Helen Kuby

Helen Kuby is a horn player, educator and performance psychology specialist working at the intersection of performance, pedagogy and musician wellbeing. 

Her work focuses on integrating research-informed psychological approaches into high-performance music education.

At Junior Academy, Helen is Horn Tutor and Musician Wellbeing Lead, where she leads the development and delivery of wellbeing provision for young musicians. This includes the Confident Young Musician programme, performance psychology workshops, and one-to-one coaching. She also contributes to the LRAM teaching qualification and widening participation initiatives, and is Brass Lead for the Academy’s Widening Participation department. 

Outside of the Academy, she regularly works with the National Children’s Orchestra and Future Talent, and has been invited to work as a guest brass tutor at Chetham’s School of Music. She has also been a guest lecturer in performance psychology for undergraduate and postgraduate students at Senior Academy, and is regularly invited to deliver training and consultancy for conservatoires and specialist music education settings.

Helen is also Senior Transitions Tutor at the Royal Northern College of Music, leading delivery within a flagship programme supporting 15–18-year-old musicians from low socio-economic backgrounds who are seeking to progress into higher education. She integrates performance psychology and structured approaches to musical development, with students securing scholarships at leading conservatoires and places at some of the UK’s most competitive universities.

As a performer, Helen’s career spans classical, pop, jazz and musical theatre. She has performed at Glastonbury and Latitude Festival with DJs Fabio and Grooverider, and her theatre work includes Shakespeare’s Globe and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (deputy). She has also performed with Waterperry Opera and Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra, and collaborated with artists including The Kooks and saxophonist Tony Kofi. She appears regularly as a soloist across the UK.

Helen holds an MSc in Performance Science (Distinction) from the Royal College of Music and was awarded the RCM Accelerate Award for the impact of her work.

Image: Olivia Da Costa