Helen Newby continually seeks ways to expand the technical and expressive boundaries of her instrument through close collaboration with other innovative performers, composers and artists. She is widely recognized for her “warm tone” and “intimate balanced sound” (The Washington Post), and as a “superb” and “committed champion” of new music (Cleveland Classical). Newby’s passion for collaboration and experimentation has led her to work with a number of both emerging and established composers, including Steve Reich, Chaya Czernowin, Marcos Balter, Sabrina Schroeder, Ashley Fure, and Tania León, among others. Her premiere solo album, Dialogue, featuring commissions by David Bird, Danny Clay, Adam Hirsch, Kurt Isaacson and Haley Shaw, was released in early 2017 on Ephemeral Stream Recordings. Upcoming projects include commissions from Bergrún Snæbjörnsdóttir and Maria Kaoutzani, and appearances at Disney Hall (Los Angeles, CA), Women Composers Festival of Hartford (Hartford, CT) and the UNK New Musical Festival (Kearney, NE), among others.
Newby has performed with and alongside ensembles such as the JACK Quartet, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, One Found Sound, and Contemporaneous, among others. She is a founding member of Amaranth Quartet and Chartreuse. She has been in-residence at several new music-focused festivals such as Bang on a Can, the Banff Institute, New Music on the Point, SICPP, the Barnes Foundation and Music in Bloom (Bloomington, IN). Recent and upcoming collaborations with pop, electronic and indie artists include Kygo, Michael Bublé, Gregory Porter and Aish, among others.
In addition to an active career as a performer, Newby is equally dedicated to education and working with emerging composers, performers, and communities of listeners. She has given concerts and workshops for undergraduate and graduate students at institutions including Oberlin College, Brown University, Georgia Southern University, DePauw University, SUNY Fredonia, Hillsdale College, Tromsø University, and the Norges Musikkhøgskole. She maintains a private teaching studio in Brooklyn, NY.
Newby studied at Oberlin College with Darrett Adkins (B.M.) before continuing her education at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with Jennifer Culp (M.M). She began her studies in Los Angeles, CA with Rachael Lonergan. She plays on a 2016 “Allegrezzo” cello by Brian Lisus.