Helena Donie · Chanson

Mezzo-soprano Helena Donie grew up in the Rheingau. She had her first contact with music at an early age. She began singing lessons at the age of 12 and later decided to spend a school exchange year in Italy before continuing her musical education.
Since 2012, she has studied singing with Prof. Ingrid Haubold at the Karlsruhe University of Music. She completed her bachelor's degree in February 2017 and her master's degree in opera at the Institute for Music Theatre Karlsruhe in April 2021. Since October 2021, she has continued her artistic training in the class of Prof.res Mitsuko Shirai/ Hartmut Höll in Liedgestaltung. She made her opera debut in January 2018 as Orlofsky and Ida in Johann Strauss' "Die Fledermaus" at the Karlsruhe University of Music and Performing Arts. She also sang the role of Angelina in the children's opera "Cinderella". She embodied Cherubino in the independent JKMT production of "Figaro's Wedding". Another success for her followed in June 2019, when she shone in the role of Mrs Grose in Benjamin Britten's "The Turn of the Screw". She was able to stand in for this role at the Heidelberg Theatre in March 2022. In summer 2022, she sang the lead role in Benjamin Britten's "The Rape of Lucretia" during the JKTM's "Macht.Theater.Wirklichkeit" festival in Karlsruhe.
Since the 2022/23 season, she has been performing as the Sandman in Engelbert Humperdinck's fairytale opera "Hansel and Gretel" at the Staatstheater Karlsruhe, and since 2024 as the Taumännchen. Last season, she also sang in the children's opera "Schaf" by Sophie Kassies and in this season she will be seen as Eurydice in "Orpheus und die Zauberharfe". She discovered her passion for chanson and operetta during her bachelor's degree. Together with her piano duo partner Yvonne Funk, she founded the duo Goldregen and performs successfully in German-speaking countries with programmes ranging from funny to wicked. Concert engagements have already taken her to Iceland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and Switzerland. 
She was a scholarship holder of the Richard Wagner Association Karlsruhe in 2019. She also demonstrated her skills at the Seiji Ozawa Festival in Japan in 2022, where she also expanded her wide-ranging artistic experience through masterclasses and concerts. Participation in masterclasses with Barbara Frittoli, Stephan Herheim and Dan Ettinger, among others
Ettinger are just some of the elements of her extensive training. She received further important impulses from Professor Daniel Fueter, Liv Solveig Wagner, Kathey Romey, Helmuth Rilling and Hans-Christoph Rademann.
Together with her pianist Yeon Seo Ra, she successfully completed the masterclass at the Zeist International Song Festival in the Netherlands and took part in the Udo Reinemann Academy in Brussels. As part of these masterclasses, she has worked with Elly Ameling, Robert Holl, Wolfgang Holzmair, David Selig, Bernarda Fink and Christianne Stotijn.
She was also a participant in the Young Artists Programme of the International Leeds Lieder Festival in England, together with the pianist Hana Kang.