You may be aware that in recent days a member of TL staff shared their personal views about the jazz scene in an email they forwarded to students which is now in the public domain.

We are unable to comment on actions taken in response to this email, but we want to make it clear that Trinity Laban in no way endorses or aligns with the views expressed within it. At present the member of staff is not performing teaching or examining duties.

After a meeting with our students yesterday – held to give them space to express their concerns and feelings about this issue – we would like to say firstly how in awe we are of their sense of community and solidarity with each other. We also recognise that we still have a large amount of work to do to provide an inclusive environment in which our students feel safe from harm and discrimination.

We hope that our actions in the coming weeks, months and years will speak louder than our words today.

Music-making in Cornwall takes centre stage as Trinity Laban unites with the BSO, Tête à Tête, and Carn to Cove to bring to life a powerful and interactive new chamber opera, Fault Lines.

At a wake in a pub, a storyteller fondly remembers Cornish miner, Joe. Soon, a deeper story emerges about friendship, mischief, tragedy  and forces more powerful than man.

Fault Lines is a brand-new musical interpretation, a haunting yet playful story told through music and song inspired by folklore, home, mining, memories, and mischief. With music by Luke Styles and words by Hazel Gould, Fault Lines is a BSO production in association with Trinity Laban and Tête à Tête, presented as part of Carn to Cove’s rural touring season. Local instrumentalists united with opera singers and BSO musicians in four performances – the audience was warmly invited to join in, sing or play along, or just listen and enjoy the story. Designed for intimate spaces, the piece was staged in non-traditional venues around West Cornwall and was performed in four different locations, spanning across mines and community spaces. The one-act opera was presented as a double bill with a programme rooted in each place including music by local artists, talks and hosted discussions around the ideas and themes of the piece.

Two Trinity Laban vocal students – Robin Hughes (MMus) and Nathan Stubbings (BMus4) – were cast as Joseph/Joe and Giuseppe this newly commissioned opera.  The opera was directed by Bill Bankes-Jones (Tête à Tête), conducted by Tom Featherstonhaugh (BSO Assistant Conductor) and performed by a cast of three singers (our two students and a professional singer), plus a small ensemble of Clarinet, Bassoon, Violin and percussion players from the BSO.

Performances took place on:

• 7 March – St Agnes Miners’ and Mechanics’ Institute
• 8 March – Wheal Martyn, St Austell & Kresen Kernow, Redruth
• 9 March – Geevor Tin Mine, Pendeen

About Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

One of the UK’s best-loved orchestras, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra is a professional ensemble known for championing the role of culture in people’s lives. Based at Lighthouse, Poole, the Orchestra has residencies in Bristol, Exeter, Portsmouth, Southampton and Yeovil, and performs regularly in Truro, Basingstoke, Barnstaple and Weymouth — it is the largest cultural provider in the South West, serving one of the biggest and most diverse regions in the UK.

Challenging barriers to high-quality music for all, the BSO leads hundred of community-based events each year, from its award-winning work in health and care settings to partnership with schools and music education hubs – and in the 2023/23 season the Orchestra will welcome its next community-based BSO Young Associate musicians. Following international attention for igniting change, BSO Resound – the world’s first professional disabled-led ensemble at the core of a major orchestra, and winner of the 2019 Royal Philharmonic Society’s Impact Awards – continues to challenge perceptions.

The Orchestra, under its Chief Conductor Kirill Karabits, is known for pushing artistic boundaries, and its ongoing series of music from former Soviet states, Voices from the East, continues to gain praise. Boasting an enviable list of principal conductors, including Marin Alsop, the first female principal conductor of a major UK orchestra, the BSO has given memorable performances worldwide and the regular live broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM.

The Orchestra’s livestreamed broadcasts have cemented its reputation for presenting live symphonic music of the highest quality; its digital performances remain popular around the globe, reaching around 900 regular online viewers for each performance. In 2023/24, the series features guest artists Alina Ibragimova, Sunwook Kim and Awadagin Pratt alongside a host of the UK’s leading music broadcasters. The former winner of the Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, pianist Alexander Malofeev also features, when he becomes the Orchestra’s Artist-in-Residence following popular appearances in recent seasons.

Committed to new music, the BSO has presented premiere performances of works by Carmen Ho, Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, Magnus Lindberg, Anna Korsun, Elizabeth Ogonek and Shirley J. Thompson OBE in recent years.

The BSO’s Principal Broadcast Partner is BBC Radio 4.

The BSO is Classic FM’s Orchestra in the South of England.

TL BAMPI student, pianist and composer Melissa Monique Walker featured in the dazzling festive edition of Channel 4’s The Piano programme. Hosted by Claudia Winkleman and judged by international pianist Lang Lang and pop star Mika, The Piano is a heart-warming TV series that puts the best amateur pianists in the limelight.

