Biography

Mezzo-soprano Helen Karloski has been praised for her “genuine mezzo timbre” (Opera News) and a voice “beautifully suited for oratorio” (Santa Fe New Mexican). She has been gaining recognition particularly in her portrayal of the oratorio repertoire. In 2015, she was the recipient of the Ellen Lopin Blair Award for First Place in the Lyndon Woodside Oratorio Solo Competition. Ms. Karloski’s 2022-23 season includes performances with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Skylark Vocal Ensemble, National Concerts, the Choral Society of Grace Church, St. Andrew Music Society, Park Avenue Armory, Voices of Ascension, American Soloists Ensemble and Musica Sacra.

The New York Times wrote of her performance in Georg Philip Telemann's rarely performed oratorio Der Tag des Gerichts, "Helen Karloski commanded attention as Reason." Ms. Karloski made her Lincoln Center debut in Mozart’s Solemn Vespers with the Mostly Mozart Festival under the baton of Iván Fischer and her Carnegie Hall debut performing Mozart’s Mass in C Minor and Bruckner’s Te Deum under the baton of Kent Tritle with the Oratorio Society of New York. Recent solo appearances include Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with Harry Bicket and the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Dvořák’s Stabat Mater with the Omaha Symphony, the world premiere of Evan Fein’s Deborah with Musica Sacra, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the American Classical Orchestra, Handel’s Messiah with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Copland’s In the Beginning with Sacred Music in a Sacred Space and the Alto soloist in Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the New York City Ballet.

Other solo engagements include Vivaldi’s Gloria with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis and Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Choral Society of Grace Church, Bach’s Magnificat with the Victoria Bach Festival, and Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody with St. Andrew’s Music Society. Favorite performances include The Cunning Little Vixen (Hen), Le Grande Macabre, and My Fair Lady with the New York Philharmonic, Les Huguenots and Oresteia at Bard SummerScape, and the New York City premier of Elliot Goldenthal’s Grendel, directed by Academy Award-nominated Julie Taymor.  An accomplished ensemble singer, Ms. Karloski has appeared with Conspirare, where she was featured on the GRAMMY-winning recording The Sacred Spirit of Russia, Voices of Ascension, Musica Sacra, Skylark Vocal Ensemble, American Classical Orchestra, the Choir of Trinity Wall Street, True Concord, Seraphic Fire, and the Santa Fe Desert Choral.