Helen Williams was born in Merseyside and studied at the Royal Northern College of Music. She has sung regularly at Glyndebourne, making her Festival debut in 1988 as Sashka in Osborne’s The Electrification of the Soviet Union. She subsequently sang Emmie Albert Herring on Glyndebourne Festival Opera’s tour to Italy. Other engagements at this time included performances with Opera Factory and at the Buxton Festival. She has been seen as Dalinda Ariodante, Amor Orpheus and Eurydice for ENO, Naiad Ariadne auf Naxos for Scottish Opera, Yvette La Rondine at Covent Garden, the world premiere of Hey Persephone! at Aldeburgh and the Almeida Festival, 2nd Niece Peter Grimes with the ROH, Covent Garden in Finland, Vaughan Williams The Poisoned Kiss with the LSO, Flaminia Il Mondo della Luna with Opera Zuid in Holland, Suppés Galatea at Buxton, First Lady The Magic Flute and First Flowermaiden Parsifal with Scottish Opera, Helena A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Polissena Radamisto at Opera North.

Other engagements include Rodelinda and Ginevra Ariodante for Opera Theatre Company throughout Ireland and the UK, Rodelinda in New York, Frasquita at Royal Albert Hall, a recording of Carlo di Borgogna for Opera Rara, recordings with Diana Montague and Bruce Ford for Chandos, Queen of Night and Eurydice Orpheus and Eurydice at ENO, Micaela Carmen for Glyndebourne Touring Opera, Queen of the Night with Opera North, 2nd Niece Peter Grimes at both Netherlands Opera and the Royal Opera House, the televising of Francesca Zambello’s production of The Little Prince for BBC, Avril Ainger Love Counts at the Almeida Festival and in Modena and title role Semele, Mistress Ford The Merry Wives of Windsor and Agathe in Messager’s Veronique for the Buxton Festival.