Airing for the first time last year, The Piano is a show focusing on the “street piano” phenomenon by inviting gifted amateurs to play at train stations all over the country. Having featured in the debut series, Melissa returns to wow audiences at King’s Cross station in the latest Christmas special.

Melissa’s love for the piano stems from anime and game music. When she was younger, the soundtrack to the Nintendo game Animal Crossing Wild World and an anime featuring Chopin’s Minute Waltz sparked her interest in the instrument. In December 2017, Melissa was gifted a piano from her dad for Christmas. After teaching herself to play from YouTube videos for a year, she took up lessons and got to Grade 8 in just four years. Describing herself as shy in secondary school, Melissa states that the piano has helped her grow in strength and confidence.

The Piano at Christmas invites pianists from the first series to return to the station stage. A few surprises also lie in store: notably, a festive feature of comics Jo Brand and Tom Allen, and a performance from the wonderful winner Lucy in a duet with Gregory Porter. At the start of the special, Lang Lang tells the host that he is looking for a “really cool arrangement” featuring some sort of classical music and “delicate technique”. Meanwhile, Mika wants the musicians to “take a song and give it personality”. Melissa brilliantly fulfils the judges’ wishes, being the only guest to perform her own original work. Hailed by The Guardian as “her own wintry composition, which has soul flowing through its fingers”, Reflections is a lyrical, expressive piece. It evokes snow, blizzards, and ice – an auditory depiction of the winter season through music.

Written in a neoclassical style, a delicate melody emerges in the piano’s high register, supported by a whirlwind of rapid semiquavers. It provides a beautiful contrast to her first composition, Hope, that was aired in the debut episode of the series – a wonderful piece filled with open chords and poetic variation. Mika describes Reflections as “life and nature on pause”, commenting on her development as a pianist and remarking on her creative, interesting use of dissonant harmony. Lang Lang hails it as a “really wonderful” and thoughtful composition, with both judges labelling it as an emotional and “most touching” moment. Melissa cites her main reason for composing as a wish to impact her audience and convey her emotions – her performance does this perfectly.

Commenting on her time on The Piano, Melissa says – “It was an incredible thrill to be asked to appear on The Piano Christmas Special. I appeared on The Piano, London’s first season and was invited to return, as I was one of the six pianists selected for the Christmas special episode out of 80 who auditioned to be on the original series one show. Meeting Lang Lang and Claudia Winkleman again was a pleasure – it was lovely to get positive feedback from such a brilliant pianist that I look up to as a pianist myself. I’m happy that I was able to perform another composition of mine called Reflections on the show, linking to the theme of winter. I’m a student at Trinity Laban right now, doing the BA in Music Performance and Industry. I decided to study popular music in order to broaden my improvisational skills and discover new genres. After graduating from Trinity Laban, I hope to work as a successful neoclassical composer, playing in various London locations, putting my music on streaming services, and perhaps even writing soundtracks for motion pictures.”

Yesterday, the concert hall of Kings Place, London lit up with Trinity Laban’s annual Gold Medal Showcase, celebrating seven outstanding musicians. The finalists were nominated by Heads of Department for their exceptional musical flair and professionalism, and all received a Director’s Prize for Achievement in recognition of this. Congratulations to all the performers, who exhibited the extraordinary talent from across the Faculty of Music.

A huge congratulations to Cameron Scott, who amazed adjudicators and audience members alike with euphonium and trombone performances of his original jazz compositions for brass band, and took home this year’s Gold Medal and Audience Prize. Cameron is in the final year of his BMus (Hons) in the Jazz Department, studying trombone, euphonium, and composition. As our first performer, he kicked off the evening with We All Live in a Luminferous Aether, featuring several virtuosic euphonium solos, and continued with Windfield Mercury, showcasing his exceptional mastery of the trombone.

The adjudicators, YolanDa Brown OBE DL (musician, broadcaster, and entrepreneur) and Dr Amir Konjani (composer, situation maker, and performance designer), chaired by TL’s Director of Music Dr Aleksander Szram, commented on Cameron’s formidable technique, inventive orchestration, and exuberant tone.

All of our talented finalists Alina Pritulenko, Cameron Scott, Chiara McDougall, Jamie Elless, Nivanthi Karunaratne, Chung-Kwan Salome Siu, and Virág Hévízi performed to perfection and captivated the audience by presenting an eclectic blend of musical theatre, jazz, classical, original compositions and contemporary music.

A big thank you to our adjudication panel, to the Artistic Director of Gold Medal 2024 and host Dominic Murcott, to Chair of Governors Alan Davey CBE for his inspiring speech, and to all the staff who helped make the event a success.

Previous Gold Medal winners include: Lewis Chinn, Olivia Bell and Carolina Curry. You can find out more about the Gold Medal and past winners here.