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

Featuring Errollyn Wallen CBE, ‘Feeling Her Way’ has won the Golden Lion at the 59th International Art Exhibition

Sonia Boyce has made history as the first black artist to represent Britain at the Venice Art Biennale, the world’s longest-running and most high-profile international exhibition of contemporary art.

And now her multi-layered artwork for the British Pavilion has claimed the top prize at the 59th International Art Exhibition, making her the first British artist to win the award in almost 30 years.

Feeling Her Way combines video, collage, music and sculpture to focus on the vocal experimentation of five outstanding black female musicians as they embody feelings of power, freedom and vulnerability.

At the heart of the installation are filmed sessions recorded at London’s iconic Abbey Road studios.

Trinity Laban composition professor Errollyn Wallen CBE guides jazz singer Jacqui Dankworth, singer songwriters Poppy Ajudha and Tanita Tikaram, and experimental vocalist Sofia Jernberg through a series of exercises, inviting them to improvise and play with their voices in new ways.

Boyce wants to hear what happens when creative women are unconstrained by social expectations or market forces, by the demand that they behave themselves. So Wallen encourages the vocalists to use the voice as a vehicle of free expression, inviting them to make curious, disturbing, even ugly sounds: “You don’t have to make a nice sound”, she explains.

On being involved in the award-winning artwork, Wallen comments –

“I loved working with Sonia as I have long been an admirer of her work. Feeling Her Way captures the essence of being a musician and the devotion combined with attentive listening, which is central to this activity.”

Described by The Observer as a “renaissance woman of contemporary British music”, Wallen is central within Trinity Laban’s Composition department.

Leon Bosch and Chi-Chi Nwanoku feature in BBC Classical Music magazine’s list of the 10 best double bass players.

TL Professor Leon Bosch and Visiting Professor and Honorary Fellow Chi-Chi Nwanoku OBE, both feature in BBC Classical Music magazine’s list of the 10 best players who have helped to develop the role of the double bass as a solo and chamber instrument.

Throughout his diverse career as virtuoso player, conductor and broadcaster, Leon has been committed to rediscovering neglected music, as well as expanding and diversifying the double bass repertoire. He commissions chamber arrangements of well-known symphonic classics for his ensemble I Musicanti.

Chi-Chi is the Founder, Artistic and Executive Director of the Chineke! Foundation, which supports, inspires and encourages Black, Asian and ethnically diverse classical musicians working in the UK and Europe. Her range of musical interests have resulted in a broad career performing and recording in a diversity of styles from authentic baroque through to 21st century and new commissions.

The world-renowned performers are part of our exceptional roster of teaching staff inspiring students in our dynamic and innovative Strings Department.

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Image: Leon Bosch (credit Juno Snowdon)

Take Care by piano professor Douglas Finch celebrates the remarkable work of carers

Trinity Laban piano professor and curator of New Lights Festival Douglas Finch has penned a brand-new chamber opera with librettist Cindy Oswin.

Telling the story of carer Katie’s and her clients, Take Care is based on extensive research into the working lives of those who care for people with dementia and features a chorus of twelve carers from the local community in Nottingham.

The elegant and direct narrative is supported by a complex yet accessible and empathetic score by Finch that has stylistic references ranging from Vaudeville to Wagner.

It premieres at Lakeside Arts Centre in Nottingham 2 April 2022, under the baton of Trinity Laban’s Head of Orchestra Studies Jonathan Tilbrook.

Take Care is supported by Arts Council/National Lottery and the ESRC Impact Accelerator Fund.

TL vocal tutor Sarah Pring mentors would-be singers for new Sky Arts show

International mezzo soprano Sarah Pring has been a part of Trinity Laban’s vibrant vocal department for the last eight years, whilst carving out a flourishing performance career singing with companies such as Scottish Opera and English National Opera.

At Trinity Laban, she brings her knowledge of the profession, practical advice and holistic approach to nurture students and help them develop their individual talents and find their own artistic voice.

Now, she’s turned her expertise to six of the UK and Ireland’s “worst singers”.

Working alongside Nicky Spence and Michael Harper, the world-class vocal coach has spent three intensive months transforming the vocal-stylings of participants from screeching in the shower to performing like a pro in a bid to prove that Anyone Can Sing.

On being part of the series, Sarah comments –

“It has been incredibly rewarding to open up the classical music space and empower our participants to discover their voices. Accessibility in the arts is so important – creativity and expression are for everyone. In three months I’ve seen how life-changing this process has been in terms of improving confidence and positively impacting general wellbeing.”

Before Anyone Can Sing Sarah worked with BBC Comic Relief, training comedians to sing operatically.

Watch the process from Wednesday 30 March on Sky Arts.

At Trinity Laban, we support our students’ personal development as versatile and curious musicians. To find out more, visit our vocal pages.

Joe Townsend receives Educators’ Trust Award in Music Education

Trinity Laban’s Head of BA Music Performance and Industry and Head of CoLab, Joe Townsend, has been recognised by The Worshipful Company of Educators for his outstanding innovation and excellence in educational practice.

Joe leads the Conservatoire’s ground-breaking artist development work that prepares students with the vital skills needed to both succeed in and shape the musical landscape.

Presented annually, the Inspirational Educator Award celebrates the impact of individual teachers in specific areas of focus. This year’s theme was Music Education.

