Helene Gjerris
"The ever-brilliant Helene Gjerris"
– Guy Rickards, Gramophone
Helene Gjerris studied at RDAM and École Philippe Gaulier in London. She made her debut from RDAM’s soloist class (Advanced Postgraduate Diploma in Music) in 1997, and supplemented this in 2007 with a Master’s degree in Elite Voice Pedagogy.
Throughout her career as a performing singer and voice teacher, she has been driven by a curiosity to explore the possibilities of the many forms of vocal expression found in the classical vocal literature.
Teaching
Helene was appointed Professor of Voice at RDAM, after seven years as assistant professor/associate professor. In 2010-2016 she was a professor at the Danish National Academy of Music.
Every year, she is responsible for a number of collaborative concerts with the other RDAM departments in vocal chamber music, and she bears artistic responsibility for the production of the annual opera project. Since 2017, in collaboration with Professor Jesper Juul Windahl, she has organised ‘Brass ‘n’ Opera’ in Tivoli Gardens.
In her teaching, Helene is committed to supporting each student to develop a unique artistic profile and in trust-based co-operation in the development of the voice. She has trained singers up to the highest level, and her former students are to be found as soloists, professional choral singers, independent project developers and voice teachers on the Danish and international music scene.
Artistic practice
Helene has had a versatile career as an opera, lied and oratorio singer, and much of her career has been centred on contemporary music.
Abroad, she has performed roles in operas by Händel, Monteverdi and Cavalli, and on the Danish opera stage she has sung classical roles such as Carmen, Cinderella and Cherubino, as well as roles in modern operas and music dramas. She has appeared at the Bergen International Festival as the pilgrim in the controversial production of Kaija Saariaho’s L’Amour de Loin, premiered Per Nørgård’s The Will o’ the Wisps Go to Town with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and toured with his opera Nuit des Hommes to festivals in London, Paris and Hamburg.
Helene is a sought-after concert and oratorio soloist with the Danish symphony orchestras. With the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, she has distinguished herself in works by Ravel, Philip Glass, Sven Nielsen and Per Nørgaard, and in the two spectacular productions of Alban Berg’s Lulu and Rued Langgaard’s Antikrist.
With the ensemble Figura, she has presented newly-composed works of musical drama and new concert formats, and has worked with free improvisation and cabaret.
Helene has had close collaborations with a large number of Danish composers, as is reflected in her discography and in the artistic development project Per Nørgård’s Vocal Music.
Aksel Schiøtz Prize, Gladsaxe Music Prize, Artist’s Prize of the Circle of Music Critics (Musikanmelderringen), Honorary Prize of Dansk Tonekunstner Forening (Danish Musicians’ Society), Reumert Talent Prize and Tagea Brandt Travel Scholarship.
Artistic development (KUV)
Per Nørgård’s Vocal Music - Study and analysis, concerts with students at the Danish National Academy of Music and RDAM, presentations to the public, recording of the CD Songs from Evening Land
- Danish National Academy of Music and RDAM, 2009-2013
Improving the performance of classical musicians through interdisciplinary exercises. Helene Gjerris and Bent Nørgaard - see article under ‘Publications’.
- Danish National Academy of Music 2012-2015
Interpretation of graphically notated vocal music – Concert lectures at RDAM and the Danish National Academy of Music with reviews, presentations and performance of John Cage’s Aria and Luciano Berio’s Sequenza III.
- Danish National Academy of Music and RDAM, 2014-2015
Musical text work - Examining and challenging the traditional recording and interpretation practices of classical vocal music.
- RDAM 2018-2021
Regular exchange co-operation with Professor Chantal Mathias of the Conservatoire Nationale in Paris.
Masterclasses at the academies of music of Milan, Beijing and Shanghai, and at the Eastman College of Music in New York.
Participates annually in RDAM’s distance learning collaborations, and has taught students at the Sibelius Academy and Cleveland.
- Co-developer of the Southern Danish Academy for Classical Singing - a pre-preparatory class for academies (MGK) talent programme.
- Masterclasses at MGKs in Sønderborg, Kolding, Holstebro and Copenhagen.
- Masterclass, stunt audition, MGK day, voice day at RDAM.
