Helen Welch

Helen studied acting and singing before winning starring roles in a string of popular musicals including Hello Dolly!, Barnum, 42nd Street, Oliver Twist, Calamity Jane, Show Boat, and Carousel. With her late song-writing partner Tim Freebairn she represented Britain in the Irish International Song contest winning Best Song and Best Female Vocalist.

What happened next is the stuff of dreams. Helen decided on a whim to enter a singing competition, the grand prize of which was a role in the smash-hit Lieber and Stoller musical Smokey Joe’s Café on Broadway. Eight-hundred girls vied for the opportunity, but it was Helen who most impressed the judges... and won! She rehearsed briefly with the London cast before jetting to New York to join the Broadway production. A BBC camera crew accompanied Helen and captured the entire experience on film, which was made into a television documentary for the BBC.

She returned from Broadway to indulge her passion for jazz and big band music, working with the BBC Big Band and performing with her own musicians in London’s cabaret rooms and with Cleo Laine and Johnny Dankworth at the Royal Albert Hall.

No stranger to the recording studio, Helen’s voice can be heard in a veritable library of commercial jingles, films and television productions; and in the background on recordings of many well-known international artists. She was tapped to record a ‘house’ track for the German pop market; and when the producers of the James Bond movie franchise were exploring a new theme song, they asked Helen to record the demo.

In 2003, after marrying and settling in the USA, Helen performed her debut with the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra with whom she later recorded her debut album “One Dream” an eclectic compilation of Broadway hits. The album features Nelson Riddle’s arrangement of Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart and Helen received personal permission from Riddle’s daughter, to use the original score on her recording. Besides Judy Garland, Helen is the only other person to have recorded this arrangement.

More recent highlights stateside include the Packard Music Hall with Steinway artist Joe Augustine, the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, the Blossom Festival Orchestra celebrating the music of Gershwin with conductor Loras Shissel, and the Stocker Arts Center with her Valentine’s cabaret entitled The Look of Love. July 6th sees Helen’s debut with the Akron Symphony Orchestra.