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 Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Chaya Czernowin, Marcos Balter, Michael Gordon, Julia Wolfe, Ashley Fure, and Tania León, among others. 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, and SICPP. 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. Newby has performed with and alongside ensembles such as the JACK Quartet, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Fort Greene Orchestra, and Contemporaneous, among others. She is a founding member of string quartet Amaranth Quartet and string trio Chartreuse.
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.
Helen has been a member of Puerto Rican rapper Residente’s touring band since 2024, with whom she has performed in over a dozen countries spanning three continents. Recent highlights with Residente include a performance at the Zócalo in Mexico City for over a quarter million people. She has also performed with Kygo, Michael Bublé, Arcángel, Laufey, Adekunle Gold, Silvana Estrada, and Silvia Pérez Cruz, among others.
A frequent Broadway cellist, Helen has performed in the shows Suffs, Gypsy, Death Becomes Her, Beetlejuice, and The Lost Boys, among others. She has performed with a number of Broadway legends including Audra McDonald, Kelli O’Hara, Sutton Foster, and Adam Pascal.
In addition to her work as a performer, Helen is an avid arranger. While holed up during the Covid-19 pandemic, she started arranging, recording, and filming herself playing multi-cello pop & holiday covers, a project that has continued post-quarantine. Her arrangements can be found on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Music.
