Helen Wilson was born in 1989 and comes from Harrogate. She started playing the flute when she was nine. In September 2001 she was awarded 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), 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 had won numerous first prizes in Music Festivals, including the Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Festival Music Chamionships. She was also a woodwind finalist in the BBC TV Young Musician of the Year 2006 competition. In 2007 she won the British Flute Society Performance Competition, which gave her the opportunity to take part in a masterclass with Sir James Galway and to perform at the British Flute Society Convention in August 2008.

Helen regularly gives solo and chamber music recitals and has performed concertos with Harrogate Philharmonic Orchestra, Buxton Music Society, Knaresborough Pro Musica and Bolton Symphony Orchestra. She will be playing concertos with Liverpool Mozart Players and the RNCM Chamber Orchestra in 200/2010 (see events for details).

Helen already has a considerable amount of orchestral experience, having been principal flute in the National Children’s Chamber Orchestra, Chetham’s Chamber and Symphony Orchestras and RNCM Symphony Orhcestra, Concert Orchestra, and Wind Orchestra. From 2003 to 2006, she was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, with which orchestra she gave concerts in many prestigious venues including the Bridgewater Hall Manchester, Symphony Hall Birmingham, St David’s Hall Cardiff, and the Royal Albert Hall London.

In furthering her studies Helen has attended summer music courses in Harrogate, Oxford and Sweden, and has taken part in numerous masterclasses including William Bennett, Michael Cox, Jaques Zoon, Jamie Martin, Goran Marcusson, Paul Edmund-Davies, Rachel Brown, Pat Morris, Peter Lloyd, Laura Jellicoe and Sir James Galway.

Although Helen's main focus 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 (NYJO) playing gigs all round the country. She has also played with a jazz quintet at events including the Labour Party Conference and the Manchester International Festiva 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).

3 May 2008 with the Bolton Symphony Orchestra at The Albert Hall, Bolton:
Flute Concerto, Aram Khachaturian
(Violin Concerto in D minor transcribed by Jean-Pierre Rampal in 1968)

10 November 2007 with the Harrogate Philharmonic Orchestra
at St Marks Church, Harrogate:
Mozart's Flute Concerto in D major

19 August 2007 with Knaresborough Pro Musica:
Flute Concerto No 2 in G minor "La Notte", Antonio Vivaldi

17 June 2007 with Buxton Music Society Orchestra:
Concerto for 2 flutes, Franz Dopler

Winner of RNCM Gold Medal Award - June 2009

Selected to be a finalist in the RNCM Gold Medal Recital Competition held in June - February 2009

Winner of RNCM Concerto Competition - February 2009

Winner of RNCM Woodwind Competition - June 2008

Silver Medal Marlow Music Festival Wind Section Concerto - April 2008

Winner of RNCM Trevor Wye Prize for Wind Chamber Music - February 2008

Winner of Yorkshire & Humberside Regional Festival Chamionships - September 2007

Winner of British Flute Society Performance Plus Competition - February 2007

Finalist of BBC Young Musician of the Year - February 2006

Lunchtime recital at Chester (2 flutes & piano) on 31 March 2009
Dolce Cinque, Crosby Hall, Liverpool, 6pm 29 March 2009
Lunchtime Recital at Southport (flute & piano) on 18 March 2009
NYJO, Ruislip Manor Sport and Social Club, 15 March 2009
NYJO, Poole Lighthouse, 30 Jan 2009
Lunchtime recital at Rochdale (2 flutes & piano) on 3 December 2008
Lunchtime, Alderly Edge Methodist Church (flute, clarinet & piano) 19 Nov 2008
St Anne's Church, Manchester, with Dolce Cinque on 12 November 2008
Lunchtime, King Edward VII & Queen Mary, Lytham St Annes, 7 November 2008
RNCM Stockhausen Day 'In Freundshaft' on 2 November 2008
Lunchtime recital at Warrington (flute & piano) on 25 October 2008
RNCM Open Day on 19 October 2008
Kings Place, Kings Cross (with F-ire Collective) on 18 October 2008
Royal Northern College of Music (with F-ire Collective) on 11 October 2008
Clock Tower, Croydon (with F-ire Collective) 10 October 2008
The Pheonix, Exeter (with F-ire Collective) on 9 October 2008
The Others, Stoke Newington (with F-ire Collective) on 30 September 2008
Lunchtime recital at St George's Parish Church (flute & piano) on 19 September 2008
Lunchtime recital at Southport (2 flutes and piano) on 17 September 2008
BFS Convention at RNCM on 24 August 2008
Lunchtime recital at Rochdale on 20 August 2008
Lunchtime recital at Welsey Chapel in Harrogate on 14 July 2008
with Fuse at Christchurch on 8 July 2008
Knowle Green (2 flutes & piano) on 15 May 2008
St Mary the Baum, Rochdale (flute, clarinet & piano) on 14 May 2008
Bury Parish Church (2 flutes & piano) on 4 April 2008
Christ Church, Stockport (flute & piano) on 12 March 2008
Chester Town Hall (flute & piano) on 19 February 2008
St George's Hall, Preston (flute & piano) on 7 December 2007
Alderly Edge Methodist Church (flute & piano) on 17 October 2007
St Mary's Church, Nantwich (flute & piano) on 26 July 2007
Bury Parish Church (flute & piano) on 15 July 2007