Sir Bryn Terfel, the Blackheath Halls Youth Choir and TL Jazz students performed for HRH The Duke of Kent to celebrate the completion of Blackheath Halls’s remarkable renovation.

The enthusiasm and dedication to the arts in the community of Blackheath has meant that this year, Blackheath Halls has completed a project to redevelop and modernise the interior and exterior spaces of its beautiful Grade II listed building.

This work has transformed the venue into a more versatile, accessible and welcoming performance space to serve and inspire the local community who have helped fund the project. In 2018, it had the stage levelled, retractable raked seating bank installed, acoustics improved, and overall décor modernised whilst retaining the original barrel- vaulted ceiling. The Bar, Box Office and communal areas were also modernised, creating light and airy spaces.

During summer 2023, the exterior was transformed with new paving, stone benches and planting, providing an inviting spacious and open area for the local community as well as audiences visiting the venue. The outdated signage was replaced with a backlit pillar and digital totem display.

To improve accessibility, a lift to the more intimate The Hearn Recital Room was fitted, the entry ramp to the building resurfaced, and a bespoke stage lift installed for performers, community participants and students with access requirements. With the arts being one of the hardest hit industries during the pandemic and one still struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, this project is a real triumph of community commitment and passion.

As part of the oldest surviving purpose-built cultural complex in London, Blackheath Halls has a rich history dating back to its construction in 1895, funded by public subscription. Saved from demolition in the 1980s by the local community, this iconic venue has evolved into a vibrant hub for arts and culture. Since becoming part of Trinity College of Music’s estate in 2004, Blackheath Halls has flourished, hosting around a thousand events annually and attracting over 50,000 visitors. From classical music to folk, comedy, talks, literary events, and children’s theatre, the diverse program caters to all tastes. At the heart of their mission is community engagement, exemplified by initiatives like the annual Blackheath Halls Opera, Musical Theatre courses, choirs, and youth programs nurturing young talent from our local boroughs. Their esteemed reputation has also drawn renowned groups like the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and English National Opera, as well as the London International Festival of Early Music, all seeking the unparalleled acoustics of their spaces. Partnerships with parent company Trinity Laban and Greenwich and Lewisham Music Hubs further enrich their offerings, making Blackheath Halls a vital center for artistic collaboration and education.

The transformation has only been made possible by donations from the Friends and Patrons of the venue (the majority of whom are local residents) as well as a major donation from arts charity The Hearn Foundation, Arts Council England, Viridor Credits and others. To celebrate the completion of the project, HRH The Duke of Kent attended a special event on Wednesday 17 April attended by all those who donated to the project as well as local businesses, who enjoyed performances from Sir Bryn Terfel, the Blackheath Halls Youth Choir and jazz students from parent Trinity Laban.

We welcomed acclaimed pianist Hiroaki Takenouchi to Trinity Laban in March for a special event celebrating International Women’s Week.

Hiroaki Takenouchi presented a lecture-recital exploring the work of four female British composers: Doreen Carwithen, Dorothy Howell, Caroline Reinagle and Madeleine Dring. For the final performance piece of the session, Dring’s Sonata for Two Pianos, the celebrated pianist was joined by frequent collaborator Simon Callaghan; their CD Danza Gaya: Music for Two Pianos is now available on Lyrita. Hiroaki complimented the lecture-recital with a morning of 1-to-1 lessons with select piano students.

TL student Lucas Saraiva Cunha (BMus2 Piano) commented on the concert: “I really enjoyed Prof. Takenouchi’s lecture recital, which had a focus on Female British Composers. What made it especially captivating for me was how strongly he felt about shining a light on these underrepresented composers, and how that resonated with his personal experience as a musician. It was a thought-provoking session that brought me to consider my own connections to the music I play, as well as inspiring me to keep bringing rarely played works into the concert space. The performance had a captivating emotional intensity that I think can only come from a strong sense of identification and understanding of both the composer and the music they wrote.”

