David Cohen will join London Symphony Orchestra from September 2022 

Trinity Laban cello and chamber music professor David Cohen has been appointed principal cello of the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), alongside Rebecca Gilliver. 

The former principal cello of the Philharmonic Orchestra, Cohen is the artistic director of the Melchoir Ensemble and the founder and artistic director of the chamber music festival Les Sons Intensifs in Lessines, Belgium. 

Before he takes up his new role, Cohen will play for two concerts conducted by LSO principal conductor Sir Simon Rattle on 8 and 9 December 2021. 

On the appointment, Cohen comments –  

“I am hugely honoured to be joining the LSO. I feel beyond excited by the prospect of working with an orchestra with such a broad repertoire of work, unflagging energy and topflight musicians. I am also looking forward to continuing my commitment to working with young musicians at all stages of their development and throwing myself into this activity with the team at LSO Discovery.” 

Trinity Laban’s Head of Strings, Nic Pendlebury, comments –  

“David Cohen’s appointment with the LSO is incredibly well-deserved and testament to his skill as a performer.  

“He is one of many inspirational musicians who comprise our diverse teaching roster, including accomplished soloists, eminent chamber musicians, and leaders and principal players of our country’s major orchestras. It is their abilities as performers, and links with the industry, that mean our students benefit from a huge range of support and skills.” 

Discover more about our Strings department.  

Our students are mixing up their performance schedule to help lead change for the future of jazz.

Driven by a desire to “break down barriers” and “bring awareness”, bands from our celebrated Jazz Department are combining their regular gig schedule with touring local schools to connect with grass-roots musicians and inspire the next generation of music makers.

The interactive performances introduce pupils to instruments and music of jazz from 1930s jazz ‘Big Band’ to the present day. They also explore the building blocks of jazz, including improvisation, chord sequences and riffs.

Hans Koller, Trinity Laban’s Head of Jazz comments –

“The emphasis of Jazz on Tour is on performance. To inspire, to bring in our role models, to open ears, to show the quality of jazz and how it all started and still swings.”

After kicking things off at St Dunstan’s College in Lewisham, the Trinity Laban Fletcher Henderson Project is visiting Greenwich’s Middle Park Primary and Tower Hamlets’ William Davis Primary, as well as secondary schools John Roan School (Greenwich) and Pimlico Academy (Westminster). From January, Richard Henry’s Studio Band and the Trinity Laban Jazz Orchestra will take over the tour.

At secondary schools, aspiring musicians are given the opportunity to join the bands and play alongside conservatoire students, offering a taste of big band playing and full immersion in jazz performance.

St Dunstan’s students expressed how welcoming and engaging the session had been –

“I haven’t really improvised before, so it was interesting trying it out, especially in front of an audience. It was scary but fun.”

“It was really nerve-wracking cause everyone was really good, but everyone was really nice and really encouraging. So even if I did something wrong, which I did, I tried!”

Malcolm Earle-Smith, who leads the Trinity Laban Fletcher Henderson Project, explained –

“Every week the band gets great pleasure playing this wonderful music and we wanted to get out there and share it. There are all sorts of things you can learn about melody, harmony and form from earlier types of jazz; and, of course, the importance of rhythm, and how to make music ‘swing’. Being close to the blues, it also teaches us about personal expression. The element of improvisation gives you a chance to put your personal stamp on the music.

“Our undergraduate students have really benefitted from playing music from the 1930s and we want to show other young musicians they can too. This music has great vibrancy and energy. Once you start to understand it, it opens all kinds of doors.”

Other opportunities to see Trinity Laban Fletcher Henderson Project this year will be at the EFG London Jazz Festival (Sun 21 Nov) as part of The London Line-Up at The Clore Ballroom, Royal Festival Hall. Also on the bill is The Jazz Hang @ Trinity Laban with Tomorrow’s Warriors. Now in it’s second year, the programme is a partnership between the conservatoire and Tomorrow’s Warriors, offering a weekly get together for aspiring young musicians focusing on sparking creativity and harnessing a love of jazz.

Alongside visiting local schools, musicians from the Jazz Department have also been celebrating NHS heroes with a series of lunchtime concerts at St George’s hospital in Tooting. The performances form part of the hospital’s initiative to thank staff and show gratitude for their astonishing work over the past 18 months.

To find out more about Jazz at Trinity Laban.

Conductors Darren Bloom and Leo Geyer work with top UK music industry players

2021 has been a busy year for staff in our Junior Trinity Department as two composition tutors take big steps in their professional careers by collaborating with iconic British institutions.

Darren Bloom, Lead Tutor for Composition and Musicianship at Junior Trinity, has conducted the London Symphony Orchestra for Six Degrees of Separation. The newly released album showcases new work by emerging composers as part of the orchestra’s Panufnik Scheme.

