A number of Trinity Laban performers have taken to the stage at the BBC Proms, the world’s biggest classical music festival.

On Saturday 10 September, the Last Night of the Proms not only featured recent graduate James Newby as soloist, but also three Junior Trinity alumni in the BBC Proms Youth Ensemble: Jonathan Newby, Adam Collins and Hannah Corcoran. You can watch their performance on BBC iPlayer.

Also broadcast on the same day was the Ten Pieces Prom, which featured Trinity Laban’s Animate Orchestra performing their creative response to Gabriel Prokofiev’s Concerto for Turntable and Orchestra. You can watch their performance – and also a special Behind the Scenes video – on the CBBC website. (The Animate Orchestra appears at around 36 minutes…)

Trinity Laban performers regularly appear in London’s most prestigious venues and festivals. For more information see the What’s On section of our website. 

Trinity Laban has reassured EU students concerning tuition fees for study commencing in 2018.

Trinity Laban confirms that undergraduate and postgraduate EU students commencing studies in 2018 will continue to pay the same tuition fees as UK students for the entire duration of their studies.

Professor Anthony Bowne, Principal of Trinity Laban, said:

“We are all incredibly proud and honoured to have so many European students and staff. In fact, we have one of the highest percentages of EU students of any university in the country. I’m delighted to make this pledge to our European friends, so that future generations of students can continue to contribute to our wonderful international community.”

Applications are now open for study on Trinity Laban’s undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. For more information visit the Study section of the Trinity Laban website.

Read more: Financial information for EU students.

Rising star baritone James Newby, who graduated from Trinity Laban’s BA(Hons) programme this summer, is appearing at the Last Night of the BBC Proms.

James, who earlier this year became the youngest ever winner of the Kathleen Ferrier Awards,  will be appearing as a soloist in Ralph Vaughan Williams’ iconic Serenade to Music.

James Newby studied at Trinity Laban with Alison Wells. He has regularly praised the education he received at Trinity Laban, saying: “as a musician I feel completely unrecognisable from the musician that walked through the door four years ago, and I am just so grateful to everybody at Trinity Laban for everything they have done for me.”

You can catch James’s performance live on BBC television and radio, then subsequently on BBC iPlayer.

Trinity Laban graduate Sanjukta Wagh performs in a kathak double bill at London’s Southbank Centre on 31 May 2016.

Sanjukta, who gained a Diploma in Dance Studies at Trinity Laban in 2010, is now based in her home country of India. Her solo, Rage and Beyond: Irawati’s Gandhari, features spoken and sung text and acoustic guitar, as well as kathak dance. The piece, which has previously won awards in India and has toured to New York, tells the ancient Indian story of Gandhari, the blindfolded queen.

Sanjukta has spoken about how her time at Trinity Laban has influenced her work:

“I came to Trinity Laban to rediscover my dancing body, by putting myself and my body in a challenging and completely unfamiliar place. It was my first attempt at learning contemporary technique and discovering the dance culture of London.

“It was an incredible experience to go on this journey with a diverse student body from around the world. Subjects like anatomy and choreology were storehouses of immense knowledge.

“I came back to India bursting with ideas for further research. My teaching methodology changed, and my approach to my form, kathak, was renewed in whole new ways.”

Rage and Beyond: Irawati’s Gandhari is performed in a double bill alongside Kin by Sanjukta Sinha. For more information, please visit the Southbank Centre website.

Sanjukta was granted a Charles Wallace India Trust Scholarship to study at Trinity Laban. Find out more on the British Council website.

Banner image: Priti Gupta; thumbnail image: Gautame Kirtane

Eight recordings of rarely heard Haydn pieces performed by a Trinity Laban student ensemble have been reissued by Divine Art Records.

Two Notturni and six Scherzandi,composedby Franz Joseph Haydn and performed by Trinity Haydn Ensemble, form part of a double album entitled Notturni & Scherzandi.

The recording was originally organised as a collaboration between Trinity Laban and the Haydn Society of Great Britain, as part of Haydn’s bicentennial celebrations in 2009. The ensemble of Trinity Laban students was conducted by Denis McCaldin, the director of the Haydn Society.

