…Helen has trained her voice to do anything she wants of it, and it is hard to think of anything she would outright refuse to do for a composer — unless it were physically damaging. It runs, jumps, skips, does “bel canto” and “expressionist angst”, it sometimes sounds like it is hurling itself through fire. Her good humour, energy, and commitment are extraordinary. Her voice is acrobatic, finely-tuned, responsive and characterful. — Michael Finnissy
excerpt from Sor Juana and the Silences, premiere in Regina SK 2018
from a live performance of Ana Sokolovic’s Love Songs, at Shu-Box Theatre, Regina SK 2017
Audio
Video
from a live performance in WL Altman’s installation DisLocate DisBody, at PAVED Arts, Saskatoon SK 2008
Reviews
…acclaimed for her daring a cappella contemporary and experimental concerts…
-Holly Harris, “Music Matters” in The Winnipeg Free Press, November 2019
…I wish all the young women I know could see [this show]…your incredible expanded voice helping my body feel voicelessness…
– Rebecca Caines, on Sor Juana and the Silences, September 2018
…Pridmore specializes in taking her audiences into unfamiliar territory — stretching their understanding of what constitutes music
– Gord Brock, Regina Leader-Post, November 2014
Review of two CDs featuring Helen: www.https://caml.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/caml/article/view/37760/34242
On Thursday evening, the American Symphony Orchestra bid an effervescent farewell to 2012 and thereby rounded out a year-long celebration of the centenary of John Cage’s birth…Cage’s 1969 work Cheap Imitation…featured two outstanding vocalists, Jennifer Feinstein and Helen Pridmore, singing solos from Song Books…
www.bachtrack.com/review-carnegie-hall-american-symphony-orchestra-cage
I so loved working with you, and performing ‘Whitman’ – TOTAL LIFETIME HIGHLIGHT for me too – such thought-filled and wonderful rehearsals, as well as the extraordinarily intense and moving concert. You are a wonder!!!
THANK YOU – THANK YOU – THANK YOU.
– Michael Finnissy, 2012
…the resulting music takes full advantage of her attractive and flexible voice, impressively extended technical and stylistic range and — perhaps most important of all — adventuresome spirit.
– Nic Gotham, The Whole Note, 31 October 2012
Helen Pridmore’s recent recordings from 2012 on the Centrediscs label demonstrate her remarkable ability to perform across a wide range of musical styles and settings.
-J. Drew Stephen, CAML Review November 2013
Soprano Helen Pridmore achieved a tour de force in Helen Hall’s difficult Circuits. her interpretation of Richard Gibson’s Cinq poèmes du Nouveau Brunswick was quite beautiful.
– Stephen Pederson, Halifax Chronicle Herald, May 2003
Photo by Shamus Griffiths