About

Helen started playing flute at school and quickly progressed through area music centres to county level, playing solo piccolo in the Derbyshire County Youth WInd Band that won the World Youth Music Festival in Zurich in 1992. Moving onto the Principal Flute seat she was a prize winner at the Purmerade International Soloist Festival in 1994.

Helen studied with Emily Beynon at the Royal Academy of Music and KIng's College (London) before completing her Masters in Flute Performance under John Barrow at the University of Huddersfield.

Also playing saxophone, clarinet and piano she is an in huge demand across the East Midlands as a pit musician and session player. She is a veteran of over 200 musical theatre productions, radio and CD recordings and as a recital soloist.

In 2009 she was the founder of the successful Peak WInd Orchestra, the premier wind orchestra in the area, in which she plays principal flute and is one of the three managers.

She has been teaching woodwind and piano in North Derbyshire for 23 years with a 98% pass rate in ABRSM exams. Many ex-students have progressed into musical study or careers with notable students currently pursuing doctoral research and others serving as musicians in the armed forces.