About Hiroaki Takenouchi

Hiroaki Takenouchi’s curiosity and a natural penchant for integrity makes his playing and vast repertoire unique amongst his generation of pianists. His love for the music of classical masters – particularly Haydn, Beethoven and Chopin – sits side by side with his passion for the music of Medtner, lesser-known British composers such as Sterndale Bennett and Parry, and the contemporary repertoire.

As a soloist, Takenouchi has appeared on many concert platforms including Wigmore Hall, Tokyo Opera City and the South Bank Centre, and has given recitals across Europe and North America. 2022 saw the release of his latest solo disc on French specialist piano label Artalinna, featuring works by Grieg, Medtner and Dupré. Hiroaki is also editor of the published scores of Sherwood’s two-piano works (as recorded for Lyrita), now available from Nimbus Music Publishing. He is frequently invited to make recordings for BBC Radio 3’s Composer of the Week.

Hiroaki Takenouchi is a Blüthner Artist and owns a beautiful 1922 Blüthner piano. He gave a concert in Leipzig’s Weißes Haus as part of the Blüthner Master Series in September 2020. Hiroaki teaches piano at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (Glasgow). He also returns every summer to give masterclasses at the ingenium International Music Academy (UK).

We were delighted to welcome Sir Stephen Hough (CBE) to Trinity Laban this March for a set of masterclasses and a brilliant performance of his Song Cycles alongside our students and Head of Keyboard, Dr Ji Liu.

This year’s Keyboard and Voice Festival: Coming Together! celebrated the rich tapestry of vocal and keyboard music, embracing essential works from the core-classical territories as well as dynamic works of contemporary British Composers and those from beyond our shores.

Our final concert featured acclaimed artist Stephen Hough, our Head of Keyboard Dr Ji Liu, and Trinity Laban piano and voice students performing an afternoon concert of Stephen’s song cycles. The concert featured the complete collection: Dappled Things, Herbstlieder, Lady Antonia’s Songs, Songs of Love and Loss, Songs of Isolation, and Other Love Songs, described by Bachtrack as “witty, intricate, intimate and beautifully arresting art songs”.

Discussing his visit, Stephen commented: “It’s been a wonderful couple of days. We’ve had 31 students in all working on these song cycles, so more or less a different student for each song. There’s a huge variety, but everyone really did their best and performed beautifully. There were a few performances that were really spectacular in the way that the students got inside the text and the song, and absolutely lived that song whilst they were singing, and that is what you are ultimately looking for. The songs are brief. The longest one is maybe five minutes, but in this time, a whole world can be uncovered and I think they got that and it was thrilling.”

“I don’t play with singers very much, so putting words and music together is a whole different level of emotional involvement. I’m very moved by songs. Many of the texts that I chose are very deep human emotions – as deep as it gets – about what life means, what love means. To have that and to work with the students with that is very touching and I actually had to hold back a tear or two during the concert.”

Our Head of Keyboard, Dr Ji Liu, stated: “It’s been a wonderful journey and Stephen has been such a wonderful motivator and role model to all of us. Every time I work with Stephen, he’s very generous with his comments and time, and he’s also very encouraging and very open with performing his work. It’s quite nerve-wracking for performers to play a composer’s work in front of a composer. This time, for me, it’s like that when playing together with Stephen! But it’s been wonderful, it’s been a memorable experience for me and all of our students.”

About Stephen Hough

One of the most distinctive artists of his generation, Sir Stephen Hough (CBE) combines a distinguished career as a pianist with those of composer and writer.

Named by The Economist as one of Twenty Living Polymaths, Hough was the first classical performer to be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship (2001). He has been awarded a multitude of awards and prizes, including the Royal Philharmonic Society Instrumentalist Award and first prize at the Naumburg Competition in New York. Sir Stephen has appeared with most of the major European, Asian and American orchestras and plays recitals regularly in major halls and concert series around the world from London’s Royal Festival Hall to New York’s Carnegie Hall. He has been a regular guest at festivals, including Tanglewood, Verbier, and the BBC Proms, where he has made 29 concerto appearances.

