Biography

Interested in all music styles and specialized in the contemporary classical music world, Helena Sousa Estévez, accordionist, collaborates very actively with composers to work as a soloist or as an ensemble or orchestra member.

Currently based in Rotterdam, Helena has been part of international projects and festivals, highlighting in the recent years:

• Festival Internacional de Música de Canarias - Festival Contemporáneo 2023 with Vertixe Sonora, conductor Mariano Chiacchiarini (Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain)
• Academia Internacional Cardinais 2023 with Vertixe Sonora, conductor Iván Ferrer-Orozco (Santiago de Compostela, Spain)
• Exodes, Choral opera by Gualtiero Dazzi and Elisabeth Kaess with the Choeur d'Hommes de la Villette, conductor Loïk Blanvillain (2023 in Paris, Strasbourg, Lalouvesc, Chambon-sur-Lignon and Saint-Flour, France)
• North Sea Round Town 2023 with TangoZZS&World (Rotterdam, The Netherlands)
• Dutch International Tangoweek 2023 with Inner Duo (Amersfoort, The Netherlands)
• Xemas Preciosas, soloist with the orchestra Real Filharmonía de Galicia, conductor Joana Carneiro (2022, Santiago de Compostela, Spain)
• Carga chea, outros plans with Vertixe Sonora, conductor Beltrán González (2022, Santiago de Compostela, Spain)
• Muze van Zuid 2022 with Inner Duo (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
• Codarts Composers Festival 2018, 2019 and 2022, conductor Roberto Beltrán-Zavala (Rotterdam, The Netherlands)
• MIHLSons-XXI 2022 with Vertixe Sonora (Lugo, Spain)
• Tremor Project 2022 with Vertixe Sonora (Aveiro, Portugal)

Also, Festival Cineuropa Compostela 2021 with Real Filharmonía de Galicia, conductor Timothy Brock (Santiago de Compostela, Spain); Xornadas de Música Contemporánea 2021 with Maruja Roca Ensemble (Santiago de Compostela, Spain); Festival Musica 2020 and 2021 with Ensemble Intercolor (Strasbourg, France and Kehl, Germany); Festival de l'Épau 2020 with Ensemble Intercolor (Le Mans, France); Arsmondo Festival 2019 with Ensemble Linea (Strasbourg, France); Thy Chamber Music Festival 2019 with Ensemble Intercolor (Thy, Denmark); IMPULS Festival 2019 with Ensemble Linea, conductors Natalia Salinas and Jean-Philippe Wurtz (Halle, Magdeburg and Leipzig, Germany) or Werken van Wagemans with DoelenEnsemble, conductor Arie van Beek (2019, Rotterdam, The Netherlands).

She is an active member of Vertixe Sonora since 2023 as well as co-founder and member of Inner Duo since 2020. She has premiered multiple works by composers such us Gualtiero Dazzi, Jesús Torres, Mogens Christensen, Jean-Patrick Besingrand, Juan José Bárcenas, Beltrán González, Damian Gorandi, Michele Foresi, Tamara Miller, Clara Olivares, Pablo Pérez Sanmamed, Mioko Yokoyama, Daniel Zea, Tianyou-Zou, Daphné Hejebri, Friso van Wijck, Adrián Crespo-Barba or Peter-Jan Wagemans, among many others.

In 2015 Helena obtained her Bachelor degree in Music at Musikene – Higher Music School of the Basque Country (San Sebastián, Spain), with professor Iñaki Alberdi. In 2017 she finished her Master of Music at HEAR - Haute École des Arts du Rhin (Strasbourg, France) with professor Pascal Contet. Since the beginning of her career, Helena has participated in numerous national and international competitions, among them:the Trophée Mondial de l'Accordéon in France (2005), Serbia (2006), Bosnia and Herzegovina (2007), Portugal (2009) and Spain (2010); Torneo Internazionale di Musica (Verona, Italy, 2010 and Paris, France, 2012); Arrasate Hiria International Accordion Competition (Arrasate, Spain, 2014) or Juventudes Musicales (Torroella de Montgrí, 2014 and Tui, Spain, 2016). She has also attended several masterclasses with musicians such as Juan Carlos Cárcamo, Pedro Pascual, Aníbal Freire, Alexey Artemyev, Anne Landa, Oleg Sharov, Vyacheslav Semionov, Víctor Prieto, Jesús Torres, José María Sánchez-Verdú, Marco García de Paz, Veli Kujala, Geir Draugsvoll, Iñaki Alberdi or Wim Warman, among others.

Besides her  activity as a soloist and ensemble performer, Helena also works as a music teacher, giving lessons in the Dutch schools Nord Anglia International School Rotterdam, International School of Utrecht and School of Music Rotterdam. She is as well a current member of SKVR Rotterdam, one of the largest Centre for the Arts in The Netherlands.