Helen Smee

Helen is a conductor, workshop leader, pianist and organist and divides her time between her role as Director of the girls' choir at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford and a busy freelance portfolio across the UK.

Helen completed her MA at the Royal Academy of Music in Choral Conducting, studying with Patrick Russill. During her time at RAM she participated in masterclasses with groups including the BBC Singers, London Oratory Choir and Royal Academy of Music Chamber Choir, and co-founded the Voices of London Festival with a group of fellow young conductors from the course. Having graduated in July 2013 with the Alan Kirby Prize, she held the Junior Fellowship of the Joyful Company of Singers until 2014, conducting the group in venues across London including St John's Smith Square. In November 2016, she was awarded the Licentiate of the Royal Academy (LRAM), specialising in teaching choral conducting.

Helen grew up in East London and went on to study Music at the University of Cambridge, winning an Organ Scholarship to Peterhouse. After her postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music, she spent a decade in London as a freelance choral director alongside her role as Director of Music at St Mary Merton, SW19. During this time she also spent several years as Children's Chorus master and co-producer at Highbury Opera Theatre, a community opera company founded to bring contemporary opera to adults and children at the Union Chapel, Highbury, and in a variety of community settings. She now directs Jubilate, a leading Oxford-based chamber choir.

As a pianist and organist, Helen has played in many of the UK's leading venues, including Sage Gateshead with the National Youth Boys' Choir, and on commercial recordings including a disc of music by Ferenc Farkas with Ascolta Voices.

Helen has worked with numerous chamber choirs, choral societies, and youth choirs across the UK, including as an Assistant Conductor with the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain. Recent engagements as a workshop leader include the national Music for Youth Festival and Leicester MusicFest; following a year as a primary school music specialist, she continues to run schools' singing events and outreach projects. Helen is a co-founder and the Artistic Director of the Voices of London Festival, a week-long festival of choral music dedicated to bringing singers together to collaborate. In 2018 she won the Members’ Award from Action for Children’s Arts in recognition of her outreach work with young people.

A passionate advocate and campaigner for the role of women and girls in church music, Helen took up the post of Director of Frideswide Voices, the girls' choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford in 2019. As a writer and campaigner, her articles and interviews have featured in a range of publications, including most recently Choir and Organ and Church Music Quarterly.

Biography updated: Oct 23