Born in Montreal, Hélène Mercier began her piano studies at the age of six and quickly won first honours at the Quebec and Canadian Music Competitions as well as an award at the Prague International Chamber Music Competition. She entered Dieter Weber’s class at the Akademie für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien at the age of fifteen, and later studied at the Juilliard School in New York with Sascha Gorodnitzki, in Paris with Pierre Sancan, and subsequently with Maria Curcio and Stanislav Neuhaus. She took chamber music classes from Henryk Szeryng and Gidon Kremer.
Hélène Mercier has participated at prestigious festivals in Europe and North America and appeared in renowned concert and recital venues throughout Europe. In Paris, she has performed as soloist under Kurt Masur, with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under Zubin Mehta, and alongside Natalia Gutman and Salvatore Accardo with the Orchestre de Paris under Semyon Bychkov. She has also played with the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia under Vladimir Spivakov, the symphony orchestras of Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal under Charles Dutoit and Trevor Pinnock, and the New Japan Philharmonic under Seiji Ozawa.
As a chamber musician, she has performed with Mstislav Rostropovich, Vladimir Spivakov, the Moscow Virtuosi, Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon, Ivry Gitlis, Laurent Korcia, Truls Mørk, and Henri Demarquette. She enjoys a flourishing career as duo piano partner with Boris Berezovsky, Frank Braley, Brigitte Engerer, Cyprien Katsaris, and Louis Lortie, among others. With Louis Lortie on Chandos she has previously released critically acclaimed recordings of works by Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Saint-Saëns, Poulenc, Rachmaninoff, and Ravel, and her discography also includes a recording with Vladimir Spivakov of works by Chausson. Hélène Mercier is a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.