Helen Vollam

Helen is Principal Trombone of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and is also a member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Bones Apart Trombone Quartet. She enjoys a busy and varied career combining orchestral playing, chamber music, solo work, and teaching.

Helen was appointed Principal Trombone of the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 2004, and is the first woman to be appointed principal trombone of a London orchestra. With the BBCSO, she performs in their Barbican concert season, studio concerts, recordings, and tours, as well as performing around a dozen concerts at the BBC Proms each year, including the legendary ‘Last Night of the Proms’, broadcast worldwide.

Helen studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London with Eric Crees and Simon Wills. She was Principal Trombone of the European Union Youth Orchestra and won the Bronze Medal in the 1995 Shell/LSO Music Scholarship competition. Since graduating, she freelanced with most of the UK’s orchestras and ensembles and has toured throughout Europe, South America, United States, Japan, China, and Russia.

In 2003, she won the Woodwind & Brass Award and Philip Jones Memorial Prize in the final of the Royal Over-Seas League Music Competition. She was the first-ever trombone player to reach the competition’s final.

In demand as a teacher and adjudicator, Helen has given classes at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, Royal Northern College of Music, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Wells Cathedral School, and the Purcell School. She was on the faculty for the 2017 Dublin Brass Week and has adjudicated for BBC Young Musician, Royal Over-Seas League, BBC Radio 2 Young Brass Award, British Trombone Society, International Trombone Association, Ian Bousfield/Getzen International Solo Competition, and Swisstbone Competitions.

Helen has recently become Visiting Artist in Trombone at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.