News

Musical Theatre Alumni take centre stage

Posted 23 November 2023 Comments are disabled

Our magnificent Musical Theatre Alumni continue to grace the greatest stages after graduating with Musical Theatre degrees from Trinity Laban! From performing in West End theatres to touring the UK and beyond with sell-out shows, find out what some of our alumni are up to after finishing their studies…

The 2023/24 UK tour of smash-hit musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is currently in full swing and our Musical Theatre alumni are stealing the spotlight! Finton Flynn is playing Young Loco/Cover Jamie, while David McNair is performing as Tray Sophisticay. Also on tour is Teddy Hinde, holding the golden ticket and performing as Mike Teavee in the first ever UK and Ireland tour of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Meanwhile, Jacob Kohli has been cast as Cover Justin and an ensemble member in the original UK tour of Kathy & Stella Solve A Murder of 2023. This is a new and critically acclaimed comedy musical, written by the Olivier Award winners behind Fleabag and A Super Happy Musical (About Feeling Super Sad).

Many of our alumni are also performing in shows at the glittering West End and premier London venues. JoJo Meredith made his West End Debut in the European premier of Death Note The Musical in August at the London Palladium and will soon be gracing the boards at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London in the cast of Pacific Overtures (from 25 November 2023 to 24 February 2024). Jessica Johns-Parsons joined the West End cast of Les Misérables, the theatre’s longest-running musical since its opening in 1985, this September. Both Matthew Elliot-Campbell and Hannah Qureshi are enjoying success in hit musical Hamilton at the Victoria Palace Theatre in London, with Matthew performing in 2022 and Hannah from this summer onwards. Having featured in the National Theatre’s West End transfer of The Crucible at Gielgud Theatre, Lucy Brindle has recently finished performing as Kate McGowan in Titanic: The Musical in China. Currently performing as an Alternate Catherine Howard/Anne Boleyn in the 2022-2023 West End production of Six the Musical is Danielle Rose.

Rebecca Wickes likewise starred in Six the Musical as Katherine Howard in the 2022-23 UK tour, playing the same role in the English leg of the South Korean Production in 2023. She also played Veronica Sawyer in the 2021 UK tour of Heathers the Musical. More recently, she made her West End debut in We Will Rock You at the London Coliseum, performing as Ensemble First Cover ‘Meat’ and Second Cover ‘Scaramouche’. Joining the cast in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of The Fair Maid of the West is Marc Giro, who will perform in the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon (from Saturday 2 December 2023 to Sunday 14 January 2024).

Our alumni have had equal success in bringing their own shows to the theatres. Founded and managed by Phoebe Noble, the theatre company 13 Months Theatre gives a platform to new writers and performers. Born with the idea that creatives can craft their own work as an ensemble in the industry, the company gave themselves 13 months to create a fringe show. Recent adventures include production The Grumble Cat at the Camden Fringe (with book and lyrics by Phoebe Noble), and Musical Manifest Vol. 2 at the Other Palace Theatre (with Phoebe Noble as Artistic Director). The 2022-2023 Queens Theatre Production of Sleeping Beauty, with original music and lyrics by Tom Self, won ‘Best Pantomime’ at the 2023 Off West End Awards. Building on this immense success, Tom Self shall be bringing his own solo cabaret show, Me, Tom Self, and I, to the West End next year!

Find out more about studying musical theatre at Trinity Laban.

Introducing new Wind, Brass & Percussion teaching staff

Posted 17 November 2023 Comments are disabled

We are delighted to welcome Matt French, John Roberts, Matt Skelton, James Turnbull, and Matthew Lewis to TL’s roster of distinguished artists and educators as members of the music faculty professorial staff.

An accomplished percussionist, Matt French enjoys a varied career performing with world-renowned orchestras—including the Orchestra of The Royal Opera House, London Philharmonic Orchestra, and BBC Concert Orchestra—and playing in several musicals in the West End. While studying at the Royal College of Music, he won the Sabian Percussion Prize and received the prestigious Archer Scholarship, where he played with Bobby Lamb’s Trinity Big Band. He later went on to teach at the Royal College of Music Junior Department. As an educator, he has given classes to the Royal Marines. He actively participates in large-scale education projects, including the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama’s Big Bash.

John Roberts is the principal oboe of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra, and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Having studied with the Royal Opera House’s principal oboe, Christopher Cowie, John performed internationally and toured extensively with ASMF. He also worked with the London Winds, the Gaudier Ensemble, Zarek Chamber, and London Sinfonietta. His recent recordings include Poulenc’s Sonata, Trio and Sextuor with the pianist Mark Bebbington, and a solo number in John Rutter’s I Sing of a Maiden EP.

