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Students smiling and laughing wearing graduation caps and gowns

Will-writing service for Trinity Laban Alumni

Trinity Laban’s Alumni Relations Team is pleased to be able to offer a free will-writing service to those who have previously studied with us, through Guardian Angel.

Having an up-to-date will is the only way to make sure that the people and causes you care about are looked after when you’re no longer here. We’ve partnered with expert will writers, Guardian Angel so you can write your will for free online, over the phone or in person.

You can make your will, free of charge, in two simple steps:

Step 1

Choose the solution for you: ·

  • Write your will online at gawill.uk/trinitylaban
    1. Easy step-by-step process
    2. Legal experts check over each will
    3. On-hand support
  • Book to write your will over the phone with a solicitor/will writer when you call 0800 773 4014 and quote Trinity Laban
  • Book a face-to-face meeting with a solicitor/will writer when you call 0800 773 4014 and quote Trinity Laban

N.B. You will be sharing your information with a third party (Guardian Angel) and not Trinity Laban.

Step 2

  • Download your free will, print it out and follow the instructions to make it legally binding.
  • Alternatively, Guardian Angel offer a print and postage service for a one-off fee of £9.99.

Please consider remembering Trinity Laban in your will

Once you’ve taken care of your loved ones, please consider including a gift to your alma mater, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance (Registered Charity No. 309998). There is absolutely no obligation to do so, but anything you choose to leave us will help us in our mission to support future generations of performing artists. Thank you so much in advance for your kind consideration.

One of our alumni told us:

“I have many happy memories of my time at Trinity Laban and have enjoyed continuing my connection with teachers and students alike over the years since I left. As such, I am happy to make my intentions known, and leave support in the direction of Trinity Laban.”

The Sir Charles Mackerras Circle

Named in honour of our former President, Sir Charles Mackerras, if you do decide to leave a gift to Trinity Laban in your will, and you let us know, you will be added as a member of the Circle and invited to an exclusive annual event. Our next Sir Charles Mackerras Circle reception is taking place on the 18 May 2023, at King Charles Court, and we would love to see you there.

Contact the Trinity Laban Development Team

If you have any questions or would prefer to talk to someone at Trinity Laban directly about your intentions, we would be very happy to hear from you. Please email p.mallottides@trinitylaban.ac.uk.

Seated graduates in robes and mortar boards

Alumni Round Up January 2023

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) 30th 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 95th 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.

Seated graduates in robes and mortar boards

Alumni Round Up December 2022

A considerable number of alumni were involved in original and exhilarating performances last month, including the Fountains of Mojitos performance by Evi Demetriou in Athens, presented at the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation on 13 December. 

2CELLOS, Croatian duo Luka Šulić and Stjepan Hauser, performed their final live concert together at Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand. Additionally, Stjepan announces his first-ever solo worldwide tour for 2023 and discussed with Forbes the ‘Superpower’ that enables him to tap into his creativity.

Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty production at Sadler’s Wells Theatre received exceptional reviews for its fairytale twist of Aurora and vampires.

John Savournin directed the pantomime retelling of the classic Brothers Grimm fairytale, Rumpelstiltskin, at Charles Court Opera. An excellent script for both young and old.  

Duncan Ward conducted the prestigious Metropolitan Opera on 16 December for the opening performance of Magic Flute. 

 

TL alumni released new and authentic music last month. Génia Chudinovich released her new single Evocations, with the album being accompanied by a series of breathing techniques and yoga postures to support Génia’s work of Piano-Yoga. In a completely different genre, Animai released a new electronica single, No Enemy.

Onto some brilliant London jazz news, Cherise Adams-Burnett, Reuben James, and Daniel Casimir perform imaginatively reworked tunes in Blue Notes: Re-imagined II. 

Heloise Werner, who was featured in The Times’ 10 best classical records of 2022, also released her Sable and Snow suite, premiered on Radio France on 9 December. 

Speaking of phenomenal albums, Ezra Collective’s (Joseph-Armon Jones, Dylan Jones, and Femi Koleoso) Where I’m Meant To Be made the magnificent Bandcamp’s Best Albums of 2022. Their first single, Victory Dance, is a song that gets mentioned in The story of jazz in 2022: A year end listening party. 

  

Having achieved exceptional accomplishments in December 2022, our alumni have been featured in some brilliant articles, including Harriet Stubbs in Musical America’s Professionals of the Year list. 

News flash: the brilliant Cassie Kinoshi received a grant of £15,000 from the PRS Foundation Composer’s Fund to create her new work in celebration of Caribbean and West African culture. Congratulations Cassie!

