Helen Wilson
Year of birth: 1989
Helen Wilson plays the flute and aged 12 took up a place at Chetham’s School of Music, Manchester, where she studied with Gitte Sørenson, Linda Verrier, and Richard Davis. She then accepted a scholarship to study at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), Manchester in 2007 to carry on her studies with Richard and now learns with Anders Ljungar Chapelon on an exchange programme at the Malmo Academy of Music in Sweden.
Since starting at the RNCM Helen has had much competition success including first prizes in the RNCM Gold Medal Competition 2009 (the highest award that can be received at the RNCM for performance), the RNCM Concerto Competition in February 2009, and the RNCM Woodwind Solo Competition in June 2008. Also with her wind quintet Dolce Cinque Helen has won the Woodwind Chamber Music Competition and the Trevor Wye Chamber music award in 2008 and the Chris Rowland prize in 2009. Prior to this Helen was also a woodwind finalist in the BBC Young Musician of the Year 2006 competition. In 2007 she won the British Flute Society Performance Plus Competition.
Helen regularly gives solo and chamber music recitals and has performed concertos in various locations in the UK and Sweden. Her orchestral projects have included playing with the Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra, several college orchestras and 3 years with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain playing at prestigious venues including the Bridgewater Hall Manchester, Symphony Hall Birmingham, St David’s Hall Cardiff, and the Royal Albert Hall London.
Although Helen's first study is classical music, she also has a keen interest in Jazz and has studied with the likes of Steve Berry, Les Chisnel and Roland Sutherland. She currently holds the flute chair in the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. She has also played with a jazz quintet at events including the Labour Party Conference and the Manchester International Festival and with the RNCM Big Band at Bridgewater Hall. In Autumn 2008 Helen toured with the award-winning band F-ire Collective (Fellowship for Integrated Rhythmic Expression)alongside Barak Schmool, Ingrid Laubrock, Tom Arthurs and Nick Ramm.