Matt Skelton enjoys an illustrious international career already spanning three decades. A drummer excelling in modern and vintage Jazz, he accompanied many leading Jazz luminaries and recorded with internationally acclaimed singers. Having been Sir Richard Rodney Bennett and John Wilson’s drummer of choice, he has most recently performed with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Stockholm Philharmonic, and The Hong Kong Philharmonic. He has also toured internationally with Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra. His theatrical credits include the 2017 Broadway transfer of An American In Paris at the Dominion theatre and the 2021-2022 performances of Anything Goes at the Barbican. A sought-after educator, Matt was an interim Head of Jazz and teacher at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, while giving masterclasses at the Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, and Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.

Hailed by the Independent as “a worthy champion” of contemporary oboe music, James Turnbull is a multi-talented and renowned oboist. He launched the New Oboe Music Project in 2015, promoting 21st century oboe repertoire worldwide. He is the founder of the Léon Goossens Prize for Emerging Composers (specific to the oboe). An accomplished chamber musician, he holds the position of Artistic Director of Ensemble Perpetuo while also performing with ensembles like the Berkeley Ensemble and the Allegri String Quartet. His solo recordings credits include Toccata Classics, Champs Hill Records, Quartz Music and the ABRSM, with Gramophone Magazine describing his debut recital disc, Fierce Tears, as a “notable debut” and the Classical Music Magazine selecting it as the Editor’s Choice Recording.

The Royal Academy of Music recently awarded him an ARAM for his outstanding contribution to the music profession. In his role as an educator, he has launched the website LearnToPlayTheOboe.com, making learning the instrument infinitely more accessible, while also teaching at the Royal College of Music Junior Department.

Matthew Lewis enjoys a vastly successful and diverse career as a trombonist and educator. Graduating from the Royal Academy of Music with a BMus(Hons) and MA, he performed with several British youth ensembles and as principal trombone of the European Union Youth Orchestra and the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester. In 2020, Matthew became the principal trombone of the BBC Concert Orchestra, with whom he also performed as a soloist. Matthew has performed as guest principal trombone with other world-class orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, to name a few. As a freelance trombonist, his projects have ranged from touring Europe with the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, to performing at large scale club nights with the Heritage Orchestra in arenas across the UK.

More recently, Matthew has been awarded an ARAM for his contributions as an educator. He has featured on the soundtrack of many films including Mission Impossible, Death on the Nile, and the latest Wonka film. A regular guest in the UK’s top music schools and conservatoires, Matthew is professor of trombone at St Paul’s School and Dulwich College.

To find out more about our teaching staff and programmes, visit the Wind, Brass and Percussion department page.

Professor Peter Dickinson captured standing in front of a field. His is wearing a black blazer.

Remembering Professor Peter Dickinson, 1934 – 2023

Posted 8 November 2023 Comments are disabled

Composer, pianist, academic, author and broadcaster Professor Peter Dickinson (1934 – 2023) has died at age 88. Professor Dickinson was a former Governor and Honorary Fellow of Trinity College of Music, and a valued member of our musical community.

Professor Dickinson was born in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England, on 15 November 1934 and in later life lived in Suffolk. He went to Cambridge as Organ Scholar of Queens’ College and then spent three formative years in New York, initially at the Juilliard School, then working as a critic and freelance performer. After a spell as a pianist at the New York City Ballet, where he played for Balanchine to choreograph, he became a Lecturer at Fairleigh Dickinson University, New Jersey. From this time onwards Dickinson’s music has been regularly performed and recorded by some of the leading musicians and in 1988 the leading British TV arts programme, Melvyn Bragg’s South Bank Show, made a one-hour documentary about him.

Professor Dickinson was known for introducing music lovers in Britain to new sounds from America from ragtime and jazz to the most experimental pieces. He inspired interest in unfamiliar works and was a pioneer in the teaching of jazz and popular music in UK degree courses.

An authority on American and British composers from Aaron Copland and John Cage to Sir Lennox Berkeley and Lord Berners, he wrote books including The Music of Lennox Berkeley (1988) and CageTalk: Dialogues With and About John Cage (2006).

These composers in turn inspired Dickinson to write concertos for organ (1971), piano (1984) and violin (1986). Other major works included his Blue Rose Variations for organ, which was performed at the BBC Proms by David Titterington in 2009, and his Mass of the Apocalypse, played by the Mahler Chamber Orchestra at the Aldeburgh festival in 2015.