Many of his catalogue of over 60 albums have garnered international prizes including eight Gramophone Magazine Awards including ‘Record of the Year’, several Grammy nominations, and the Gramophone ‘Gold Disc’ Award in 2008, which named his complete Saint-Saens Piano Concertos as the best recording of the past 30 years. His 2012 recording of the complete Chopin Waltzes received the Diapason d’Or de l’Annee, France’s most prestigious recording award. His 2005 live recording of the Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos was the fastest selling recording in Hyperion’s history, while his 1987 recording of the Hummel concertos remains Chandos’ best-selling disc to date.

Published by Josef Weinberger, Sir Stephen has composed works for orchestra, choir, chamber ensemble, organ, harpsichord and solo piano. He has been commissioned by the prestigious organisations including the Cliburn, the Berlin Philharmonic Wind Quintet, and Wigmore Hall, among others. A noted writer, Sir Stephen has contributed articles for The New York Times, the Guardian, The Times, Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine, and he wrote a blog for The Telegraph for seven years which became one of the most popular and influential forums for cultural discussion and for which he wrote over six hundred articles. He has published four books: The Bible as Prayer, a novel The Final Retreat, a book of essays Rough Ideas: Reflections on Music and More, a memoir Enough: Scenes from Childhood.

Sir Stephen is an Honorary Fellow of Cambridge University’s Girton College, an honorary member of the RPS, and holds the International Chair of Piano Studies at his alma mater, the Royal Northern College in Manchester. He is also a member of the faculty at The Juilliard School.

Junior Trinity were invited by Commonwealth Resounds to perform at the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey this year. JT students Adrianna Forbes-Dorant and Ben Atherton had their arrangements chosen to be performed.

This year marks 75 years since the signing of the London Declaration in 1949 that established the Commonwealth as a network of equals united by values and a shared aspiration for a better future. Organised by the Royal Commonwealth Society, the Commonwealth Day Service is the world’s premier, public event to celebrate the Commonwealth of Nations and provides an opportunity to focus attention on this voluntary association of 56 countries and their commitment to promoting democracy, human rights, the rule of law and equality for its 2.5 billion citizens.

The theme of this year’s Heads of Government Meeting and Commonwealth Day Service was resilience – 2024 is also the second year of the Year of Youth in recognition of the tremendous contributions of young people to society. This annual event, held at Westminster Abbey, celebrates the unity, diversity, and linkages of the modern Commonwealth and seeks to foster greater understanding of the Commonwealth’s achievements and role, particularly amongst its young people.

The service was filmed by the BBC and streamed across the world. Junior Trinity’s Vocal Consort performed in the pre-service concert as the dignitaries arrived and members of Composers’ Ensemble performed a forty minute programme of folk songs from across the Commonwealth, as well as new works written by two JT students, Adrianna Forbes-Dorant and Ben Atherton.

Trinity Laban Conservatoire Junior Department is well known for celebrating musical, cultural and creative diversity. Singing is particularly important to life in the Junior Department, and every single student sings in at least one of their many choirs. The Vocal Consort is made up of some of their most talented and promising students. This performance represented the collaborative spirit often at the heart of Junior Trinity’s music and involved music from across the Commonwealth, including a number of small island states such as Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.

Adrianna Forbes-Dorant is a full bursary recipient and has attended Junior Trinity for five years. She is a first study pianist, second study voice, and third study violin, which have become interchangeable for her over time. She has recently discovered a love and talent for composing, and is a key member of Composers’ Ensemble. For the past three years, she has sung the role of Flora for Garsington Opera to high acclaim. She holds an offer from the University of Cambridge, as well as scholarships from several conservatoires.