The CD received highly positive reviews. Marc Rochester of International Record Review commented:

‘The Trinity Haydn Ensemble… plays the last two Notturni… along with the six Scherzandi… There are plenty of special moments: an endearing ‘Minuet’ for flute against a delicate pizzicato accompaniment in No. 1, a gloriously vibrant finale to No. 2 which reveals some impressive collective virtuosity from these young players, a magical ‘Adagio’ from No. 4 which seems to tiptoe along with impeccable graciousness, and some tremendously robust unison writing in the finale of No. 6 – all of which is delivered with complete authority by these tautly disciplined players.’

To read full reviews of Notturni & Scherzandi, or to purchase the albumplease visit the Divine Art Records website.

We are delighted to announce that HEFCE has today rated Trinity Laban as a “world-leading” teaching institution.

The rating came about as part of HEFCE’s recent review of its Institution Specific Targeted Allocation – the extra funding that it awards to a few exceptional specialist institutions, and will continue to award to Trinity Laban.

It backs up other indicators of Trinity Laban’s success, such as last week’s triumphs by two amazing undergraduates: James Newby was joint first prize winner of the Kathleen Ferrier Awards, while Moses Boyd’s duo was named UK Jazz Act of the Year at the Jazz FM Awards.

Professor Anthony Bowne, Principal of Trinity Laban, commented: “I’m delighted that HEFCE’s review has confirmed what I already know well, which is that we are a world leader in performing arts education. Following on from our recent successes in the Research Excellence Framework and in gaining Taught Degree Awarding Powers, this further verifies how well we are performing as an institution. In particular, this a great tribute to our magnificent staff, and also to our incredible students and alumni. As always, I’m proud to be a part of this great community of talented and generous creative artists. I look forward to working with HEFCE on our continuing endeavours to offer a world-leading training to future generations of students from the widest variety of backgrounds.”

Trinity Laban alumnus Giulio Potenza has won second prize in the Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition 2016.

Giulio, who studied at Trinity Laban with Gabriele Baldocci from 2012-2015, has performed at countless prestigious venues and events across Europe. He was winner of Trinity Laban’s Hannah Brooke Prize for Piano, and has previously been Highly Commended for the Jaques Samuel Pianos Intercollegiate Piano Competition.

The Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition, based in New York, calls for entries the world over in five experience categories.

Giulio commented: ‘Knowing how many people from all over the world apply for this competition, I had little expectation. To learn I had won second prize was amazing!’

London audiences can hear Giulio perform in the Trinity Laban Piano Showcase at St John’s Smith Square on 21 June.

The baritone singer and fourth-year BMus student James Newby has claimed first prize in this year’s enormously prestigious Kathleen Ferrier Awards, which were established in 1956. James shared first prize with tenor Alessandro Fisher at the end of a thrilling final.

The competition final took place on 29 April at the Wigmore Hall in London. Six singers competed for three awards, which consist of cash prizes to go towards tuition fees and general support. The Kathleen Ferrier Awards aim to help exceptionally gifted singers take their skills to the highest level. The night’s other winning singer was Bianca Andrew, who won the Song Prize sponsored by Mark and Liza Loveday.

James was one of three Trinity Laban musicians appearing in the final. He was accompanied by Junior Fellow Panaretos Kyriatzidis, and was competing against outstanding soprano and Trinity Laban alumnus Nardus Williams.

The final received a 5-star review from Michael Church in the Independent, who said the standards were ‘stratospherically high’ and that the performers are ‘singers to watch out for’.

James Newby’s latest success closely follows the news that he will be performing at the Last Night of the BBC Proms this year. He will share the stage with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall in South Kensington, London, on 10 September.

To read Michael Church’s review of The Ferrier Awards in the Independent please visit the Independent website.

To find out more about the Kathleen Ferrier, please visit the Ferrier Awards website.

To find out more about James Newby’s experiences please visit the Trinity Laban website.

Trinity Laban’s acclaimed jazz department is proud to count two 2016 Jazz FM Award winners and seven 2016 Parliamentary Jazz Award nominees among its staff, current students and alumni. 

