Thomas Hellman
Thomas Hellman is a Canadian singer, songwriter, radio columnist, and author. Born to an American father and a French mother, he sings both in French and English.
Music and writing
Hellman's M.A thesis in French literature in McGill University explored the subject of bilingualism, creativity and identity in the works of Samuel Beckett.Hellman has released seven albums. He writes a literary column for Radio-Canada. He has published essays on music, literature and identity in several French Canadian literary reviews, including Liberté, L’inconvénient and Moebius.
In 2013, he released an illustrated book-cd Thomas Hellman chante Roland Giguère, with 13 poems by Quebec poet and visual artist Roland Giguere, that Hellman put to music. This work was awarded a Coup de coeur from the Académie Charles Cros in France. Thomas, then, with the help of director Brigitte Haentjens, put together a show with these songs and other literary texts set to music.
Hellman’s most recent show, Rêves américains, de la ruée vers l’or à la grande crise, explores North American history, from the gold rush to the Great Depression, through venerable old folk songs, literary texts put to music, and his own texts. It is part theater, part story-telling, part musical concert and has been performed in music festivals, theaters, as well as in literary festivals in Canada and Europe, with musicians Olaf Gundel and Sage Reynolds.
Thomas has also composed music for film and theater. He was nominated for a prix Jutra for Best original composition for Martin Laroche’s film Fair sex.
He has also contributed as a singer on several children’s albums and shows with the company La montagne secrete/ The secret mountain. He regularly gives musically illustrated lectures in colleges, universities and literary events in French Canada and Europe.