Helen Grime

Who is Helen Grime?

Helen Grime is a Scottish composer. Though born in England, her parents returned to Scotland when she was a baby. Her family raised her in her early years in Ellon, Aberdeenshire. Her grandparents were music teachers in Macduff, Aberdeenshire. Her mother teaches music at St. Margaret's School, Edinburgh.

As a youth, Grime learned the oboe with John Anderson, whilst her sister Frances learned violin. Grime began music studies at age 9 at the City of Edinburgh Music School, and continued at age 17 at St Mary's Music School. She played the oboe in the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland. She started to compose from age 12, where her teachers included Hafliði Hallgrímsson.

Grime continued formal studies at the Royal College of Music, where she studied composition with Julian Anderson and Edwin Roxburgh and played oboe in the RCM Sinfonietta and RCM Baroque Orchestra. She earned first-class honours and a Master's degree from the RCM in 2004. Her other composition teachers included Sally Beamish and Jennifer Martin. She was a 2008 Leonard Bernstein Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center. Grime was a Legal and General Junior Fellow at the Royal College of Music from 2007 to 2009.