Mezzo-soprano Amy Maude Helfer is a versatile singing actress of opera, operetta, and musical theatre, especially lauded for her comedic timing, “plangent mezzo” and "gorgeous voice."

The artist was busy in 2023. She sang Stéphano in Roméo et Juliette with NYCO and reprised the role of the Witch in Hansel and Gretel with Opera Theater of Connecticut, with whom she also sang Zulma in L’Italiana in Algeri. In lighter repertoire, the mezzo sang Pitti-Sing in NYC and on the National tour of Mikado with the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players and debuted as Sister Margaretta in Sound of Music at the Ivoryton Playhouse.

In 2022 she made a role and company debut as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia with New York City Opera and was the alto soloist in Stroope’s American Rhapsody with MidAmerica Concerts at Carnegie Hall. That same season, Amy Maude was engaged to sing Meg Page in Falstaff at Raylynmor Opera and Petra in A Little Night Music in her company debut with Union Avenue Opera.

Additional credits that season include Tessa in The Gondoliers with New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players. The artist was the recipient of NYGASP’s Isaac Asimov Award for Artistic Achievement. She made a role debut as the Witch in Hansel and Gretel with the Opera Theater of Connecticut. COVID-era credits include a role debut as Berta in The Barber of Seville with Opera Theater of Connecticut, Alla Nazmova in The Garden of Alla at New York Public Library’s virtual musical theatre festival “Across a Crowded Zoom.” Amy Maude sang Iolanthe in Iolanthe for Kids in a virtual production with NYGASP, a live concert of G&S favorites with Utopia Opera for Foxhowe Association, and Songs from the Elephant’s Trunk, a live concert with Brief Cameo Productions at Ivoryton Playhouse.

Other credits include the title role in Carmen at the Narnia Festival, Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti with Boheme Opera NJ, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro and she was a resident artist at Dayton Opera. Other roles: Vera Boronel in The Consul, Nancy in Albert Herring, Baba the Turk in The Rake's Progress with String Orchestra of Brooklyn, Mercedes in Carmen with Opera Theater of Connecticut, Frade in Mandelbaum’s The Dybbuk at Queens College and Merkin Hall, Hansel in Hansel and Gretel at Boston Lyric Opera-Opera New England, Stephano in Roméo et Juliette with dell'Arte Opera Ensemble.

On the concert stage, she sang a concert of operatic favorites with Athena Music Foundation at Zankel Hall, was alto soloist in Handel’s Messiah at Rutgers University, and Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass with Manhattan Concert Productions at Carnegie Hall. Operetta and musical theatre engagements include Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd at the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, soloist on Sondheim, Golden Age/ Bernstein and Cole Porter concerts with Opera Theater of Connecticut at Sanibel Music Festival, Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance with Utopia Opera, soloist on Ivoryton Playhouse's cabaret series “Playhouse on the Shore,” Petra in A Little Night Music with Madison Lyric Stage, Phoebe in The Yeomen of the Guard at Winter Opera Saint Louis, Clotilde Lombate in The New Moon, Susan in The Desert Song, and Ethel Brander in Rose-Marie with Light Opera of New York, and Kate in The Pirates of Penzance with Boheme Opera-NJ.

A principal mezzo with NYGASP, Amy Maude’s roles include the title role in Iolanthe, Tessa in The Gondoliers, Phoebe in The Yeomen of the Guard at New York City Center and the International G&S Festival in Malvern & Harrogate UK, Lady Angela and Lady Saphir in Patience, Melissa in Princess Ida, and over 45 performances as Pitti-Sing in The Mikado and over 85 performances as Kate in The Pirates of Penzance.

Amy Maude Helfer was a semi-finalist in the 2013 Lotte Lenya Competition. She holds Bachelor of Music degrees in Voice Performance and Music Education from Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, and a Master of Music degree in Voice Performance from Boston University. A native of Cheshire, Connecticut, Amy is currently based in New York City.