Our alumni have been involved in some fascinating performances across faculty including Ben Ramsden, award winning composer, who performed his newly launched electronic classical album in Peckham, featuring a string quartet.

Leeds kickstarted Year Of Culture 2023 on 7 January with a spectacular opening ceremony. Three of our recent 2022 graduates Akari Takahashi, Ben Yorke-Griffiths and Piera Gentile were among the 100 dancers performing.

Ezra Collective (Joseph Armon-Jones, Dylan Jones, Femi Koleoso) were the house band for Jonathan Ross’s New Year Comedy Special on ITV. On top of that, the band has released their first new music of the year, a reimagining of the classic Fela Kuti song, ‘Lady’.

Ballet Lorent’s (Liv Lorent) 30^th anniversary season began this month as they presented a piece that explored how we use clothing to play with identity in The Becoming.

Lucy Clark performed an original dance piece, What If? at the Pegasus Theatre as part of Moving With The Times Festival 2023 on 20 January. Catch Lucy alongside three other dancers performing the final versions of their work on 3 and 4 March.

Maria Marchant performed Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and I got rhythm variations with the brilliant Worthing Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Gibbons on 27 January.

 

Moving on to new music releases, Amir Tafreshipour (composer) has released a new opera, The Doll behind the Curtain – A Chamber Opera in January 2023 under BIS records. Per Bach Nissen, one of the performers, is another alum involved in this production.

Nubya Garcia, Shabaka Hutchings, Tom Skinner and others have announced their Miles Davis Tribute Album London Brew.

Looking for a podcast to listen to? ResDance, a podcast dedicated to research methodologies and methods in dance practice by Dr. Gemma Harman, released Season 3 in December. You can listen to the episodes on Anchor, Spotify, Apple, Radio Public and Google Podcast.

Liza Bec’s Roborecorder in the Museum of Science and Industry exhibit Turn It Up: The Power of Music, will be displayed until 21 May 2023. Liza has also been featured in the New Scientist and released a new single in January.

 

In other news, Kokoroko (Cassie Kinoshi, Oscar Laurence, Mutale Chashi, Sheila Maurice-Grey) were listed among the 10 Best Jazz Albums of 2022.

Read about Stjepan Hauser’s new single, why he started the Hauser Music Foundation, his new line of luxury wine (Hauser Wine) and more at Interview with HAUSER: The Croatian rebel with a cello.

Cherise Adams-Burnett features in the song ‘The Dream Keeper’ with SEED Ensemble. Listen here on Spotify.

See what PBS NewsHour has to say about 2Cellos and how they use their unconventional instruments to play contemporary rock music (Stjepan Hauser and Luka Sulic).

Radhika Apte is one of the actors profiled in a RVCJ Media article about how much actors earn for internet streaming services.

Génia posts an update on the work of Support Kharkiv Foundation here.

Camilla George opens up about the harsh realities of touring today and the dark histories behind her joyous-sounding new album.

 

We love to celebrate our alumni achievements and would like to acknowledge that Protein Dance (director, Luca Silvestrini) has been selected as one of the recipients of the Voluntary and Community Sector grants for years 2023-2027.

In December, John Powell’s score from the Warner Bros. Movie Don’t Worry Darling was one of the 15 shortlisted for the 95^th Oscars.

 

Coming up:

We have some interesting performances, talks and workshops over the next two months.

Mandy Tan and Malachi Briant will be performing at the Elephantology Festival, Blue Elephant Theatre’s Festival for recent graduates and those who are just entering the performing arts industry. They will be sharing their work-in-progress, While Remembering, at the Solo Performance Showcase on 22 February at 19:30. Book your tickets here.

Luca Silvestrini’s Protein Dance are touring with The Little Prince to rural community spaces as well as arts venues, starting in February.

Milana Zaric and her husband, Richard Barrett, will present new works at the North Wales Music Festival in February.

Celebrating 10 years since its premier at Sadlers Wells, Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty shows at the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford between 21 February and 25 February.

