This season, Helena makes her debut at Theater an der Wien in a new production of Unsuk Chin’s Alice in Wonderland, singing the roles of the Ugly Duchess and The Owl. She also debuts the role of Madame de Croissy in a new production of Dialogues des Carmélites at Opéra National de Lorraine and appears at the Salzburg Whitsun Festival in Il viaggio a Reims, directed by Barrie Kosky.

She will reprise her role as “4” in Philip Venables’ acclaimed We Are The Lucky Ones at the Ruhrtriennale and Tiroler Festspiele Erl. On the concert platform, Helena will sing Auntie in a performance of Peter Grimes with the Dutch Radio Orchestra, and joins La sfera Armoniosa for Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam.

In the 2024/25 season, she made her role debut as Mescalina in Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre at Teatro Massimo, Palermo, and returned to Dutch National Opera for two new productions: as Auntie in Peter Grimes, and as “4” in the world premiere of Venables’ We Are The Lucky Ones. She continued her long association with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, singing Irene in Händel’s Tamerlano on tour to Valencia, Madrid, Barcelona, and Berlin.

Her recent operatic appearances include: Zita and La Badessa in Barrie Kosky’s Il trittico at Dutch National Opera; Andronico Il Giustino at the Staatsoper Berlin; The Grandmother, Old Lady and Finn Woman in Hans Abrahamsen’s The Snow Queen at the Opéra national du Rhin; Gluck’s Orfeo at the Teatro Real, Madrid and the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona and she appeared at the Salzburg Festival in Simon Stone’s staging of The Greek Passion and in Romeo Castelucci’s De temporum fine comoedia.

A passionate advocate of new music, Rasker has created leading roles in several world premieres, including Alexander Raskatov’s Animal Farm, Philip Venable’s We Are The Lucky Ones, Sivan Eldar’s Like Flesh, Georg Friedrich Haas’s Morgen und Abend and Daan Janssens’ Brodeck. She has also appeared in George Benjamin’s Into the Little Hill at Wigmore Hall, Elbphilharmonie, and Festival Présences and the Prague Festival.

In concert, she performs a wide-ranging repertoire: Bach’s Matthew Passion, B Minor Mass and Christmas Oratorio, Handel’s Messiah; Mahler’s Symphonies 2, 3 and 8; Stravinsky’s Requiem Canticles, Schumann’s Scenes from Goethe’s Faust, and Bruckner’s Mass No. 3.

She has collaborated with leading ensembles such as Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Pygmalion, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Rotterdam Philharmonic and the Netherlands Philharmonic, appearing at major European festivals and venues.

Helena Rasker trained at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague and the Tanglewood Music Center.

Biography not for publication, for an up to date version please contact Oliver Clarke.