About Helen
Helen Twomey (née Greenhalgh) is a busy freelance violinist based in Orpington in the London Borough of Bromley. Her diverse schedule includes working with orchestras and chamber ensembles throughout London and the UK, a violin and piano duo, a piano trio and also spending time teaching her little Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars.
Helen began her violin studies at the age of seven and within six months of starting had progressed into orchestras within the Bristol area. Since graduating from London’s Trinity College of Music in 1999, Helen has had a varied career playing in a variety of musical genres as a performer from orchestral, chamber music, rock, pop and nu-folk. In addition to performing, Helen also teaches violin from home and has a successful studio of Suzuki violinists.
Performances
Helen is in demand as a violinist and has had over 30 years orchestral experience as a performer, touring the UK, Denmark, Sweden, USA and the Netherlands. She plays regularly with the Chameleon Arts Orchestra and has played for other ensembles over the years including the DeHavilland Philharmonic Orchestra, Aurelian Ensemble, Milton Keynes City Orchestra, Kentish Opera, New London Sinfonia, Meridian Sinfonia, London Pro Arte and the London Soloists Chamber Orchestra.
Helen has given recital programmes around London and the UK as part of the Bromley-based Darwin Piano trio. They have performed in Bristol Cathedral, Southwark Cathedral, Chelmsford Cathedral, The Foundling Museum and St. Martins Within Ludgate in London. In addition to her piano trio work, Helen has performed recitals alongside pianist Eleanor Tagart in solo recitals within London. She has recorded violin and viola tracks for two British $50,000 Sellaband Artists Daniel Ward-Murphy's "Until the Morning Light" and Ellie Williams' "Unseen". Her playing has appeared on popular television shows such as BBC’s Waterloo Road and Channel 4’s Hollyoaks and has been on live radio shows on BBC Radio Kent, TalkSport 1089AM and Resonance FM.
Teaching
As a performer, Helen also believes that it's important to enthuse the next generation of musicians. She has had a varied career from teaching in keystage three and four classrooms to violin and viola teaching as a private tutor. Under her tutorledge, many students have received excellent grade examination results, scholarships to local independent schools and junior and senior London conservatoires. Recently she has made the decision to teach and enter students for Edexcel GCSE Music privately as a qualified teacher of music which can either be done online or as a live lesson.
Degrees and certificates
Helen has a Bachelor of Music BMus(TCM) from Trinity College of Music, a PGCE (Post-Graduate Certificate of Education) in Music from UCL's Institute of Education, with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).
Performance diplomas include a Licentiate of Trinity College London (LTCL) in Music Performance and a DipABRSM in violin performance. Helen is a Graduate Level 5 Suzuki Violin Teacher and a level 2 viola teacher with the British Suzuki Music Association. She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA).
At home…
Helen is a mum to two Suzuki pianists. She is an England Athletics affiliated runner for Orpington, where she is a Coach of Running Fitness (CiRF) and holds a UKA guide runner license to assist visually impaired runners. Often found on hills, training and competing in distances from 5 miles to half marathon.
Helen plays on a 2011 Frédéric Chaudiere violin.