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Alumni Roundup March 2022

Wed 6 April 2022

Our monthly round-up of some of the successes for Trinity Laban alumni.

March saw new releases from music alumni. Estraven, the jazz quartet including alumni Duncan Eagles and Chris Hyde-Harrison, released their new album Ignored Advice, and jazz quintet Ezra Collective, which features alumni Femi Koleoso and Joe Armon-Jones, released their new track May The Funk Be With You. 

Anna Stereopoulou wrote the music for Into the Land of Ice and Fire, a documentary film about the Sámi people of the European arctic, which was premiered at the 24th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, and Serafina Steer appears in the band for the soundtrack of the BBC series This is Going To Hurt, which was released this month. 

Music and dance alumni also performed throughout the month. Candoco Dance Company, featuring alumni Megan Armishaw and Olivia Edgington, had several of their works featured in Sydney Opera House’s Digital Season. 

Choreographer Malik Nashad Sharpe’s piece He’s Dead, inspired by the music and life of Tupac Shakur, was performed at Battersea Arts Centre this month. The piece was reviewed well in the Guardian and the Stage.  

Cloud Gate Theatre, of whom Ching-Chun Lee is Associate Artistic Director, presented their new work Send in a Cloud in a tour around Taiwan this month. Also touring is Jeff Wayne’s musical production of War of the Worlds. 

The Love is Attention series of live events and concerts took place around Lewisham throughout March. Moses Boyd’s concert in this series at The Albany received a 5-star review in the Evening Standard. 

Nardus Williams appeared in Cosi fan tutte with the English National Opera, which received this 4-star review from the Stage. 

March saw the annual SXSW Music Festival take place, where several music alumni performed. The Austin Chronicle interviewed Daniel Casimir about the event, and praised him, Cherise Adams-Burnett and Cassie Kinoshi for their performances in this review. 

Cassie also featured as cover star for Jazzwise’s April 2022 edition celebrating the magazine’s 25th anniversary, and the magazine’s list of the best new albums for March 2022 featured Feeding the Machine, the recent album from Binker and Moses, and Legacy, from the group Kinetica Bloco, which includes alumni Emmanuel Franklyn Adelabu, Lily Carassik, Mark Kavuma, Nubya Garcia, Reuben James, Ruben Fox, and Sheila Maurice-Grey. 

Also featuring in the media this month was alum and Director of the New Zealand School of Dance Garry Trinder, who spoke to Dance Europe’s about the school’s 55th anniversary celebrations. 

Reuben James appeared in Complex’s list of British R&B and Soul artists to watch in 2022, while Nubya Garcia was interviewed by Stereogum for their Month in Jazz column, and Dai Fujikira’s Bach-inspired Sweet Suites featured in the Strad’s examination of several pieces composed during the quarantine. 

Alumni have also celebrated wins, appointments and new research during March. 

Luca Silvestrini’s dance company Protein has been involved in the Rural Touring Dance Initiative, bringing dance to spaces outside of large cultural centres. The RTDI’s findings were published at the end of February, showing how rural touring could be a new reliable path for the sector. 

Emma Redding has been appointed Director of the Victorian College of the Arts at the University of Melbourne. 

James Newby received a Borletti-Buitoni Trust prize. 

 

Coming Up: 

The cast of The Secret Diary of Adrien Mole Aged 13 ¾ at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch has been announced, with alum Tom Self playing Bert. The show will run 28 April – 21 May. 

Jazz ensemble Kokoroko, featuring alumni Sheila Maurice-Grey and Cassie Kinoshi, announced their debut album Could We Be More is set to be released in August. 

Cellist Ayanna Witter-Johnson performs at Wigmore Hall on 5 May.