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Each year, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance recognises accomplished professionals in the fields of the performing arts and education by awarding them the status of Honorary Fellow of Trinity Laban.

Our Honorary Fellows, past and present, are an inspiration for our students, as examples of people who have – through vision, dedication and hard work – achieved so much. Honorary Companionships is the highest honour that Trinity Laban can bestow and is awarded to individuals in recognition of their exceptional service to the institution.

Honorary Companions

  • Michael Hildesly
  • Sir Walter Bodmer FRS
  • Professor Gavin Henderson CBE
  • Sir Robert Scott
  • Paul Strang
  • Sir Matthew Bourne OBE
  • Dame Joan Ruddock MP
  • Lord Lipsey
  • Dr Geoffrey Copland CBE

Honorary Fellows

2023

  • Peter Gn, Senior Specialist (Dance), Ministry of Education, Singapore
  • Shobana Jeyasingh CBE, choreographer
  • Rebecca Allen, President EMI Records
  • Mirella Bartrip OBE, former Director of Dance at Trinity Laban
  • Julian Joseph OBE, jazz pianist, bandleader, composer, arranger, and broadcaster.

2022

2021

2019

2018

  • Lin Hwai-min – founder and Artistic Director of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre and Cloud Gate 2 of Taiwan
  • Glenna Batson – Educator, Movement Practitioner and Scholar
  • Irene Dowd – Kinesthetic Anatomist, Educator, and Movement Practitioner
  • Esther Cavett, Musician, lawyer at Clifford Chance and former governor of Trinity Laban
  • Gillian Moore CBE, Head of Classical Music at the Southbank Centre
  • Gary Crosby OBE, double bassist, bandleader and Co-Founder & Artistic Director of Tomorrow’s Warriors
  • Mark Pemberton, Director of the Association of British Orchestras
  • Simon Purcell, International Chair in Improvisation at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and former Head of Jazz at Trinity Laban

2017

2016

2015

  • Rosemary Butcher – choreographer
  • Philip Carne MBE – trustee of The Carne Trust
  • Christine Carne – trustee of The Carne Trust
  • Ian Mitchell – clarinettist and former head of Wind Brass and Percussion at Trinity Laban
  • Marion Friend MBE – former director of Junior Trinity
  • Professor Steve Stanton – dean of validation at City University London

2014

  • Professor John Wallace CBE – outgoing principal of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
  • Emma Gladstone – Trinity Laban alumnus, artistic director and chief executive of Dance Umbrella
  • Lord Hall – director-general, BBC

2013

  • Catherine Bott – soprano
  • Liza Loveday – patron of the arts
  • Mark Loveday – patron of the arts
  • Yvonne Rainer – choreographer

2012

  • Paul Hughes – general manager, BBC Symphony Orchestra and Trinity Laban alumnus
  • Dr Valerie Preston-Dunlop – writer and choreographer
  • Jennifer Tipton – lighting designer

2011

  • Wissam Boustany – flautist
  • Sir Vernon Ellis – chair, British Council and patron of the arts
  • John Heighway – ex-deputy principal, Trinity Laban
  • Darren Henley OBE – chief executive, Arts Council England
  • John Paul Jones – founding member Led Zeppelin and multi instrumentalist
  • Alison Stephens – classical mandolinist and Trinity Laban teacher (posthumous)

2010

  • Norma Winstone MBE – internationally renowned jazz vocalist
  • Robin Kiel MBE – civil servant
  • Akram Khan MBE – dancer, choreographer and artistic director
  • Anna Jattkowski-Hudson – academic registrar, Rockford College, USA
  • Alan Britten CBE – patron of Aldeburgh Productions
  • Charles Alderson – professor of lingustics and english language education at Lancaster University

2009

  • Ravi Shankar – sitar virtuoso
  • Dr Jennifer Barnes – president, Murrary Edwards College, Cambridge
  • Allah Rakka Rahman – composer

2008

  • Robert Chiu – singapore representative for TCL examinations

2007

  • Roger Bowers – ex-chief executive, Trinity College London
  • Lindsay Bury

2006

  • Biddy Baxter – broadcaster
  • Christina Coker MBE – chief executive, Youth Music
  • Nona Liddell – violinist
  • Debbie Wiseman MBE – film composer
  • Barry Wordsworth – conductor

2004

  • Marjorie Ayling – principal, Blackheath Conservatoire of Music and the Arts
  • Charlotte Cooper – head of planning, Trinity Laban
  • Christine Croshaw – pianist and professor of keyboard, Trinity Laban
  • Karen Hunt – college secretary, Trinity Laban
  • Brian Kay – broadcaster and conductor
  • Dame Cleo Laine – jazz singer
  • Philip Meaden – former principal, Morley College
  • Elaine Padmore – director of opera, Royal Opera House
  • Sir Angus Stirling – former chairman of the Greenwich Foundation

