About the event:

Hello! I am chief Space explorer Seren and I’m looking for fellow astronauts to join me on my musical mission to the Moon.
Can you help me?
It’s not going to be an easy ride launching this space shuttle. You’re going to need:
1. Your singing voice
2. Determination-I can’t do it on my own
3. Rhythm! From the tip of your nose to the nails on your toes.
I’ll bring my violin and some songs, vital ingredients for any successful expedition.
Running time: 45 mins
Suitable for 3-6 year olds

This performance enables children to:

• Hear and see live violin being played up close.
• Sing and appreciate their own singing voice.
• Have agency over how the story evolves.
• Have their creativity and imagination sparked.
• Move their bodies to music and be encouraged to feel/recognise pulse and rhythm.

Testimonials:

‘A lovely afternoon of just about the right length to hold the attention of the youngsters’
Simmie’s story audience member

‘Magical, interactive, engaging’
Simmie’s story audience member

Suitable for:

3-6 year olds and their adults

Cost:

£ 8 (includes 1 adult and child) Additional children £4

Additional Information:

Helena started playing the violin at school aged 6. A member of the Cardiff County orchestras and the National Youth Orchestra of Wales, she went on to study violin performance at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama before training as a nurse.
Throughout her working life, Helena has remained a determined violinist, performing at weddings with the Aderyn Quartet, charity concerts and in orchestras most recently including British Sinfonietta, Brecknock Sinfonia, Gwent Chamber, Abergavenny Symphony Orchestra, which she led 2018-2021 and the City of Newport Symphony Orchestra which she has led since October 2024. She achieved her ABRSM diploma in July 2021 with distinction and in Summer 2023 was awarded a scholarship to attend a jazz course led by Peter Edwards and violin masterclasses with Thomas Gould at Dartington Summer School. She performed the Bruch Violin Concerto with Abergavenny Symphony Orchestra in 2023 and the Barber Violin Concerto with CNSO earlier this year. She is grateful to Myriam Brunswick  and the Citron family for the generous loan of their violin.
Helena is also a passionate music educator and keen advocate for making music in all its guises, accessible to all. In 2019, she qualified completed her PGCE with a Music specialism, inspired by training undertaken in the Kodaly and Dalcroze approaches to music pedagogy. Last year, she graduated from the Spitalfield’s Trainee Music Leader Scheme, partnered with City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, during which she co-created and delivered a musical story to five schools across Birmingham. Helena is intent on modernising the traditional concert experience, exploring means to engage a more eclectic audience. She coproduced City of Newport Symphony orchestra’s recent family concert, ‘Simmie’s Story,’ and is currently devising this years family production to be performed with CNSO again this Autumn.