Jean-Baptiste Baele is one of the artists who will be performing and presenting his work at Aerowaves’s Spring Forward event in Dublin. Catch a glimpse of his choreography, Nabinam, an auto-biographical solo piece in which the protagonist gets up-close and personal to the audience to recount his adoption story.

Emily Jenkins, founder of Move Dance Feel – a company offering dance to women affected by cancer – was awarded the Winston Churchill Fellowship in 2020. As part of that, she will be taking her research to the US in March to catalyse an International Dance in Cancer Care network as well as to connect with some high-profile organisations.

Interested to know more about Emily’s work with Move Dance Feel? Move Dance Feel is offering Dance in Cancer Care: Introductory Training, which enables people working across the dance and health sectors to collaborate and gain insights into how dance can innovate cancer care services. This will be happening from 3-5 March 2023.

Ezra Collective (Joseph-Armon Jones, Dylan Jones, and Femi Koleoso) will be performing in the Hong Kong’s Clockenflap Festival 2023, in a line-up led by Arctic Monkeys and Phoenix.

The BA3 Contemporary Dance students have been rehearsing and developing works through creative exploration with professional choreographers. They will be performing their BA3 Commissioned Works on 9 February at 15:30 and 19:30, Laban Theatre.

Join the Old Royal Naval College Chapel Choir for their Special Evensong performance on 25 February, 16:00, at the Old Royal Naval College Chapel, to commemorate Christopher Wren, one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history. Entry is free.

On 19 February, BBC Radio 3’s Drama On 3 production of The Seagull will be broadcast. The classic stage play’s music is composed by alum John Chambers.

Winner of the 2018 BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year, Xhosa Cole and his new Xhosa Cole Quartet presents Rhythm-A-Ting in March. Book tickets here.

Ayanna Witter-Johnson will be performing at Attenborough Arts Centre, celebrating her Jamaican heritage through a unique fusion of classical music, reggae and R&B on 2 March.

Alumni released exceptional new music this month. Ezra Collective’s new album Where I’m Meant To Be released on November 4 to great reviews in the Guardian and Gigwise. Their single No Confusion, featuring Kojey Radical, also released this month. 

Tomorrow’s Warriors’ new album I AM WARRIOR released this month. Many alumni have been involved in writing and performing it, including Sheila Maurice-Grey, Camilla George, Rosie Turton, Mark Crown, Cherise Adams-Burnett, Mark Kavuma, Cassie Kinoshi, Femi Koleoso, and Benjamin Burrell. 

Xhosa Cole’s new album Ibeji was reviewed in The Arts Desk. 

Ben Ramsden released to care, his debut album, this month – expanded from his TL showcase piece, the album was commissioned by KORDA after the Gold Medal award in 2019. The album also features fellow alumni Irene Katsenelson and Cristina Cooper. 

Laura Jurd’s Ornette Variations, recorded with London Sinfonietta last year and also featuring Cassie Kinoshi, is now available on YouTube. 

 

Alumni have starred in spectacular performances throughout November. The EFG London Jazz Festival ran this month. Alumni featured prominently – Xhosa Cole, Sam Jewison, Cassie Kinoshi, Emma-Jean Thackeray, Rosie Turton, Conor Chaplin, Nikki Iles, Elliot Galvin, and Mark Lockheart all performed. Trinity Laban students also took to the stage at The Vortex. 

Ezra Collective performed an NPR Tiny Desk Concert. 

Cassie Kinoshi’s new composition grey cloud premiered at Nouveaux Horizons festival. 

Lea Anderson directed Shuffle this month, a dance trio performance at Arnolfini, Bristol. 

Prologue Opera’s Becoming Carmen impressed at The Stables Theatre in Hastings, with Eleanor Strutt as Associate Director. 

 

Alumni shone in interviews and features in the media this month. Femi Koleoso gave this interview for Hypebeast on playing in Ezra Collective and Gorillaz, and featured in The Evening Standard. 

Ayanna Witter-Johnson features in a new ‘Residency’ series for Scala Radio. Ayanna also featured in this interview for I Care If You Listen. 