Recorded live in concert earlier this year, the record has already received a five-star review from BBC Music Magazine, praising the “total assurance” of the orchestra who provide a “welcome introduction to a terrific new wave of composing talent”.

Darren co-directs Junior Trinity’s Composers Ensemble alongside Leo Geyer, who has been selected by the BBC Open Music Programme on the pathway to become a presenter for Radio 3 and the BBC Proms 2022.

With more than 1,000 applicants for 30 places, the programme brings together new creatives and musicians across a range of genres, styles and backgrounds from around the UK in the hope of developing contemporary collaborations and representative, exciting ideas.

Speaking to his alma mater Oxford University, Leo said –

“I’m not planning on hanging up my composing and conducting hats, but I am aspiring to add ‘broadcaster’ to my portfolio career.”

Previously a student at Junior Trinity, Leo returned to teach on TL’s junior programme in 2015. Alongside his teaching, he also conducts for the English National Opera.

Find out more about our Junior Programmes.

Now in its second year, Trinity Laban’s week dedicated to Chamber Music runs from 1 – 5 November 2021 with a focus on chamber music coaching, rehearsing and performances.

Chamber music is the backbone of conservatoire teaching and learning, and the week kickstarts a whole range of projects and sets up ensembles who will continue to work together, collaborate and develop over the course of the year.  In keeping with Trinity Laban style, the week is a chance for students to work in creative and collaborative ways, and to make connections with staff and peers to enable artistic development.

The Carne Trust Guest Visiting Artists The Piatti Quartet will give a masterclass with students and a public performance on Weds 3 Nov, and on Thurs 4 Nov two concerts at Blackheath Halls will showcase Side by Side performances developed during the week.

Free performance highlights of the week include:

Tues 2 Nov 13.00

Chamber Week Lunchtime Concert: Lindsey Eastham leads Percussion Ensembles at the Old Royal Naval College

Weds 3 Nov 13.00

Open Rehearsal for Schutz Weihnachtshistorie at the Queen’s House, Royal Museums Greenwich

Weds 3 Nov 18.00

Carne Trust Guest Visiting Artists: The Piatti Quartet

The Piatti Quartet are one of the most distinguished quartets of their generation. Prizewinners at the 2015 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition, they have performed in major venues and festivals around the UK and internationally. The Quartet will work with Trinity Laban students in a masterclass in the afternoon, followed by a public concert in the Peacock Room at King Charles Court.

Thur 4 Nov 13.05

Chamber Week Lunchtime Concert: Trombone Choir with Graham Lee at St Alfege

Thur 4 Nov 17.00 & 19.00

Chamber Side by Side Performances at Blackheath Halls

A chance to hear Side By Side projects from the week in two concerts, featuring Head of Strings Professor Nic Pendlebury, Ofer Falk, Michael Bochmann, Rivka Golani, Leon Bosch and Gabriella Dall’Olio

Fri 5 Nov 13.00

Chamber Week Lunchtime Concert: Chamber Side by Side at Old Royal Naval College Chapel 

Master’s student Nneka Cummins commissioned to develop new work as part of emerging talent award

Composer and music producer Nneka Cummins is the 2021 recipient of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra’s annual Rushworth Composition Prize.

As the winner, Nneka will have a unique opportunity to develop their talent over the course of the next year through a programme of workshops, masterclasses and mentoring sessions from a variety of leading industry figures.

The award will culminate in Nneka writing a new work for performance by Ensemble 10/10, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra’s new music group, which will be premiered in Autumn 2022.

In addition, they will receive £1,000, made possible through the support of the Rushworth Foundation, a year’s complimentary membership of the Ivors Academy, the UK’s leading professional association for music creators, and additional opportunities to produce new works and commissions for Liverpool Philharmonic and its associated ensembles.

Previous winners of the Rushworth Composition Prize include Carmel Smickersgill, who was nominated for the Ivors Academy Rising Star Award in 2020, and Grace-Evangeline Mason, who premiered new orchestral work ‘The Imagined Forest’ at this year’s BBC Proms, co-commissioned with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

A former full-time solicitor, Nneka is currently completing their Master’s in Composition at Trinity Laban, where they have been awarded the Gareth Neame Scholarship and the Trinity College London Scholarship.

Earlier this year Nneka’s piece Blend was performed by an ensemble from Chineke! in the Cheltenham Music Festival 2021 and they will have new a work premiered by Trinity Laban Symphonic Winds at Blackheath Halls on Friday 15 October. Find out more about the programme and book tickets.

On winning the prize Nneka commented –

“Liverpool is where my passion for music was nurtured and as a teenager, I played in venues across the city as part of Saturday Morning Music Centre’s Liverpool Youth Orchestra. I’m grateful to Liverpool Philharmonic for this opportunity and very much look forward to working with Ensemble 10/10. It’s great to be deepening my musical connection to Liverpool.”

Find out more about composition at Trinity Laban.