On receiving the award, Joe comments –

“I’m deeply honoured and humbled to receive this award. Leading CoLab at Trinity Laban has shown me that sharing our individual stories together through making music and dance helps us understand how we learn, find new ways of expression, and, ultimately, bring light into challenging times.”

Director of Music Havilland Willshire, who nominated Joe, comments –

“Joe is one of the great innovators. Not only does he have the vision to draw disparate ideas together but also the ability to forge the relationships that are necessary to put these ideas into practice.

“This is truly inspirational work, and we are delighted that Trinity Laban has provided the environment through which Joe has been able to foster his ambitions for music education and that his work has been recognised by an Inspirational Educator Award from The Worshipful Company of Educators Trust.”

Initially a self-taught musician in the punk era, Joe later trained in Jazz on the violin at the Guildhall in the 1980s and then at Community Music with John Stevens, using improvisation as a tool for social change.

As well as being a cultural commentator, Joe regularly speaks at conferences on collaboration, pedagogy, audience development and social entrepreneurship. He consults on early career survival for emerging artists with Serious Productions, Help Musicians UK and English Folk Expo and running courses for the V&A Innovative Leadership Programme.

Founded in 2001, The Worshipful Company of Educators champions and supports the transformative power of education. It presents a programme of annual awards and bursaries for individual educators through its Educators’ Trust.

The prize will be presented at an Awards Dinner later this year.

Find out more about our world-leading teaching staff.

In response to the climate emergency, Trinity Laban String Ensemble reimagines Vivaldi’s iconic masterpiece The Four Seasons and revives Hollie Harding’s immersive and eco-political Melting, Shifting, Liquid World, exploring the seasons as they should be and contemplating what they may become.

Read the full programme here

From the bird song of Spring to the cracking ice of Winter, Vivaldi captures the extraordinary sounds of the changing seasons. In this new interpretation, our String Ensemble combines music, sound and movement to bring Vivaldi’s score to life as never before.

Blending innovative audio technology, promenading musicians and field recordings of Arctic sea ice, Hollie Harding’s Melting, Shifting Liquid World forefronts the consequence of rising temperatures and ocean pollution. The work is the first composition to incorporate the use of Shokz open-ear, bone-conduction headsets alongside live instruments, creating a multi-layered sonic environment for the audience to explore.

On her inspiration to create the work, TL alum and lecturer Hollie comments –

“Sometimes, art is a more arresting way of dealing with issues like climate change as it presents information in a way that can really move people.”

Devised by violist, conductor and Trinity Laban Head of Strings Nic Pendlebury, the thought-provoking programme reframes the climate crisis through an artistic lens to examine the fragility of our modern world. The staging of the Vivaldi Four Seasons is directed by theatre director Anna Morrissey and designed by Carla Goodman, and features original soundscapes by Jamie Elless.

As the UK’s only music and dance conservatoire, we support a wide range of innovative and collaborative activity that pushes the boundaries of art forms and promote the development of new artistic media.

Opening at London’s National Maritime Museum (19 & 20 March), the ensemble will tour to Stoller Hall, Manchester and Shipley Arts Festival, before heading to Latitude Festival this summer with their environmental agenda.

This spring, the American violist is set to engage with music and dance students in a series of projects, concerts and workshops

Having held the Trinity Laban Carne Trust Junior Fellowship 2016-17, accomplished violist Stephen Upshaw returns to the conservatoire this spring to inspire the next generation of talented young musicians.

Stephen is a noted interpreter of contemporary music as both a soloist and chamber musician. He is a member of the innovative Solem Quartet and London’s Riot Ensemble and has worked closely with many of today’s leading composers, including John Adams, George Benjamin and Errollyn Wallen.

With a strong interest in synthesizing music with other fields, Stephen’s expertise will be exercised during CoLab, our annual festival of collaboration that sees students and stuff from across our faculties unite for a fortnight of experimental and creative projects.

Alongside fellow Solem Quartet musicians, he will work with students from Trinity Laban’s string, composition and dance departments to co-create Bela Bartok Now: Song & Dance. The project is inspired by the Solem Quartet’s Beethoven Bartok Now concept, which uniquely reimagines classical works with music from composers of today. It will weave existing music from Bartok, Beethoven and living composer Jasmine Morris, culminating in an hour-long performance side-by-side at Blackheath Halls (17 Feb).

In April, the quartet will return to coach chamber groups and give a lunchtime concert.

Stephen will also work with Trinity Laban composition students over four workshops in spring to create new works for viola, cello, mezzo-soprano and soprano, alongside his colleagues from the Riot Ensemble. And he will share his understanding of contemporary music with string students in a masterclass at the end of February.

Reflecting on his relationship with Trinity Laban, Stephen shares –

“My time at Trinity Laban as a Carne Trust Junior Fellow was an invaluable period of discovery with the amazing support and resource that the College had to offer.

“I’m so excited to be returning to Trinity Laban for so many projects this year. My career is now focused on chamber music and contemporary music – both aspects I’ll be exploring through the upcoming projects with Riot Ensemble and The Solem Quartet.

“I can’t wait to work with the wonderful students in string, composition and dance departments across the next few months and am thrilled to once again return to the Trinity Laban community.”

Image credit: Matthew Johnson