Camilla George featured in an On Rotation article from Jazz Revelations, with Kokoroko’s Something’s Going On featuring in her list.  

BBC Sport interviewed Shortbread, a prospect for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the sport of breaking. 

Corrie Dick gave this interview in The Scotsman on “outsider jazz”. 

Luca Silvestrini wrote this piece for Metro on immigration to the UK. 

Xhosa Cole and Camilla George feature in this Guardian article on the UK jazz scene. 

Oscar Jerome was interviewed in the Evening Standard. 

Laura Jurd’s recent release The Big Friendly Album features on Jazzwise’s list of the best albums for December and January, which was published this month. 

 

Competitions and awards successfully featured several alumni. Nardus Willams won the Rising Star award at the International Opera Awards. 

Ezra Collective won Best Jazz Act at the 2022 MOBO Awards. 

The BBC Young Jazz Musician competition final took place on Sunday 20 November. The panel featured Camilla George, Emma-Jean Thackeray, and Ayanna Witter-Johnson, and current student Luke Bacchus was one of the finalists. 

 

Coming Up: 

Levedy Ensemble, winners of the 2020 Carne Competition, are giving two Christmas concerts this season, in Kennington and Orpington. 

Check out Trinity Laban’s exciting Christmas season. 

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

Alumni have been the subjects of exciting announcements this month.  Sarah Golding and Yukiko Masui are part of the new cohort of DanceEast Associate Artists, and will be working closely with the organisation until April 2025. 

Edwin Pitt Mansfield has been elected Chair of the Association of Teachers of Singing, the leading representative body for singing teachers in the UK, for 2022-2024.  

Nikki Iles has been announced as composer-in-residence for 2023 with NDR Bigband. 

Ezra Collective (the jazz-grime group featuring Femi Koleoso and Joe Armon-Jones) has announced their new album Where I’m Meant To Be, which will be released in November. They have also released a single this month, Life Goes On, a musical collaboration with rapper Sampa the Great. 

Ayanna Witter Johnson has been nominated for Best Live Performer at the 2022 Association of Independent Music Awards 2022.  Ayanna was also one of several alumni with notable features in August, appearing as one of Andi Oliver’s guests for the BBC Prom Cynthia Erivo: Legendary Voices at the Proms. 

Akram Khan featured on an episode of the BBC podcast This Cultural Life. 

Dance Magazine’s performance recommendations for August featured Oona Doherty’s Navy Blue, in Hamburg and touring Europe. Fellow alum Emily May’s review in Frieze calls the piece “a cathartic and cleansing outburst of dejection and anxiety”. Navy Blue is set to premiere in the UK in October. 

Many alumni have released new works this August. Oscar Jerome has released a new single, Berlin 1, and announced his second album, The Spoon, which will be released on 23 September. 

Kokoroko (the jazz band featuring alumni Sheila Maurice-Grey and Cassie Kinoshi) have released their debut album Could We Be More this month, which is already receiving great reviews from the likes of the Guardian and Gigwise. 

Partikel, the jazz trio featuring alum Duncan Eagles on saxophone, released their new album Anniversary Song this month, to very positive reviews. Duncan was also interviewed by London Jazz News on the release, and the band’s belated ten-year anniversary. 

Made Kuti has released a new single, No More Wars.  

Dai Fujikura has released a new album, Aquarius. 

Olie Brice was interviewed in London Jazz News, ahead of his album launch this September. 

Alumni also contributed to major stage successes this month. James Darch has starred in Identical at Nottingham Playhouse, a new musical based on The Parent Trap that has drawn positive reviews. 

The hit play Cruise returned to the West End this month ahead of a tour later this year. Sarah Golding’s movement direction is a highlight. 

Opera Holland Park’s HMS Pinafore took to the stage this month, with John Savournin as Captain Cocoran and directing. The production earned very positive reviews including Operawire and Britishtheatre.com 

John also directed a production of Iolanthe at the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival this month, and Charles Court Opera’s Patience at Wilton’s Music Hall throughout August. 

