Jump to section: Book now

Lunchtime Recital: The Heliconia Duo

Wed 2 Apr 2025

The Heliconia Duo formed in 2021, comprising Catriona Bourne on flute and Julia Seibert on classical guitar.

The duo’s repertoire includes classical and folk music from around the world, ranging from South American choro to Argentinian tango to Romanian, Macedonian and North American folk tunes. They have performed in concert series and venues including St. Mark’s Hamilton Terrace, Blockley Chamber Concerts, Morden College and St. George’s Church, Beckenham.

Catriona Bourne is currently studying postgraduate flute performance at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, having been supported during her studies by  a TCL Scholarship, Bibby Award Scholarship, a Michael Hirst Award Scholarship, the Colin Blythe Award  and the Women’s Careers Foundation. She is also a Choral Scholar with the Trinity Laban Chapel Choir at the Old Royal Naval College, in addition to playing harp. While at school Catriona was a UK Finalist in the Rotary Young Musician of the Year Competition, and she performed for Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Alexandra. Catriona read Music at University College, Oxford, where she was a Choral Scholar and Ensemble Isis Scholar. She then attained a PGCE and Master’s in Music Education at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where she received an Instrumental Award from the Faculty of Music and a Lincoln Award and Garrett Award from Magdalene College. Catriona performed as a concerto soloist with Cambridge University Symphony Orchestra in March 2019 and as the flute soloist for a re-working of Saariaho’s flute concerto with Cambridge University New Music Ensemble. More recently, Catriona won the 2022 Harold Clarke Woodwind Competition at Trinity Laban and was a Highly Commended Young Artist at the 2022 Flutes in Tuscany course and concert series in Tereglio, Italy. She was a Finalist in the 2022 Trinity Laban Soloists’ Competition and the 2022 Carne Trust Chamber Competition.

Julia Seibert, born in 1999, is a German guitarist currently studying in the second year of her Master’s Degree at Trinity Laban. She grew up in Istanbul, Turkey, and the United States, studying there with Piotr Pakhomkin. She spent the first two years of her bachelor’s degree in Berlin, Germany, at the Hanns Eisler conservatoire, where she worked with Eugenia Kanthou, and then transferred to Trinity Laban to study with Graham Devine in 2020. Besides this duo and her solo work, Julia plays in a trio with two other guitarists. She won the prize for Best Interpretation at the 2018 Beatty Competition, and is the recipient of the 2021 Montagu Cleeve prize for guitar. Besides classical music, Julia also plays electric guitar in bands.