The programme was as follows:

• A Jamaican Celebration – composed by Adrianna Forbes-Dorant (Junior Trinity student)
• Meguru – arranged by Russel Robertson
• The Jones Boys – arranged by Ben Atherton (Junior Trinity student)
• Pokarekare Ana – arranged by Andrew Carter
• Nani and Nana – composed by Sundar Popo, arranged by Cole Lam
• Thank you for the music – arranged by Jerry Estes
• Keel Row – arranged by John Rutter
• Sing from The Song Sound True – composed by Judith Weir
• Somebody to love – arranged by Roger Emerson
• Kenek Kenek Lah Udang – arranged by Dan Miller (Junior Trinity Vocal Tutor)
• A Commonwealth Music Relay – arranged by Cole Lam, Siri Hedge,
  Jahfari Hazelwood, James Brew, Jacob Abela, and Ajiri Ikede

Trinity Laban Honorary Companion and former chair Paul Strang has died, at age 91. Paul had been unwell for some time. Jeanne Strang, his wife, died in August of last year.

Paul was not a musician but was always interested in music and supporting young musicians to fulfil their potential. He joined the board of Governors at Trinity College of Music back in 1974, and became chair in 1992. He was instrumental in the creation of the Trinity College of Music Trust in 1984, and guided the establishment of Trinity College London in 1992. In 2001, he helped to develop the plans to move Trinity College of Music to Greenwich, and Paul’s support was crucial to the merger of Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre to create Trinity Laban in 2005. During his time, Paul was instrumental in the appointment of three Principals: Meredith Davies in 1979; Philip Jones in 1988; and Gavin Henderson in 1994. In his role as trustee of the Helen Roll Charity and the Tillet Trust, Paul was also instrumental in providing vital financial support to dozens of our students over the years.

One former TCM staff member, Roger Pope, recalls an act of kindness from Paul and Jeanne. When TCM was at Mandeville Place, one day Roger was summoned to the front door to greet a Russian student who was joining for a year as a bassoonist. He was standing at the door with his bassoon case and a large suitcase, and his first question was “Where is my accommodation?”. It was about 4.30pm on the Friday afternoon before Enrolment Day. Having gleaned from this brief introduction that he had no idea of the British system – that accommodation was the student’s responsibility and should in any case be arranged in advance – Roger hurried to the Principal’s room with the vague idea of seeing if the College would foot the bill for a small hotel for the weekend while Roger endeavoured to sort out something permanent. Paul Strang was in with the Principal, simply lifted up the phone, rang Jeanne and asked if their basement flat could be made available to this student for the weekend. Roger took him up to the Strangs’ home in St. John’s Wood in a taxi, with his bassoon and suitcase, and they all had a very convivial half hour with a large glass of wine. Paul and Jeanne were very kind to the student over what turned out to be a rather extended weekend before he was settled.

Paul Strang was born in 1933 in Marlborough Hill, London. He attended the Montessori school, before his family moved to Hampstead Garden Suburb where his mother started doing air-raid precaution work. From 1940, his mother and adopted aunt ran a mobile canteen for the benefit of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. They toured the bomb-sites of London, ministering tea and refreshment to the firefighters – when not at school, Paul would join these expeditions. He attended a boarding school in Shropshire while being a day boy at Arnold House, and his family members soon evacuated into the country for many years.

Paul finished his schooling in 1951 and was articled to the solicitor Arthur Underwood. While his family lived on the south coast, he lodged in London during the week with his mother’s old fried, Emmie Tillett, a renowned concert agent. Paul spent the next six years here while finishing his articles. Emmie Tillett worked with many celebrated musicians, and Paul was able to connect with the likes of Kathleen Ferrier, Myra Hess, Clifford Curzon, Solomon, Janet Baker, Lotte Lehmann, Zoltán Kodály, Shura Cherkassy, and Benjamin Britten. His father, Sir Thomas Beecham, was also based in the area. Paul qualified and bought a flat in London in 1962. He married his wife Jeanne in 1965, and together they moved to a house in London that they lived in for the rest of their lives. They were neighbours to Maggie Teyte, Gerald Moore, Jessie Wood, Sir Charles and Lady Mackerras during the period in which Charles attained his pre-eminence as a conductor, and Philip and Ursula Jones.

