Helena Baillie

violin and viola

Academic Program Affiliation(s): Music

Biography: London-born Helena Baillie was hailed by The Strad magazine for her ‘brilliance and poignance,’ and stands apart for a rare ease on both violin and viola.  American Record Guide praised her ‘gorgeous singing tone’ in an album that ‘from the opening flourish will be a special recital.’ 

A prizewinner in international competitions including Munich ARD, Banff and Tertis, Helena has performed throughout Europe and the United States, with broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 and Performance Today for American Public Radio. She has collaborated in chamber music with Pinchas Zukerman, Midori, the Tokyo String Quartet, the Shanghai Quartet, and the Beaux Arts Trio, with whom she collaborated in a live broadcast from the Alte Oper in Frankfurt. Her love of chamber music has taken her to the La Jolla Summerfest, Tucson Winter Chamber Festival, and the Kronberg Academy Festival in Frankfurt.

Helena was honored by a Bard Fellowship from 2010-2015. While a Fellow, her projects included Bach Among Us at Bard’s Fisher Center, which Helena produced and performed in collaboration with dancers of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. In an unconventional staging that reconsiders the traditional divisions between artist and audience, Helena invited audience members to share the stage with performers, creating an intimate and immersive concert experience. In her continued commitment to outreach and education, Helena has traveled across the globe to engage new audiences under the auspices of Midori’s Music Sharing Foundation.

Helena graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied violin with Arnold Steinhardt and viola with Roberto Diaz. Pinchas Zukerman, Isaac Stern, Felix Galimir, and Leon Fleisher were formative influences. At Yale University, Helena studied violin with Peter Oundjian, and she spent a year in Berlin studying with the eminent violist Wilfried Strehle.

Helena plays a 2012 violin made by Collin Gallahue in association with the studio of Brooklyn-based luthier Sam Zygmuntowicz. Her viola is a 2009 Sam Zygmuntowicz.

In addition to her work for Bard, Helena teaches in the violin and viola program at the Hotchkiss School.
Website: https://www.helenabaillie.com
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Department: Arts