HELEN SANDERSON

British guitarist, Helen Sanderson, studied guitar at the Royal College of Music with Charles Ramirez, and accompaniment with John Blakely, graduating with prizes including the Anthony Saltmarsh Prize and the Madeline Walton Prize for Guitar.
Her performing career reflects her passion for chamber music in partnerships with eminent counter-tenor James Bowman, tenor Mark Wilde and in guitar duo with Zoran Dukic. She was a founding member of the VIDA Guitar Quartet and her performances have included recitals at the Southbank Centre, Kings Place, St Georges-Bristol, and the Sage Gateshead. In 2010 Helen made her US debuts in Los Angeles and New York, and has subsequently toured extensively throughout USA and Europe.

In parallel to her role as Head of Guitar Performance at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Helen is an entrepreneurial educator, committed to nurturing young guitarists throughout the UK. In 2006 she founded the music education charity, Guitar Circus, and Helen’s wider work in guitar education was recognised in 2017 with the award of a Churchill Fellowship following her research in the USA of whole-class guitar programmes.

Helen is a sought-after masterclass artist, adjudicator and international jury member for competitions such as BBC Young Musician of the Year, the Guitar Foundation of America International Concert Artist, the Ida Presti competition and the Sky Arts series, ‘Guitar Star’. She is Artistic Director for the National Youth Guitar Ensemble UK and directs the London Camerata and Fellowship ensembles. Helen’s compositions and arrangements regularly feature in the ABRSM and Trinity College and syllabi and she is a D’Addario Classical Artist.