Moderatorship / jury membership
- 2019: Screening jury at the Queen Sonja International Music Competition, Oslo
- 2004-: External moderator in Denmark and Norway
- 2018-: Assessment committees in Norway and Sweden
Representative duties, directorships
- 2017-: Vice-chair of the Dacapo/Edition-S Board
- 2017-: Member of the Board of the Weyse Foundation
Articles
Helene Gjerris and Bent Nørgaard:
Improving the performance of classical musicians through interdisciplinary exercises
- Article in special issue of Arts and Humanity in Higher Education, A&HHE Reflective Conservatoire Special Issue Aug 2016 “The Reflective Conservatory”
CD recordings
Axel Borup-Jørgensen
Sange
Helene Gjerris, Erik Skjoldan
Point
John Frandsen, Svend Hvidtfelt Nielsen, Peter Bruun, Karsten Fundal, Ivar Frounberg, Jens Hørsving
… to arrive where we started …
Figura Ensemble
Dacapo 8.224143
Friederich Hollaender
Ich weiss nicht zu wem ich gehöre
Helene Gjerris, Henrik Metz
CDK 1135
Niels Rosing-Schow
Alliages
Helene Gjerris, Jeanette Balland, Jesper Sivebæk, Hélène Navasse, Asbjørn Nørgaard, Andreas Borregaard, Svend Melbye, Mathias Reumert
Dacapo 8.226580
Per Nørgård
Sange fra aftenland - Helene Gjerris sings Per Nørgård
Helene Gjerris, Toke Møldrup, Johannes Søe Hansen, Ulla Miilmann, Tine Rehling, Anne Marie Fjord Abildskov, Lotte Wallevik, Jesper Lützhøft, Casper Schreiber
Dacapo 8.226060
Per Nørgård
Lygtemænd i byen; Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking
Helene Gjerris, Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen
Dacapo 8.226085
Peter Bruun
Breve til havet
Esbjerg Ensemble, Helene Gjerris, Peter Bruun, Frode Andersen, Petter Sundkvist
Dacapo 8.226553
Bo Lundby-Jæger
Kammermusik og sange
Ensemble Storstrøm, Helene Gjerris
Dacapo 8.226553
Peter Bruun
Miki Alone – Syv sange for en gal kvinde
Helene Gjerris, FIGURA Ensemble
Dacapo 8.226555
Christian Winther Christensen, Niels Rosing-Schow, Morten Olsen, Klaus Ib Jørgensen, Ivar Frounberg
A fall from the perfect ground
Ensemble Alternance, Helene Gjerris, Marie Kobayashi
Dacapo 8.226537
Jørgen Plaetner
Episodes and Collisions
Helene Gjerris, LINensemble
Dacapo 8.226520
Bruun, Brødsgaard, Rohloff
Preludes to Disaster
FIGURA Ensemble, Seattle Chamber Players
NEOS
Rued Langgaard
Antikrist
Various soloists, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and the Danish National Choir School
Dacapo 6.220523-24
Bent Sørensen, Per Nørgård
Den lille havfrue; Lygtemændene tager til byen
Various soloists, the Danish National Girls’ Choir, the DR Children’s Choir, the Danish National Choir and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra.
Dacapo 8.226046
Per Nørgård
Nuit Des Hommes
Helene Gjerris, Helge Rønning, Bodil Rørbech, Fredrik Lindström, Markus Falkbring, Andreas Hagman, Aksel Kaare Trige, Gert Sørensen, Kaare Hansen
Dacapo 8.226011
Thomas Agerfeldt Olesen
Tonkraftwerk
Helene Gjerris, Erik Kaltoft, Aarhus Sinfonietta, Søren Kinch Hansen
Dacapo 8.226509
Sunleif Rasmussen
Surrounded
Helene Gjerris, Caput Ensemble
BIS-1278 CD
Franz Schubert
Schubert på dansk – 20 lieder
Helene Gjerris, Johan Reuter, Tove Lønskov
Naxos 8.554969
Finn Savery
I dag og i nat
Helene Gjerris, the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, the Danish National Girls’ Choir, the Danish National Chamber Orchestra, Frans Rasmussen
Point PCD 5136
Alban Berg
Lulu
Various soloists, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra
Chandos 257018
Kopenhagen Kabarett
Helene Gjerris, Mads Elung-Jensen, Kasper Højby Nielsen, Niels Bo Emgren, Jürgen Schoop, Henrik Metz
Exlibris ABC150
DVD/ Blu-ray releases:
Rued Langgard
Antikrist
Dacapo 2.110402 (DVD)/2.110409BD (Blu-ray)
