Multilanguage Musical Program

Helena Yip Nolen, DMA, is an award-winning soprano — and a mom of three girls who knows exactly how it feels to watch your child discover their voice.

She earned her Doctor of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance from Arizona State University, her Master of Music from the University of Texas at El Paso, and both her Bachelor of Music with Honors and Performance Diploma from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts — one of Asia's most prestigious conservatories.

She has sung leading roles with opera companies across the United States and Hong Kong — including the title roles in Mignon and Carlisle Floyd's Susannah, Lauretta in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, Lisinga in Gluck's Le Cinesi, Silverpeal in Mozart's The Impresario, and Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof.

She also covered Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly with El Paso Opera, and most recently sang Papagena in The Magic Flute and Zora in Magdalene with Genesis Opera Theatre (2024).

Her honors include the San Diego Performing Arts League Star Award and the title of Global Champion at the Miss Chinese Talent International Competition.

She sang the national anthem live on CNN — and has continued to sing it for the City of Oceanside, including for Mayor Esther C. Sanchez.

But the stage is only half her story. She began teaching as a Teaching Assistant and Class Voice Instructor at the University of Texas at El Paso, later teaching voice and piano at El Paso Community College. She then served as Musical Director, Vocal/Acting Coach, and Pianist with Opera Hong Kong — coaching and accompanying the summer productions of The Music Man (2012) and The Magic Flute (2013) — and since 2018 has served as Musical Director and Performance Coach at 3 Arts Musical Institute, directing and coaching junior Broadway productions — Cinderella, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat — also serving as a masterclass lecturer and vocal adjudicator at Hong Kong Baptist University. She holds performance diplomas from Trinity College London (LTCL and ATCL, with Distinction) and Grade 8 distinctions from ABRSM — the same examination boards she now prepares her students for.

She founded San Diego Children's Voice Academy to give young singers ages 3–16 the world-class training she once traveled the world to receive — right here in San Diego, taught with a mother's heart.