About Helen
- Catered support for Transition programme students on careers, applications, practice and motivation
- Creating tailored plans for each student to support their next steps
- Enabling financial support for students families/carers
- Collaborating with students teachers to further tailor support
- Musicianship and careers coaching
- Additional support for GCSE/A-level/Music Theory
Helen Kuby is the Senior Transitions Tutor at the Royal Northern College of Music, supporting talented young musicians from underrepresented and lower-income backgrounds to fulfil their potential and progress into music higher education. Through individual coaching, workshops, and practical support, she helps students build confidence, prepare for auditions and overcome barriers to conservatoire entrance, including financial support made possible by Purposeful Ventures.
Helen also teaches horn at the Royal Academy of Music (Junior Department), where she is Musician Wellbeing Lead and Brass Lead for Widening Participation. Drawing on her MSc with Distinction in Performance Science from the Royal College of Music, she embeds performance psychology and wellbeing support within her work, helping young musicians manage pressure, develop effective approaches to learning so that young musicians can access their full potential. Helen regularly coaches young horn players across the UK including National Youth Orchestra, National Children’s Orchestras and Chetham’s School of Music.
As a freelance horn player, Helen’s career spans popular music, jazz, classical music and theatre. She has performed at Glastonbury and Latitude festivals with Fabio & Grooverider, Aoife O’Donovan at the Barbican, collaborated with The Kooks and performed with Tony Kofi at the Jazz Cafe. Her theatre work includes productions at Shakespeare’s Globe and deputising on musical theatre shows including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. As a classical musician, she has worked with 12 Ensemble, Brighton Philharmonic and Fantasia Orchestra and has appeared regularly as a guest soloist across the UK. Helen also enjoys delivering guest lectures on the LRAM teaching qualification, specialising in horn and performance psychology. Dedicated to outreach, she was an Open Academy Fellow in 2020 and has led workshops for City of London Sinfonia, English National Opera, and Wigmore Hall.
Helen studied the French Horn at the Royal Academy of Music with Michael Thompson, Richard Watkins, Martin Owen and Roger Montgomery where she supported by the Hilda Martindale Foundation.