Erin Helyard
Conductor
Erin Helyard has been acclaimed as an inspiring conductor, a virtuosic and expressive performer of the harpsichord and fortepiano, and a lucid scholar who is passionate about promoting discourse between musicology and performance. Erin graduated in harpsichord from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with the University Medal. He completed his Masters in fortepiano and a PhD in musicology at McGill University, Montreal.
As Artistic Director of the celebrated Pinchgut Opera and the Orchestra of the Antipodes (Sydney) he has forged new standards of excellence in operatic performance in Australia. The company won Best Rediscovered Opera (2019) for Hasse’s Artaserse at the International Opera Awards. He has received two Helpmann Awards for Best Musical Direction and together with Richard Tognetti, Erin won an ARIA award for Best Classical Album in 2020. In 2023 he was Limelight’s Critics’ Choice Australian Artist of the Year.
Erin is an Associate Professor at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and appears courtesy of Pinchgut Opera.