Helen Zerefos

Who is Helen Zerefos?

Helen Zerefos OAM, is an Australian coloratura soprano. Her career has spanned almost 50 years on stage, television, in nightclubs, concerts and recordings.

Zerefos was born in Australia of Greek parents, Paul and Katina. Her career was launched in 1961, at a time when musical variety shows were popular on television. She was the first person of Greek heritage to be a regular artist on Australian television.

She was a regular member of the Revue 20 headed by Claire Poole. This was a twenty-piece choral ensemble which provided background choruses for Seven network variety programs such Revue '61 and '62, Startime and Studio A hosted firstly by The LeGarde Twins and then by Colin Croft and Curtain Call, a late night variety program hosted by Revue 20 member John Wickham-Hall. She played Tup Tim in a professional tent production of The King and I in January 1966 at Warringah Mall in Brookvale on Sydney's Northern Beaches. She had also been engaged to play Maria in a later production of The Sound of Music. The project was to scheduled to present six musicals presented, however only three were and the project was abandoned for lack of both audience support and a dwindled capital base. The remaining musicals were never presented.