Paul will be greatly missed by us. His extraordinary contribution to Trinity Laban and the future of music in the UK leave a magnificent legacy. We will always be incredibly grateful for his unwavering support for our music community and will be forever grateful to have been part of his life.

Trinity Laban Sinfonia Strings joined forces with musicians from London schools in a programme featuring a commissioned world premiere and contemporary compositions by Gustav Holst, Gerald Finzi, and Karl Jenkins. Under the baton of Professor Nic Pendlebury, the schools performed side-by-side with TL Sinfonia Strings in the atmospheric setting of St Alfege Church, Greenwich.

TL Sinfonia Strings united with 40 young string players from Haberdashers Hatcham College, Thomas Tallis School, Eltham Hill School, and Harris Academy Peckham to perform in a beautiful concert – featuring an exciting world premiere and music from brilliant British composers.

TL Sinfonia Strings first performed Holst’s Brook Green Suite H. 190, written for a junior string orchestra at the school the composer taught at. Named after the area of Hammersmith in which Holst lived, the suite is based on folk-song melodies and conjures a warm pastoral atmosphere. Our string ensemble captured the lively character of the Prelude, the serenity of the Air, and the light-hearted energy of the Dance, making the piece a perfect start to the concert. Up next was Finzi’s Romance Op. 11, a one-movement piece that also evokes the beauty of the English countryside but is very poignant and elegiac in tone.

The schools then played in harmony with the Sinfonia Strings in a magnificent world premiere of Isolated Moments and Londinium, two works written by TL alum composer Nathen Durasamy and Leigh Academy Blackheath students. Created by singing melodies and tapping rhythms, the pieces centre on the experience of living in London. Both compositions evoke the intensity and bustle of the capital, but equally mark it as a city of contrast – dramatic, persistent string chords are punctuated by powerful silences.

Isolated Moments is a poignant musical exploration of solitude and introspection within the dynamic tapestry of London’s bustling life. Divided into two contrasting sections, the piece captures the solitary reflections of an individual in the city, juxtaposed against the vibrant energy and cultural richness that London offers.

Londinium is a musical journey to London. The work unfolds in four sections, each capturing a distinct phase of the experience: suspense and excitement, the rhythmic pulse of travel, anticipation and joyous moments of reconnecting with a friend in the heart of the city. The final section bursts with triumphant exuberance, celebrating the rich history and iconic landmarks that define the unique joy of being in London. Londinium invites the audience to share in the emotional journey of discovery, from anticipation to the heart of this extraordinary city.

Trinity Laban’s Side by Side Strings initiative marks one of many chances for local schools to experience and participate in live music through our Public Engagement programmes, advocating for increased accessibility in the creative arts. The project also presents an important opportunity for our musicians to unite with school string players and gain education skills, while spreading a love for collective musicianship.

“This project brings together over 50 young performers and composers from Lewisham, Greenwich and Southwark with conservatoire students. Music builds confidence, creativity and resilience and it’s important that all school students have access to these kinds of opportunities,” says Kate Dornan, TL Projects Manager of Children & Young People’s Programmes (Music).

Wrapping up the concert was a spine-tingling rendition of Jenkins’ first and second movements of Palladio: Largo and Allegretto. Soloists Isaac Williams (Violin I) and Sophia Devenport-Jackson (Violin II) played exceptionally – with great sensitivity, precision, and musicality – allowing the main melody to shine through the orchestral accompaniment.

A huge thank you to all the students from the schools who participated in the concert as part of our Side by Side Strings initiative.