Helen Vollam

Trombone

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.

She studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and is much in demand as a guest teacher and adjudicator. She has given classes at all the UK music colleges and adjudicated for BBC Young Musician, Royal Over-Seas League and the Citta Di Porcia International Competition. She has played on numerous film, TV and video game soundtracks, including Star Wars: The Attack of the Clones, Harry Potter, Final Fantasy, Inception, Hotel Transylvania, The Ides of March, Iron Man 2, Rise of the Guardians and No Time to Die.

In 2019 Helen gave the world premiere of Gavin Higgins’ new Trombone Concerto ‘Book of Miracles’, written specially for her, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican in London. Helen was awarded ‘Player of the Year’ by the British Trombone Society in 2022.