Nardus Williams sang solo soprano in Ethel Smyth’s Mass in D Major at the BBC Proms this month, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. The performance was well reviewed in the Guardian. 

Ashley Beauchamp was musical director for Janacek’s The Diary of One Who Disappeared at Waterperry Opera Festival in August. Trinity Laban students also featured in Johnathan Dove’s Figures in the Garden at the festival. 

Tali F. Bowers brought her one-woman show Monoslogue, a piece about the challenges of life with chronic pain, to the Edinburgh Fringe this month. 

Coming Up

Camilla George’s new album Ibio-Ibio, also featuring alumni Daniel Casimir and Sheila Maurice-Grey, will be released on 30 September. 

The upcoming musical The Time Traveller’s Wife will premiere in September, with choreography by Shelley Maxwell. 

The chamber opera The Red Room, with music by Amir Mahyar Tafreshipour, premieres in September as part of Tete a Tete Opera Festival 2022. 

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

Many alumni performed at the Edinburgh Jazz Festival this month. Laura Jurd featured several times, including with her fellow alumni Elliot Galvin, Corrie Dick, and Connor Chaplin as the band Dinosaur. Nubya Garcia also headlined, performing with Deschanel Gordon, Sam Jones, and Daniel Casimir.  

Love Supreme Jazz Festival also saw Nubya Garcia headline, and Ezra Collective and Emma-Jean Thackray also featured in the lineup.  

Femi Koleoso has been touring with Gorillaz this summer. The band’s European tour begins in August. 

Nardus Williams has featured as Contessa Almaviva in Le nozze de Figaro with Glyndebourne Opera.  

Elaine Mitchener featured in The Blue Woman, a new opera that was the centrepiece of The Royal Opera House’s Engender Festival this month. 

Heloise Werner featured in one of the Barbican Sessions this month, performing ‘Unspecified Intentions’ from her recent album Phrases. 

Heloise was also among the alumni with big news announced this month, as she has been commissioned by the CBSO as part of their Sounds New initiative.  

Jesse Kovarsky is the movement director for the new off-Broadway play On That Day in Amsterdam, which runs from July 23 to September 4. 

Cassie Kinoshi has composed the music for The Tempest at the Globe theatre, running from July 22 to October 22. 

Daniel Casimir won Jazz Album of the Year at the 2022 All Party Parliamentary Jazz Awards, for his album Boxed In. 

Stephen Upshaw will be joining the Trinity Laban strings faculty as a full-time member of the teaching staff. 

Alumni were also featured in many publications throughout July. Opera Holland Park’s production of HMS Pinafore, with alum John Savournin featuring in the role of Captain Corcoran and as director, appears in the Sunday Times Day Out list for summer 2022. John also appeared on In Tune this month, discussing his directing of Iolanthe at the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival. 

Kokoroko featured in Jazzwise this month, ahead of the release of their album Could We Be More in August. 

Ayanna Witter-Johnson was featured in The Strad this month, discussing how she explores her Jamaican heritage in her music. 

Joe Armon-Jones‘ collaboration EP with Mala, A Way Back, features on Bandcamp’s Best Electronic Music list for July. 

Laura Jurd features as a producer and Elliot Galvin features on keyboard on Mike Soper’s new album Undoing, which featured in London Jazz News this month with a highlight given to both alumni. 

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

Alumni took to the stage in many performances in June. The contemporary cello duo 2Cellos, of which alum Stjepan Hauser is one half, performed at Wembley Arena at the start of the month, as part of their farewell tour.

Eleanor Perry’s choreography was featured at the Royal Albert Hall’s Pride 2022 event.

Elaine Mitchener’s performance at the closing concert of the London Contemporary Music Festival 2022 was highlighted in London Jazz News’ review of the event.

Olivia Edgington, Ingvild Marstein Olsen, Natalie Sloth Richter, Johanna Merceron, and Vivian Triantafyllopolou took to the stage at Stamford Arts Centre in a double bill of their exciting new works, SMACK and Spektakel.

