Helen will join around 100 singers and musicians at the Prince of Wales Opera House this Saturday in a rare local performance of Messiah. 

“My boss suggested that I could practise singing while working in the lab,” said Helen, who works as a research assistant  in the science department of Charles Sturt University.  

“But I said there was too much glassware. So, singing in the car is my main opportunity to practise.” 

Born and raised at Narromine,  Helen is a graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and has performed as a soloist in opera, oratoria and orchestral works for voice, musical theatre and ensemble chamber music. 

Now living in Orange with her husband and two children, Helen continues to sing and work as a singing teacher while study a Bachelor of Science (Nutrition) at CSU. 

“I have had the opportunity to continue singing at a professional level throughout those years - most recently with Opera Australia in 2012 (Aida and Madama Butterfly),” she said. 

“I turned down a contract to do Madama Butterfly on the Harbour earlier this year because my children didn’t like the idea of me being away for six weeks straight!”

In 2013, Helen performed Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate with the Macquarie Philharmonia and Haydn’s The Creation with the Bathurst Chamber Orchestra.

For the Gulgong concert, Helen will reunite with the Bathurst Chamber Orchestra under the baton of choral conductor William Moxey. 

William has appeared as a baritone soloist with many choirs and orchestras, including the Queensland Conservatorium Singers,  Queensland University Musical Society, Sydney Philharmonia, Sydney University Musical Society, Macquarie University Singers, Sydney University Graduates Choir, the Australian Chamber Orchestra,  Willoughby Symphony Orchestra and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. 

He also appeared in the inaugural season of the Lyric Opera of Queensland.

As a member of The Song Company for six years, he appeared at two Adelaide Festivals, a New Zealand Festival, Brisbane’s Expo ‘88 and at concerts in the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia and hundreds of Australian events.

William directs the Allegri Singers,  who  will join the Cudgegong Choir and Willoughby Singers in the Gulgong performance. 

The Cudgegong Choir includes more than 60 choristers who perform music ranging from gospel to folk and classical music. 

A previous Cudgegong Choir concert at the Prince of Wales Opera House in 2011 attracted a capacity audience and the Messiah is expected to be just as popular.  

The concert starts at 3pm and tickets are available at the door for $25 adult ($18 concession) or $5 for children.

Even those unfamiliar with opera would recognise the stirring Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah, which is one of the most recognisable passages of music of all time.

Originally written for Easter, George Frideric Handel’s Messiah was first performed in 1742.

Seven hundred people filled Dublin’s Musick Hall for the performance and ladies were asked to wear dresses without hoops so that more people could fit into the hall. 

Handel was already a superstar of the Baroque era: Messiah enhanced his fame and became his best known work. 

The first part of Messiah prophesies the birth of Jesus Christ; the second exalts his sacrifice for humankind; and the final section heralds his Resurrection. 

“The feelings of joy you get from the Hallelujah choruses are second to none,” conductor Laurence Cummings said. 

“And how can anybody resist the Amen chorus at the end? It will always lift your spirits if you are feeling down.”