Standout nomination went to Protein Dance (director, Luca Silvestrini), who featured in The Stage Awards 2023 following being shortlisted for Community Project of the Year. 

John Sturt has receieved an impressive commission by Choir and Organ magazine as one of the six New Music composers to write for choir or solo organ in 2023.  

After nearly 50 years of committed and devoted teaching, Christine Croshaw retires from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.  

We sadly learned that record producer, arranger, conductor and jazz pianist Kenny Clayton passed away. You can read about his extraordinary contributions to the music world here. 

 

In other news. . .  

Rachel Lancaster, the artistic director of Cirque du Soleil, shares her experience of working with the team for their production of KURIOUS. 

Punchdrunk Enrichment has produced a theatrical pop-up project, The Lost Lending Library 

Milana Zaric and her husband, Richard Barrett, will present new works at the North Wales music festival 

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

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.  

Catch the Hermes Collective (Héloïse Werner with Shiva Feshareki) performing at the Barbican on 26 January 2023.  

Ballet Lorent’s (Liv Lorent) 30th anniversary season begins in January as they present a piece that explores how we use clothing to play with and explore identity in a performance of The Becoming 

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

Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet will be on tour in 2023. 

Seated graduates in robes and mortar boards

Alumni Round Up November 2022

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. 

Seated graduates in robes and mortar boards

Alumni Round Up October 2022

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

Premieres and Performances

October saw many exciting premieres and performances from our alumni. Oona Doherty’s Navy Blue premiered in the UK at Sadler’s Wells. The piece was reviewed in the Guardian, who also interviewed Oona in the lead up to the premiere.  

Sandeep Gurrapadi appeared in The Shoemaker with the Welsh National Opera. 

Adrien Mastrosimone’s show What Makes A Man returned to Vienna this month. 

Manu Delago appeared in concert with Anouska Shankar and the Britten Sinfonia. 

Nardus Williams featured as Contessa Almaviva in Glyndebourne’s The Marriage of Figaro, which ran at the venue this month, and will tour in November. Nardus is also highlighted in The Arts Desk’s review of Wigmore Hall’s recent Vaughan Williams anniversary concert. 

Ayanna Witter-Johnson has been on tour with Andrea Bocelli this month. 

Dance Umbrella’s digital festival featured Sarah Golding and Yukiko Masui’s SAY: AF (And Friends), as well as two film pieces from Oona Doherty. 

Dai Fujikura’s Glorious Clouds received its UK premiere at the BBCSO’s anniversary concert this month. 

Gothic Opera, created by Beatrice De Larragoti, Alice Usher, and Charlotte Osborn, ran a double bill of Louise Bertin’s Le Loup-garou and Pauline Viardot’s Le dernier sorcier at The Round Chapel in Hackney from 27 October to 1 November, with fellow alumni Ashley Mercer, Anna McLachlan, Lars Fischer, and Ellie Kemp in the cast. 

Corrie Dick released her new album Sun Swells this month. Fellow alumni Laura Jurd and Dave Malkin also feature on the album. 

Jessica Walker’s Scene/Unseen, an autobiographical cabaret performance, received this review from West End Best Friend. Scene/Unseen is available on English Touring Opera’s website until December. 

 

Interviews and Features

Several alumni were interviewed and appeared in some great features this month. Matthew Bourne was interviewed in the Guardian, discussing storytelling in dance. 

Valentina Ciardelli and Anna Astesano featured in the Strad, ahead of the UK premiere of their harp and double bass duo work Ruutsu this month. 

Moses Boyd featured in a video interview for British audio brand Bowers and Wilkin. 

Reader’s Digest’s recent article on the UK jazz scene draws attention to Ezra Collective, Moses Boyd, Nubya Garcia, and Tomorrow’s Warriors. Several more alumni feature on their list of 50 Inspirational young UK jazz artists and composers to listen to, including:

  • Moses Boyd 
  • Cherise Adams-Burnett 
  • Xhosa Cole 
  • Elliot Galvin 
  • Nubya Garcia 
  • Deschanel Gordon 
  • Laura Jurd 
  • Cassie Kinoshi 
  • Mark Kavuma 
  • Sheila Maurice-Grey 

 

Announcements and Awards

Announcements and awards also saw many alumni in the news this month. 

The shortlists for the 2022 International Opera Awards, which will be held in November, have been announced. Nardus Williams and John Savournin both appear in the Rising Talent category. 

The 2022 Jazz FM Awards were held this month. Emma-Jane Thackeray won Album of the Year for Yellow, and Chelsea Carmichael won Breakthrough Act of the Year. Mark Kavuma was shortlisted for Instrumentalist of the Year, and Kokoroko was shortlisted for UK Jazz Act of the Year. 

