sedes, which is a lot more vibrant and animated. This contrast means that I have the freedom to explore different sides of my instrument, which is exciting.
The soprano duet, which I am also singing, has its challenges, as it’s a bit higher in tessitura than the rest of the Gloria and the Haydn Mass, and singing with another soloist in parts which interweave and need that sense of blend between the two voices is tricky when things have to come together on the day.
I’m excited to sing the Haydn Mass as it’s a piece I hadn’t come across before – not to be confused with the better-known Haydn Creation!
About Helena
Helena Paish has been singing in choirs since she was six and at the age of twelve won BBC Young Chorister of the Year 2014. She was a founding girl chorister at Truro Cathedral (2015-2020) where she took part in three CDs and was frequently featured as a soloist live on BBC Radio 3. During her time in Truro she appeared as a soloist with many local choirs.
Helena graduated from Cambridge with a Music degree in 2023 and stayed on for a 4th year with Trinity College Choir as an alto Lay Clerk. She has featured as a soloist on three recordings with Trinity and has toured with them to Germany, France, Italy, and Switzerland. During her studies Helena was awarded second prize in the Clare College Song Competition, with head judge James Gilchrist and enjoyed taking part in concerts and performing solo recitals across Cambridge.
Helena is currently studying for a masters in singing at the Royal Academy of Music. Alongside her studies she has continued with choral singing as a member of the Choir of the Chapels Royal, HM Tower of London and Continuum Choir.
Helena is also an established composer. In 2019 she won the BBC Proms Inspire Competition, which led to her compositional debut at the BBC Proms by the BBC Singers, and a commission by the group. She has gone on to receive commissions from groups including The Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge, Multitude of Voyces, The Vasari Singers and Continuum. Her music features on three CDs.