Hope 4 Justice, Trinity Laban’s call for action on the climate emergency, took place this month. Alum Sarah Golding was the choreographer for the project.

Bethany Horak-Hallet debuted at Garsington Opera this month, in the role of Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte.

Katarine Karneus’ performance as Kundry in Wagner’s Parsifal is highlighted in the Ikley Gazette’s review of the opera in Leeds Grand Theatre.

 

New works by alumni were released and premiered throughout June. Ayanna Witter-Johnson’s piece FAIYA! was premiered at the London Symphony Orchestra’s concert in Trafalgar Square on June 11. Ayanna also gave an interview in the Voice, discussing her music and its connection to Jamaican folk song.

Heloise Werner released her new album Phrases, with a launch concert in Wigmore Hall. The album was also featured as Europadisc’s album of the week, and in Gramophone and the Guardian.

Kokoroko, the jazz group led by Sheila Maurice-Grey and featuring Cassie Kinoshi, have released a new single Age of Ascent, ahead of the August release of their album Could We Be More. The single was reviewed in Clash magazine.

Ezra Collective, the jazz-grime fusion quartet featuring Femi Koleoso and Joe Armon-Jones, released their first music video this month, for their song Victory Dance. They have also signed to the record label Partisan.

Joe Armon-Jones released his new single Pray this month.

Nubya Garcia and Moses Boyd appear on the XATIVA single Fall Back To You, released this month.

James Layton’s opera saudade premiered in Ostrava, Czechia on June 28.

Hollie Harding’s piece What was scattered has been included on Composers’ Academy 4, recorded by Patrick Bailey and the Philharmonia Orchestra.

Manu Delago features on Anoushka Shankar’s upcoming live album Between Us.

Daniel Casimir features on Binker Golding’s new album, Dream Like a Doogwood Wild Boy.

Xhosa Cole appears on On Record, a “sonic love letter to Birmingham” that released this month.

Artie Zaitz and Mark Kavuma’s album Back to Back was featured in Jazz Journal.

 

Alumni were also given several reviews and features in June. Jochebel Ohene MacCarthy featured as Sarabi in The Lion King at Edinburgh Playhouse, which garnered this review.

Nikki Iles was featured in London Jazz News ahead of a concert with the RNCM Big Band.

Daniel Casimir was interviewed in Reverb magazine, on the making of his album Boxed In.

Laura Jurd was featured in Elbphilharmonie this month.

Matthew Bourne was interviewed by the Telegraph on his revival of The Car Man, a ballet based on Bizet’s Carmen. The ballet premiered this month to rave reviews, including in the Telegraph and the Independent.

 

Matthew Bourne was also one of many alumni given awards and feature in announcements this month, winning Best Modern Choreography for The Midnight Bell at the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards 2022.

Two alumni were recognised in the Queen’s birthday honours list. Rosemary Lee received an OBE for services to dance, and Harriet Stubbs was awarded a British Empire Medal for services for the community in West London during Covid-19, after the success of her online concert series.

The All Party Parliamentary Jazz Awards took place in early July. Alumni Xhosa Cole, Matt Ridley, Nikki Iles, Deschanel Gordon, and Chelsea Carmichael were nominated, and Daniel Casimir’s Boxed In won Best Album.

Wayne McGregor has been announced as National Youth Dance Company’s Guest Artistic Director for next year.

James Darch has been announced as part of the cast for the upcoming musical Identical, an on-stage rendition of The Parent Trap, which premieres at the Nottingham Playhouse in late July.

Jessie Jing has been awarded a BOH Cameronian Grant for New Productions, in order to develop her piece Nian Gao into a stage production.

Chiya Amos has been named Research Fellow in Sustainability Science at Hiroshima University, Conductor and Music Advisor of Hirodai Symphony Orchestra, and Representative for Music and Culture of the International Council of Environmental Law, being the first classical musician to gain this post.