Cecilia McDowall has been nominated for a 2022 Ivors Academy Composition Award for her piece There is no rose.  

 

Coming Up

Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker! will be screened in cinemas in November.  

Bethany Horak-Hallet is one of the soloists for Really Big Chorus’ Messiah from Scratch at the Royal Albert Hall in November. 

EFG London Jazz Festival returns in November, with many jazz alumni lined up to perform. 

Sheila Maurice-Grey and Chelsea Carmichael will be performing at Jazzfest Berlin in November. 

James Darch has been cast as Gino Bartali in Glory Ride at The Other Palace, running 14 to 16 November. 

 

Seated graduates in robes and mortar boards

Alumni Round Up September 2022

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

Music

TL alumni have released lots of new music this September.

Camilla George released her new album Ibio-Ibio on September 30. The album also features alumni Rosie Turton, Daniel Casimir and Sheila Maurice-Grey.  Camilla and Daniel also feature on Jazz re:freshed’s live EP Outernational Live from Studio Two Abbey Road, which was released this month. 

Stelios Kyriakdis released his new album, Agalia, in September. 

New Woods Collective, a trio made up of alumni Hannah Shilvock, Christina Alishaw, and current PHD student Maya-Leigh Rosenwasser released their debut album Branches. The album features music by TL composition alumni Michael Clulow and James Hurst and is mixed and mastered by Ben Leigh-Grossart. 

Oscar Jerome released his second album, The Spoon, this month. 

Olie Brice released his new album Fire Hills this month. 

Laura Jurd has released her new album, The Big Friendly Album. 

Ezra Collective (the jazz-grime group featuring Femi Koleoso and Joe Armon-Jones) have released a new single from their upcoming album Where I’m Meant To Be, Ego Killah. 

Stjepan Hauser released his solo album The Player this month.  

 

Performance

Alumni were also involved in exciting performances and premieres this month. The Time Traveller’s Wife musical premiered in September, with choreography by Shelley Maxwell. 

En Route to Common Ground, an outdoor, moving dance project created by Luca Silvestrini’s Protein Dance Company, took place in Woolwich at the beginning of September. 

(Ġagħel) Gaghel Dingli performed an on-the-street dance piece this month, protesting against the commercial takeover of public spaces. 

Ieva Dubova performed the UK live premiere of her Preludes at the start of September. 

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

Pianist GeNIA performed as part of a fundraising concert for the children of Kharkiv on September 30, along with Bill Nighy and Chiwetel Ejiofor, and other British and Ukrainian musicians. The total amount raised was £7,000. 

Alexandrina Hemsley’s dance company Yewande 103’s film dance piece Fountain began a tour of Picturehouse cinemas around the UK in September, which will continue into October. 

Femi Koleoso has continued to tour with Gorillaz.  

Georgi Mottram hosted the Pride of Jersey award ceremony. 

 

Announcements

Alumni were also in the news with big announcements in September. Malik Nashad Sharpe is named on Forbes’ 30 under 30 list for Arts and Culture in Europe. 

Peter Fenech has joined Southbank Sinfonia. 

Several alumni have been nominated for an award at the Jazz FM Awards 2022, including the band Kokoroko, Emma-Jean Thackray, Mark Kavuma and Chelsea Carmichael. 

John Savournin’s production of Patience with Charles Court Opera has been nominated for two Offies. 

 

Coming Up

Candoco Dance Company returns to Trinity Laban with a double bill from two boundary-breaking New York based choreographers: Trisha Brown and Jeanine Durning. These performances will also be the last for two of our alumni, Megan Armishaw and Olivia Edginton, who completed their undergraduate degrees at TL and the MA in Dance Performance with Transitions Dance Company. Since graduating, they have been core members of Candoco for seven and six years respectively. 

Sarah Golding and Yukiko Masui’s new production the album is on tour in October. 

Oona Doherty’s piece Navy Blue premieres in the UK at Sadler’s Wells in October. 

 

Seated graduates in robes and mortar boards

Alumni Round Up August 2022

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. 

Seated graduates in robes and mortar boards

Alumni Roundup July 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. 

The Trinity Laban Innovation Awards 2022 Winners all sitting together on a grassy bank. They are 12 females in total, all looking ahead and smiling.

Announcing our TL Innovation Award Winners 2022

The award provides final-year students with a platform to grow as creators, offering significant support in the form of professional development and seed funding so awardees can realise their artistic and business ideas.

Now in its fourth year, the Trinity Laban Innovation Award forms part of the conservatoire’s strategy to help emerging artists develop their voice and innovate in the cultural industries.