2003

  • Dame Silvia Cartwright DBE – governor general of New Zealand
  • David Crystal OBE – professor and researcher in english language studies
  • Sir Edward Downes – conductor
  • Lewis Foreman – british music historian
  • Diego Masson – conductor
  • Michael Peacock – founder of the Peacock Charitable Trust
  • Prof Richard Trainor – vice chancellor
  • Alistair Young – member of professorial staff for piano studies

2002

  • Joan Plowright – actress
  • Dorothy Madden –  dancer and choreographer
  • Gavin Henderson – principal of Trinity College of Music (now Trinity Laban)
  • Elliot Bernerd – ex-chair of Southbank Centre and the LPO Trust
  • Francis Carnwath – ex-director of Greenwich Foundation
  • Alan Grieve – chair of Jerwood Foundation
  • Nicola Lefanu – composer and professor at York University
  • Gordon Pringle – former junior department tutor and cellist
  • Cllr Francis Robinson – chair of the European Union Baroque Orchestra
  • Dr Paul Ranger – TCL examiner for speech and drama
  • Prof Alasdair Smith – vice chancellor of Sussex University

2001

  • William Forsythe  – dancer and choreographer
  • Hugh Cave – relocation project manager
  • Joanna Embling – property consultant for relocation, governor
  • Sir Brian Fender, CMG – chief executive, HEFCE
  • Emma Kirkby – professional singer
  • Stephen Montague – composer
  • Anthony Moore – pro-vice chancellor, Sussex University
  • Geoffrey Shelley – chairman of the audit committee
  • David Sigall – board member and artists’ agent
  • Prof Keith Swanwick – dean of research, Institute of Education
  • Larry Westland – former director, Music for Youth

2000

  • Geoffrey Copland – deputy rector, Westminster University
  • Raymond Gubbay CBE – opera production
  • Ursula Jones – archaeologist
  • Sir Cameron Mackintosh – music and theatre
  • John Noble – vocal faculty, TCM
  • Andrea Quinn – music director
  • John Scott – master of music, St Paul’s Cathedral

1999

  • Dr Susan Leigh Foster – choreographer, dancer, writer
  • Celeste Dandeker MBE – founder and artistic director, CandoCo Dance Company
  • Leonard Wallis FRICS – fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
  • Louis de Bernieres – writer
  • Richard Burnett – pianist
  • Paul Collins – head of finance and general administration, Trinity College of Music (now Trinity Laban)
  • Evelyne Green – academic registrar, University of Westminster
  • Sir Keith Stuart – chairman, Associated British Ports Holdings PLC

1998

  • William Elmhirst – former student and collaborator with Rudolf Laban
  • Victoria Todd – director, National Campaign for the Arts
  • David Bedford – composer
  • Wendy Eathorne – senior lecturer, Trinity College of Music (now Trinity Laban)
  • George Pratt – emeritus professor of music, University of Huddersfield
  • Derek Sugden – consultant, Arup Associates

1997

  • Lea Anderson – choreographer, film maker and artistic director
  • Val Bourne – artistic director of Dance Umbrella
  • Sir Matthew Bourne OBE – alumnus, director, choreographer and artistic director
  • Diana Burrell – composer
  • Dr Marion North – former principal, Laban Dance Centre
  • Dennis Scard – general secretary, Musicians Union
  • The Lord Taylor of Gosforth – formerly lord chief justice of England/TCM chairman of the board
  • Iaan Wilson – member of professorial ataff

1996

  • Dame Gillian Lynne – choreographer and director
  • FMG Wilson – emeritus professor, Murdoch University and vice chancellor (retired)
  • Dame Joan Ruddock MP – former Trinity Laban governor
  • Sir Michael Bishop – former channel 4 chairman
  • John Davey – chief executive, TCL
  • Siobhan Davies MBE – choreographer
  • John Edney – brass professor, Trinity College of Music (now Trinity Laban)
  • Louise Honeyman – former governor
  • Kathryn McDowell – music director, Arts Council
  • Clive Priestley – chairman, London Arts Board
  • Peter Stark – conductor
  • John Woolrich – composer
  • Marguerite Wolff – pianist

1995

  • Merce Cunningham – choreographer
  • Stuart Hopps – choreographer
  • Judith Mackrell – dance critic
  • Ann Cherry – flute professor, Trinity College of Music (now Trinity Laban)
  • Graeme Davies – professor and former chief executive, HEFCE
  • Jack Hindmarsh – organ professor, Trinity College of Music (now Trinity Laban)
  • Nicholas Kenyon – controller, BBC Radio 3
  • Pat Legg – communication and teaching skills coordinator, Trinity College of Music (now Trinity Laban)
  • William Lyne MBE – director, Wigmore Hall
  • The Rev. The Lord Soper – West London Mission
  • Prof Kevin Thompson – principal, Dartington School of Arts
  • Elizabeth Turnbull – director of string studies, Trinity College of Music (now Trinity Laban)
  • Sioned Williams – coordinator of harp studies, Trinity College of Music (now Trinity Laban)