 

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

The experimental quartet Bastard Assignments, made up of alumni Timothy Cape, Edward Henderson, Caitlyn Rowley, and Josh Spear appeared at the Sheffield Chamber Music Festival on May 19. 

Many dance alumni performed at Resolution Dance Festival, The Place’s celebration of new dance works and artists. These included Trinity Laban Innovation Award winners Laura Engholm (2020) and Tough Boys Dance Collective (2021). 

Two alumni performed at Prom Praise in the Royal Albert Hall with the All Souls orchestra; Michael Andrews conducted, and Maria Marchant performed excerpts from Rhapsody in Blue. 

The Rameau Project Orchestra, featuring Daisy Walford, Ben Vonburg-Clark, Hilary Cronin, and Emily Gray, performed the premiere of a reconstruction of Rameau’s Castor et Pollux at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford. 

Several jazz alumni took to the stage at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival this month. Nubya Garcia appeared alongside Joe Armon Jones, Daniel Casimir, and Sam Jones, Conor Chaplin’s appearance with Iain Bellamy was reviewed along with Moses Boyd’s concert, and Laura Jurd’s performance with Elliot Galvin, Conor Chaplin, Corrie Dick, and Martin Thompson also impressed.  

The Jazz at Morley College series, for which Mark Kavuma is artistic director, ran this month. Nicky Iles performed. 

Phillip Leslie appeared at the Perth Festival as one of the Cross Trust Artists of the Year. 

Femi Koleoso has been on tour with Gorillaz throughout May.  

Catherine Sleeman debuted at the Brighton Fringe with Unfold the Shutters, a hopeful response to the climate crisis created in collaboration with dancers including fellow alum Joeley Gibson. 

Iris Athanasiadi and Olivia Thynne have been performing in Our Labyrinth at the Tate Modern, a piece centered on the performers sweeping grains of rice into patterns. Choreographed by Lei Mingwei, it is inspired by the sweeping of temple paths in Myanmar. 

Several alumni performed at Manchester Jazz Festival towards the end of May, including Daniel Casimir, Xhosa Cole and his quartet, Ayanna Witter-Johnson, and Rebecca Nash. 

Ayanna Witter-Johnson headlined a performance at Wigmore Hall, with guest performers including Heloise Werner and Stephen Upshaw. 

Ayanna has also joined the board of trustees for Awards for Young Musicians, and has been named an ambassador and trustee of London Music Fund. 

Kokoroko played an Apple Music Home Session this month, covering William Onyeabor’s Body and Soul. 

Laura Jurd released her new single Little Opener this month. 

Reuben James’ new EP Tunnel Vision Mixtape was reviewed in London Jazz News. 

Oscar Jerome released his new single Sweet Isolation, which was covered in Clash magazine. 

Tomorrow’s New Quartet, with Deschanel Gordon on piano, released their new album All Together, Now! this month.  

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾, in which alum Tom Self features, earned a 4-star review from The Stage. 

Matthew Bourne was involved in the production of Sondheim’s Old Friends, a tribute performance to the late musical theatre legend which The Stage described as “a moving experience”. 

Cloudgate Dance Theatre’s performance of Send in a Cloud was reviewed in the Taipei Times. Artistic director Cheng Tsung-lung has been hailed as successfully living up to the legacy of the company’s founder. 

Dance scientist Dr Lucie Clements’ study was recently featured in the Guardian – revealing that arts workers are twice as likely to have depression than the general population. 

Heloise Werner was featured in Gramophone, ahead of the release of her first solo album. 

Harp alum Siobhan Swider was interviewed by Sussex Life, discussing her recent performances for animals and their owners. 

Seed Sessions, founded by Isie Potter, was covered by Musicians Union. 

Mike Dixon’s book Turn Around and Take a Bow, chronicling his life and career as a leading musical director, was published on June 28. https://www.trinitylaban.ac.uk/turn-around-and-take-a-bow/ 

Coming Up: 

CRUISE returns to the Apollo Theatre in August, with movement direction by Sarah Golding. 

John Savournin is directing a new production of Iolanthe for the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival.