Biography

Born in Moscow, Russia and raised in Riga, Latvia, Helena Michelson is a composer and pianist based in the San Francisco-Bay Area.  She completed her undergraduate studies in Music at the University of California, Berkeley and holds a doctorate in composition and theory from the University of California, Davis. Helena Michelson studied piano with Mack McCray at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and, in masterclasses, with Richard Goode and Awadagin Pratt. 

She has studied composition, among others, with Olly Wilson, Cindy Cox, Jeffrey Miller, Pablo Ortiz, and, in masterclasses, with Louis Andriessen, Martin Bresnick, Mario Davidovsky, Eric Chasalow, Philippe Leroux, Bernard Rands, Judith Shatin, and Joel Hoffman. Michelson has been a fellow at numerous festivals including Composers Conference at Wellesley College, MusicX, June in Buffalo, Domaine Forget in Québec, Oregon Bach Festival Composer Symposium, Source Song Festival - MN Song, and Choral Arts Initiative.  In addition, she has been a participating composer in Opera From Scratch program (Halifax, Canada), New Music at the Bayou in Monroe, LA, Music by Women Festival in Columbus, Mississippi, N.E.O. Voice Festival in Los Angeles, Really Spicy Opera Arial Institute, and Four Corners Ensemble/Operation Opera Festival at California State University, Sacramento.

Her vocal music has been performed by such organizations as ENAensemble, New Voices Opera, and Fresh Voices Festival by San Francisco Cabaret Opera.

Named one of the finalists in the 2017 HGOco Song of Houston Composer Call, her recent awards include grants from the American Composers Forum and Composer Assistance Program from New Music USA.  

She is a distinguished member of the judging panel for The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts.