Erin Helyard

Erin Helyard is an Australian conductor, harpsichordist and fortepianist acclaimed for performances that combine historical insight with theatrical vitality. As Artistic Director and co-founder of Pinchgut Opera, he has played a defining role in the revival of neglected seventeenth- and eighteenth-century repertoire in Australia. In 2026, he made his UK conducting debut with The English Concert in Handel’s Amadigi di Gaula; The Guardian described them as “a dream team of baroque dynamism and style.” Helyard has a close and longstanding association with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, appearing as harpsichordist and fortepianist and collaborating extensively with Richard Tognetti. Their recording of Beethoven and Mozart violin sonatas won the 2020 ARIA Award for Best Classical Album. His other musical partnerships include baritone David Greco and pianist Stephanie McCallum, with whom he explores nineteenth-century four-hand repertoire on historical instruments. Appearing as conductor and keyboard player on more than thirty recordings, Helyard brings scholarship, curiosity and a strong sense of dramatic storytelling to music from Monteverdi and Handel to Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. He is also an award-winning artistic director, a scholar of historical performance, and Associate Professor at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.