World-renowned cellist Raphael Wallfisch has joined the conservatoire’s dynamic strings department to teach on the prestigious Artist Diploma Programme and provide chamber music coaching across the Faculty of Music.  

Trinity Laban’s String Department comprises leading professionals and acclaimed artists from a wide variety of backgrounds. The latest addition to the talented teaching team is Raphael Wallfisch, one of the most celebrated cellists performing on the international stage.  

Having honed his craft studying with distinguished tutors including Russian cellist Gregor Piatigorsky, Wallfisch has played with many of the great orchestras worldwide and at major festivals such as the BBC Proms, Edinburgh and Aldeburgh.  

Wallfisch has an extensive discography, having recorded nearly every major cello work, and has worked with leading British composers including Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and John Tavener. He also has a long-standing and distinguished duo with pianist John York and tours with his very successful piano trio, Trio Shaham Erez Wallfisch. 

With a passion for teaching, London-born Wallfisch is also in demand globally as a respected educator. He has taught at Zürich Hochschule der Kunst in Switzerland and is currently a professor at Royal College of Music.

In his new role as International Chair of Cello and Chamber Music at Trinity Laban, Wallfisch will deliver one-to-one teaching on the conservatoire’s selective Artist Diploma programme from September 2023, and lead masterclasses and chamber music coaching starting later this year. 

On joining Trinity Laban, Wallfisch comments –  

“I am delighted and greatly looking forward to becoming International Chair of Cello and Chamber Music at Trinity Laban. It is an honour to be involved with gifted musicians from all over the world at such a high level.” 

Trinity Laban’s Director of Music, Havilland Willshire, comments –  

“We are delighted to welcome the celebrated cellist Raphael Wallfisch to Trinity Laban’s vibrant strings department as International Chair of Violoncello and Chamber Music. Raphael is recognised the world over as a successful soloist and chamber musician and we are thrilled that our students will have the opportunity to work with him regularly. We hope that Raphael will enjoy the Trinity Laban environment immensely.” 

Nic Pendlebury, Head of Strings at Trinity Laban, comments –  

“Chamber music is a core focus of string training at Trinity Laban, and it’s important for us to work with musicians and educators who are active in the profession, which is why it is so brilliant to welcome Raphael Wallfisch to our talented roster. The appointment expands our world-class teaching and enables us to continue to support our students to develop an enquiring musical mind and the technical security necessary to flourish as an artist in the 21st century.” 

In addition to sharing his expertise with students, Wallfisch will act as a global Ambassador for Trinity Laban, representing the conservatoire abroad as he continues his illustrious and wide-ranging performance career. 

Find out more about studying at Trinity Laban.

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Image: Raphael Wallfisch (credit: Bill Knight)

Choreographer and researcher Irene Fiordilino explores mapping as an approach to practice and performance 

Irene Fiordilino is a choreographer and researcher at Trinity Laban, where she is completing her PhD in Creative Practice.  

Her research is situated between choreography and architecture, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary outputs (installations, films, staged pieces) and their implications in the field of phenomenological aesthetics. 

Irene’s article ‘Mapping: An original method of practice and research’ has recently been published in Drawing: Research, Theory, Practice: a peer-reviewed journal that facilitates international debates on all forms of drawing practice and theory. 

Irene describes mapping as “a particular instance of drawing employed to portray the movement of bodies in space within the specific context of my choreographic practice and performance-oriented projects”. 

Using her recent choreographic work Invisible Cities as a case study, Irene’s paper demonstrates mapping’s potential applications within a creative process. 

Invisible Cities premiered at the Laban Theatre in July 2021, was performed at the Bath Fringe Festival 2022, and will be touring nationally in July 2022 thanks to the support of the Arts Council through the National Lottery Project Grant.  

Alongside her studies, Irene is Director of the emergent Scirocco Dance Theatre Company, and works as a guest lecturer, speaker and teacher internationally. In July she will be presenting at the NOFOD Conference in Copenhagen and at the Performative & Experiential Translation: Meaning-Making through Language, Art, and Media conference at King’s College London.  

World-leading research is at the core of Trinity Laban’s mission and informs our teaching activity. 

Find out more about research at Trinity Laban.  

Student ensemble the Metastos Trio win second prize

With its origins dating back to 1961, the CAVATINA Intercollegiate Chamber Music Competition has long celebrated the finest talent from the UK’s leading conservatoires.

For 2022, eight ensembles performed Beethoven’s Piano Trio in D Op. 70 No. 1 ‘Ghost’.

Representing Trinity Laban on the Wigmore Hall stage were Greta Papa (violin), Miguel Villeda Ceron (cello) and Christos Fountos (piano). The trio are supported in the studies by scholarships from Trinity College London (TCL).

The ensemble impressed adjudicator Roger Wright CBE to claim second prize.

The competition was broadcast live 11 May 2022, and the video is available on demand for 30 days. Voting is now open for the audience prize.

Find out more about chamber music at Trinity Laban.

Nic Pendlebury expands electric viola repertoire with release of Multiple

Internationally acclaimed violist and founder of the Smith Quartet, Nic Pendlebury, has been at the forefront of the contemporary music scene for over thirty years and leads one of the most vibrant string departments in Europe.

His latest venture, Multiple, is an unchartered and exciting project showcasing the solo electric viola.

“This album is unique in terms of genre and sound world – I don’t believe anything like it has been heard before.”

Featuring a wide range of works from an ambitious transcription of Thomas Tallis’ 40-part choral epic Spem in Alium to a specially commissioned piece by Trinity Laban alum and former staff member John Ashton Thomas, the recordings demonstrate the instrument’s versatility and performance qualities.

Nic explains –

“The electric viola has tremendous scope for timbral exploration, particularly when combined with sonic manipulation, and is an instrument that has exciting and wide-ranging compositional possibilities.”

The album also includes Pendlebury’s arrangement of Electric Counterpoint by composition legend Steve Reich, which received a standing ovation from Reich himself following an exclusive performance in October 2019.

Steve Reich’s Electric Counterpoint / Head of Strings Nic Pendlebury – Bing video

Commenting on Nic’s fresh take, Reich said –

“The idea that Electric Counterpoint would be bowed had never occurred to me. I want to thank Nic for a beautiful surprise. I was moved to tears.”

The album will be released on the Orchid Classics label 20 May 2022, and is available to pre-order now.

Find more about the Trinity Laban Strings Department at our Strings Open Day (7 July 2022).

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Image credit: Molly Ann Pendlebury