Robert Eugene Helps^[1] (b.Passaic,New Jersey,United States, September 23, 1928; d.Tampa,Florida, United States, November 24, 2001) was an Americanpianist andcomposer.

Helps studied at the universities ofColumbia (1947–49) andBerkeley (1949–51) He was one of the most distinguished pupils ofAbby Whiteside and perhaps the most well-known practitioner of her theories ofrhythm and of a technique directed from thehumerus rather than thefingers. He studied composition withRoger Sessions, who exerted a strong influence on his career, and whose music he often performed and recorded.^[2] He cultivated a lifelong interest forFrédéric Chopin'sÉtudes as well asLeopold Godowsky'sStudies on Chopin's Études which informed both his piano playing and his composition.

Helps taught piano at theNew England Conservatory of Music, theSan Francisco Conservatory of Music,Princeton University,Stanford University, theUniversity of California, Berkeley, and theManhattan School of Music, and theUniversity of South Florida. At the end of his life he divided his time between the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the University of South Florida. When in California he resided inBerkeley, a city with which he felt a strong affinity.

Helps was a recipient of awards from theNational Endowment for the Arts, theGuggenheim Foundation, and theFord Foundation. In 1976 he received an Academy Award from theAmerican Academy of Arts and Letters. His music has been released on theNaxos,^[3]CRI,Desto, andAlbany labels.

The University of South Florida's Special Collections^[4] holds the Robert Helps Archive. The university also sponsors a Robert Helps Festival and awards an annual Robert Helps Prize for young composers.^[5]

• Robert Helps Web Monument
• Robert Helps CV
• New York Times Obituary, December 2, 2001
• Robert Helps Collection at theUniversity of South Florida
• Robert Helps interview, January 23, 1988

• 1928 births
• 2001 deaths
• 20th-century American male musicians
• 20th-century American pianists
• 20th-century American classical composers
• 20th-century American LGBTQ people
• American classical pianists
• American male classical composers
• American male classical pianists
• Classical musicians from New Jersey
• Columbia University alumni
• LGBTQ classical composers
• American LGBTQ composers
• Manhattan School of Music faculty
• Musicians from Passaic, New Jersey
• Musicians from Tampa, Florida
• New England Conservatory faculty
• Princeton University faculty
• Pupils of Roger Sessions
• Stanford University Department of Music faculty
• University of California, Berkeley faculty
• University of South Florida faculty

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