Trinity Laban presents an inspiring and innovative events programme for the Summer Season, celebrating new works and contemporary voices.
Running from May to July, our summer season takes Trinity Laban talent to venues across the UK to celebrate cutting-edge works and contemporary voices across different artforms. The season features a vibrant variety of performances – from festivals and contemporary operas to commissioned works and musicals – bringing audiences a mix of exciting programmes to look forward to.
APRIL
The Protecting Veil
Trinity Laban String Ensemble and Dancers present a staged production of John Tavener’s iconic work, featuring celebrated cellist and TL International Chair of Cello and Chamber Music, Raphael Wallfisch.
The Protecting Veil captures the cosmic power of the Mother of God. Her voice and life represented by the cello, which never stops singing throughout the performance. Told in eight continuous chapters depicting various moments of her life, this performance offers a visual representation of the mystic spirituality of Tavener’s work, speaking to the power of motherhood, the giving of life and its subsequent journey.
Songs on the Water
A free exhibition night of new songs written and performed by students on our BA in Music, Performance and Industry.
New Lights Festival
From 18 to 21 June, New Lights Festival will be taking over various venues in Greenwich for a celebration of contemporary piano music. As part of this festival, join us at Cutty Sark to hear new music for harp and ensemble with Trinity Laban.
Trinity Laban Contemporary Music Group presents the final of the Daryl Runswick Composition Competition alongside a new work; Concerto for Kraken harp (Placebo) by Dr Amir Konjani. The unusual and yet beautiful sea monster-like Kraken Harp designed by Konjani will take centre stage at Cutty Sark for the premiere of his new work for Kraken Harp and ensemble, with esteemed harp soloist Gabriella dall’Olio.
“The Kraken Harp was inspired by images of lilies, rib cages and an ancient Persian form of the harp called a Chang. One advantage of this design was that I could make each string/lever separate notes meaning that one could play Bb and B simultaneously in different octaves. The harp projects most of its notes through its wide tentacles, spatialising the field of sound to produce a kind of stereo” – Dr Amir Konjani.
MAY
BAMPI Changemaker Festival
Immerse yourself in creativity and originality by watching the annual BAMPI Changemaker Festival (Tue 28 May – Fri 31 May, Sat 1 June – Sun 2 June) at Blackheath Halls featuring students from all three years of the BAMPI Course including graduating students performing their recitals.
Spring Awakening
Showcasing their final performance on BA (Hons) Musical Theatre at Trinity Laban, third-year students perform Spring Awakening. Join a group of late nineteenth-century German students on their passage as they navigate teenage self-discovery and coming of age anxiety in a powerful celebration of youth and rebellion in the daring, remarkable production Spring Awakening (Fri 17 May & Sat 18 May).
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Showcasing their final performance on the BA (Hons) Musical Theatre at Trinity Laban, third-year students perform Spelling Bee (Fri 24 May, Sat 25 May). An eclectic group of six mid-pubescents vie for the spelling championship of a lifetime. A riotous ride complete with audience participation, this bee is a delightful den of comedic genius.
JUNE
Trinity Laban Chamber Choir: Kaleidoscope
Alex Douglas leads a programme celebrating choral music by Black British composers (Thu 6 June), as part of Trinity Laban’s continuing Kaleidoscope initiative.
Trinity Laban Jazz Orchestra & The Duke Ellington Band: Kaleidoscope
Enjoy music from Trinity Laban Jazz graduates who, over the past decade, have reinvigorated the UK jazz scene and gained worldwide acclaim.
The programme (Mon 10 June), part of Trinity Laban’s Kaleidoscope initiative, includes a performance of Duke Ellington’s Black, Brown and Beige, an extended jazz work divided into three parts, recounting the historical journey of African Americans to the United States.
High School Musical
Disney Channel’s smash hit movie hits the stage live at Blackheath Halls! The ultimate teen musical of its generation about the pressures of first love, fitting in, and being who you want to be. With numbers including We’re All In This Together, Breaking Free and Stick to the Status Quo, High School Musical (Tues 18 June – Sat 22 June) is a musical for all ages to enjoy!
BA2 – Dance Legends
Watch our second-year students perform works by choreographers who have made significant contributions to the development of contemporary dance.
- Sasha Waltz in C performed live by dance and music students, led by company dancer and alum Sebastian Aberbanell (Tue 25 June)
- Cunningham Repertoire led by Daniel Squire (Tue 25 June)
- A study of Rosemary Butcher’s work ‘Scan’ led by Lauren Potter and Henry Montes (Wed 26 June)
JULY
Dido’s Ghost
Trinity Laban Opera presents Errollyn Wallen’s Dido’s Ghost (Thu 4 Jul, Fri 5 Jul, Sat 6 Jul). Errollyn Warren takes Dido’s story forward, interweaving a full performance of Purcell’s great tragedy with this imaginative piece. Set several years after the Carthaginian queen’s death, Dido’s Ghost finds Dido’s sister Anna abandoned on the shores of Aeneas’s new kingdom, igniting a murderous jealously in Aeneas’s wife Lavinia – and as events play out, its characters confront a past that refuses to fade.
Errollyn Wallen CBE (Trinity Laban’s Professor of Composition) has been called a “renaissance woman of contemporary British music” (The Observer) and is an inspirational figure to aspiring young musicians and composers.
BA3 Commissioned Works
Immerse yourself in final year performances of new works by graduating students of the BA (Hons) Contemporary Dance! Programme 1: New works by Lizzi Kew-Ross, Stephanie Schober and Patricia Okenwa (Thu 4 July). Programme 2: New work for primary school children created by Takeshi Matsumoto and Makiko Aoyama.
We are delighted to open this performance to Primary Schools. Please contact Katarina Hill at k.hill@trinitylaban.ac.uk for booking information (subject to availability).