We’re pleased to announce that the 2022 winners are:

  • Phoebe Noble, Natasha Spencer Levy, Ellie Drayton and Holly McConville (Musical Theatre) for 13 Months Theatre
  • Shaye Poulton Richards (Music) for Upon A Mother’s Death
  • Iolla Grace (Music) for InsideSound
  • The Grounding Project: Ruby De Ville Morel, Mila Fernandez and Melissa Heywood (Dance) for The Water Series
  • Ashley Lim and Isabelle Long (Dance) for Transcendance
  • Ebony Robinson (Dance) for Diversity in space and styles

The awardees impressed expert panellists Chief Executive of Black Lives in Music Charisse Beaumont, Creative Dance Consultant Theresa Beattie OBE, and Trinity Laban Principal Anthony Bowne with diverse and innovative proposals that span cultural history, boundary-pushing genre development, and the power of the arts for positive change in the community.

Anthony Bowne comments –

“The panel and I were incredibly impressed by the creativity, ambition and scope shown by applicants across dance, music and musical theatre. The Trinity Laban Innovation Award is one of the many ways in which Trinity Laban is nurturing entrepreneurial and project management skills in early career artists and strengthening our connections with the wider industry.”

Charisse Beaumont comments –

“I was impressed by the calibre of the applicants this year. Each demonstrated not just creativity and innovation but the willingness to use their project to impact society. I am deeply inspired and encouraged by the fact that this is just the beginning of their career as future leaders.”

Theresa Beattie comments –

“I was impressed by the entrepreneurial ideas of the students and how each finalist made the case through their presentation as to how they could make a positive civic impact with Innovation Award investment.”

Funded by our Higher Education Innovation Fund allocation, each winning project receives an award of £3,000 to use on development. They will also benefit from a specially tailored 10-month mentorship programme delivered by acclaimed Trinity Laban alumni, who will share their expertise, including:

  • Flautist and music educator Nicola Tagoe 
  • Artistic Director of Studio Will Dutta and Co-Head of Artist Development at Sound and Music Will Dutta (BMus Piano 2008) 
  • Presenter, workshop leader and narrator Lucy Drever, who is Associate Artist with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Head of Musicianship at the Benedetti Foundation, and an Ambassador for the Britten Pears Arts Community team. (BMus Voice (mezzo soprano) 2013) 
  • Dance and movements specialist Yukiko Masui who has worked with international contemporary dance companies such as Art of Spectra, Cathy Waller Company, Christopher Marney and Vuyani Dance Theatre. (DDS 2009; MA Dance Performance 2011) 
  • Matthew Harding, artistic director for Urban Interface Dance UK and the founder and director for Wolfpack Dance Collective UK. (MFA Choreography 2019) 

Since its inception in 2019, the Trinity Laban Innovation Award has already supported 18 forward-thinking and socially engaged projects conceived by winners who have achieved remarkable things, contributing to the UK’s rich cultural landscape. These include:

  • Composer, musician and artist James Layton who founded Into the Ocean, a London-based recording and concert series showcasing experimental new music including an album of works for solo viola in collaboration with Stephen Upshaw.
  • Multicultural all-female dance collective Mass Hysteria who has created work for Tate Modern, The Place’s Resolution Festival 2020 and V&A’s Friday Late series.
  • Producing Artistic Director Hayley Huggett, who set up Tilley Peacock Productions, creating shows and workshops for children with Special Educational Needs and Disability.

Trinity Laban Innovation Award Co-founder, Joe Townsend comments –

“Now is the time for finding fresh ways of working together. In these uncertain times, the arts are more important than ever. Fuelled by energy and imagination, combined with Trinity Laban’s excellent creative approach to training, we are proud to support these fabulous artists as they launch their careers in music, dance and musical theatre. There are more collective projects than in previous years, which is a testament to our belief in collaborative working.”

The award gives graduates more than just money to realise a project, the mentoring is a two-way learning relationship that provides a safe space for mentors and graduates to bring ideas into action and to help shape the bigger picture of music and dance.

Dance artists Emma Greene and Sunniva Moen Rorvik used their 2021 award to support their project exploring experiences of dance of the African Diaspora in the London Borough of Lewisham. They comment –

“The Trinity Laban Innovation Award gave us the opportunity to make important connections within the local community. The support from our mentor, really helped us to take on this new challenge with confidence and we are forever grateful for the opportunities that we have had since receiving the award.”

To find out more, visit our Innovation Award webpage.

If you’re interested in studying at Trinity Laban visit our study pages.

Image credit: Juno Snowdon

Seated graduates in robes and mortar boards

Alumni Roundup June 2022

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.

 

Seated graduates in robes and mortar boards

Alumni Roundup May 22

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.