About

Born Helen Sanders, I live in Wolverhampton, teaching classical guitar, piano and music theory, as well as working as a piano accompanist. I also play the tuba!

Building on my musical childhood, I studied at the Royal College of Music, London, with Patrick Bashford (classical guitar) and Robert Sutherland (piano). After graduating in 1987 (GRSM Hons), I went on to take my PGCE in Secondary Education at Birmingham Polytechnic, as I felt (and still feel!) very strongly that I wanted other people to have a shared love and understanding of music.

I started classroom teaching in 1988 at Cardinal Newman Catholic School, Hove, before moving to Blake High School, Hednesford, where I also helped to run a chamber choir which enjoyed success at Music for Youth Festivals as well as tours abroad. After a break to raise my three children, I returned to classroom teaching in 2001 at Highfields Science Specialist School, Wolverhampton, followed by a move to Wolverhampton Girls’ High School in 2013.

I started to develop my private teaching career whilst raising my family, and in 2014 left the classroom to tutor classical guitar and piano at Wolverhampton Girls’ High School. Shortly afterwards, I also began teaching the piano at Wolverhampton Grammar School. Since September 2022 I have been focused on teaching classical guitar, piano and music theory from my home in Tettenhall, Wolverhampton.

I am an experienced accompanist, having accompanied numerous soloists for exams, concerts, shows and competitions; choirs for performances, tours and workshops; and having worked as piano accompanist for a local dance school as a teenager. I also have much experience of running chamber choirs, both for mixed voices as well as for female voices.

I enjoy arranging and composition work, and now hope to publish some of my compositions.