The third annual Jazz FM Awards took place at the Bloomsbury Ballroom on Tuesday 26 April, and was produced by Serious. Saxophonist and professorial staff member Mark Lockheart won the Instrumentalist of the Year category, while drummer Moses Boyd of duo Binker & Moses won UK Jazz Act of the Year as well as Breakthrough Act of the Year categories. Other winners include iconic jazz innovator Quincy Jones, Kamasi Washington and Christian Scott.

The 2016 Parliamentary Jazz Award nominees have also been announced, with a strong showing for Trinity Laban staff, students and alumni, highlighting the breadth and depth of talent within Trinity Laban’s jazz department.

Pianist and professorial staff member Liam Noble has been nominated twice – in the Instrumentalist of the Year and Jazz Album of the Year categories, for his solo album A Room Somewhere. Mark Lockheart appears in the Jazz Ensemble of the Year category with his group Loose Tubes.

Empirical – featuring Trinity Laban alumni Lewis Wright and Shane Forbes – have also been nominated in the Jazz Ensemble category. There are two Trinity Laban appearances in the Newcomer of the Year award. Alumnus Corrie Dickpicks up a nomination, whilst current student Moses Boyd appears again with his duo Binker & Moses.

Lastly, alumnus Emilia Martensson has been nominated in the Vocalist of the Year category.

The Parliamentary Jazz Awards, organised by The All Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group (APPJAG), will take place at the House Of Commons Terrace Pavilion on Tuesday 10th May.

To find out more about the Trinity Laban jazz department, please visit Trinity Laban website.

Photography credit: Tim Platt

On Thursday 21 April, Wayne McGregor – Professor of Choreography at Trinity Laban – addressed a large group of Trinity Laban students on the subject of his research-based artistic practice.

Music and dance students enjoyed an informative, wide-ranging and entertaining conversation with Trinity Laban Head of Research Jonathan Clark, in which Professor McGregor opened up on topics as diverse as what we can learn from fighter pilots, how future performances might be influenced by live biometric data, how we can collaborate effectively, what we learn when we (literally) see the world upside-down, how to “prime” audiences and performers, and how to cope with the fast-changing relationship between the arts, science and technology.

The only time he declined to answer a question was when he was asked what advice he would give to young creative artists. “The only advice I would offer is: don’t take advice from people like me! You have to find your own path.” 

In coming months there will be more opportunities for Trinity Laban students and audiences to engage with Wayne McGregor’s work. On 9 and 10 June, BA2 undergraduate dance students will present extracts from his 2010 work FAR as part of their Historical Project performance. Then in October, Company Wayne McGregor will be presenting the seminal 2008 piece Entity in the Laban Theatre. 

We are currently accepting applications for Trinity Laban’s masters programmes and research degree programme. For more information on Trinity Laban’s masters programmes visit the Trinity Laban website.

There have been a number of international visits made by Trinity Laban staff over the past month, reflecting Trinity Laban’s status as the first choice place of study for an ever-increasing number of talented students from across the globe.

Starting in Hong Kong, Trinity Laban Principal Professor Anthony Bowne hosted an alumni and special guests evening at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club. The evening celebrated the launch of Trinity Laban auditions in Hong Kong for the first time.

Professor Bowne hosted another alumni evening in Taiwan, as well as visiting Chinese Culture University, University of Taipei, National Taiwan University of Arts and Taipei National University of the Arts. He also took a tour of the new home of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan with alumnus Ching Chun Lee, who is Associate Artistic Director of the company.

At the same time, Assistant Director of Music Havilland Willshire visited China, giving piano masterclasses at South West Jiaotong University and Xihua University in Chengdu. He hosted a Q&A about studying music in the UK, and observed classes and performances across a number of schools and institutions.

In South Korea, Trinity Laban Head of Piano and Keyboard Instruments, Peter Tuite, visited prestigious institutions such as Seoul National University and also the Korean National University of the Arts (another Trinity Laban partner institution), where he gave a masterclass.

Moving on to Japan, Tuite held an alumni evening and also met with staff at the National Piano Teachers’ Association.

We will continue to expand our range of overseas audition locations in 2017. For more information, please contact l.matthews@trinitylaban.ac.uk

Image: Professor Anthony Bowne with President Lee and staff and students from the faculties of dance and music at the Chinese Culture University.