About Helen
Helen Varley is an experienced tenor horn soloist and tutor. She was solo horn of the world-famous Grimethorpe Colliery Band for 8 years, well known as the band from the film ‘Brassed Off’, prior to which she played for several years with the Hammonds and Black Dyke bands. Helen is the specialist tenor horn tutor at Birmingham Conservatoire and Junior RNCM, having previously held similar posts at Chetham’s School of Music and Salford University. Helen has also been a peripatetic brass teacher for Bradford Music Hub for over 10 years, and she is a regular tutor on numerous summer schools including the National Youth Brass Band.
Helen originally studied Physics with Acoustics at Salford University, and worked for over a decade as an acoustic consultant for the UK’s largest architectural practice, designing educational buildings and concert halls. In 2015 Helen took a career move into music, completing a Masters degree in performance at the Royal Northern College of Music (distinction). Since then she has regularly featured as a guest soloist, tutor and workshop clinician across the UK, and in locations as far afield as Europe, Canada and Japan.