In addition to his other work, Professor Dickinson was a philanthropist and co-founder of the music education charity, Rainbow Dickinson Trust, alongside another former TCM student Dr. Bernarr Rainbow. The Trust has a continuous record for supporting musical projects involving training for young people, performance and research, spending over £300,000 since it was established. It has supported the publication or republication of writings by Rainbow, often brought up to date by specially commissioned further material, and has completed his series of thirty-five Classic Texts in Music Education. The running of the Trust will now be taken over by Professor Dickinson’s son Francis.

He is survived by his wife, his sons and his sister.

Kaleidoscope: Celebrating Black British Music

Posted 2 November 2023 Comments are disabled

Introducing Kaleidoscope, a groundbreaking new initiative celebrating the work of Black British composers and Black musical artists in Britain. The repertoire presented ranges across all genres, featuring solo, small and large ensemble, and staged performances, with selected works set in the context of music by composers from other backgrounds whose work is also frequently overlooked in mainstream programming.

Kaleidoscope not only provides an opportunity for audiences to experience Black British music from across history and the current moment, but also ensures that our students are exposed to work that reaches beyond the established classical music canon taught in conservatoires, in which Black British composers and artists are routinely overlooked.

Roger Wilson, Trinity Laban Governor and Founder of Black Lives in Music said: “Kaleidoscope is a bold new initiative. It’s typical of the work that Trinity Laban does in acknowledging and connecting a wider community in terms of students, performers, creators and audiences. There is a rich cornucopia of music to hear as part of the programme, while allowing us to celebrate their creators whose voices are traditionally underrepresented. Don’t Stop the Carnival on 26 October at Blackheath Halls embodied the very spirit of this initiative. It featured the collaborative, creative magic of Kevin Le Gendre and Camilla George and, in turn, heralded much more to come from this programme through to the end of this year and beyond.”

Dr. Aleksander Szram, Director of Music said: “As part of our commitment to amplify the music by hitherto under-represented composers, the Faculty of Music’s public performance programme over the next two academic years will seek to highlight and celebrate the work of Black British composers and Black musical artists in Britain. This ambitious initiative demonstrates Trinity Laban’s determination to make space for more voices, an aspect of our community that is quite unique in the sector and one that holds a very deep personal resonance with me.”

Some performance highlights in the 2023/24 season include:

Trinity Laban Symphony Orchestra
Great Hall, Blackheath Halls
Thursday 2 November, 19:30

Conducted by Alpesh Chauhan and Vicente Chavarria, Trinity Laban Symphony Orchestra will perform Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Touissant L’Ouverture op. 46 and award-winning contemporary composer James B. Wilson’s Remnants for Poet and Orchestra.

Coleridge-Taylor was an 19th-century composer and conductor and is an iconic figure in Black British history. Toussaint Louverture was inspired by the eponymous black General, who was born enslaved, and led Haiti to independence from the French.

James B. Wilson’s Remnants, featuring a poem by Yomi Sode, re-opened the Southbank Centre in 2022. In this work the words and music respond to 2020’s most viral image, depicting Patrick Hutchinson saving a counter protestor at a Black Lives Matter protest.

Trinity Laban Jazz Orchestra & Big Band
Great Hall, Blackheath Halls
Wednesday 24 January 2024, 19:30

Trinity Laban Jazz Orchestra will perform works by TL professor, composer and trumpeter Byron Wallen. Byron is a seminal figure in the Jazz world, and has performed with the likes of Chaka Khan, George Benson, Mulatu Astatke, and many others. Wallen is an acclaimed writer and producer whose original scores have been commissioned by the Science Museum; PRS, the BBC, Jerwood Foundation, Southbank Centre, National Theatre, Arts Council, FIFA and Sage Gateshead.

Trinity Laban Big Band will play alongside Trinity College of Music alum, and acclaimed trombonist Winston Rollins. His background is steeped in music, having been in bands such as The Brand New Heavies, Incognito, Aswad, Jamiroquai, Courtney Pine. Currently he is a member of Jool Holland’s Rhythm and Blues Orchestra, since 1994 he has been one of four trombonists in the Brass section of the Orchestra.

Trinity Laban Symphony Orchestra
Great Hall, Blackheath Halls
Thursday 28 March 2024, 19:30

Conducted by Matthew Lynch, Trinity Laban Symphony Orchestra will perform Daniel Kidane’s Sun Poem alongside Eleanor Alberga’s First Symphony.

Matthew Lynch is a regular collaborator of the composers Max Richter and Devonté Hynes, and has performed their music with ensembles internationally. In the 2023/24 season he will be returning to London’s Southbank Centre to perform Beethoven’s Eroica with the Chineke! Orchestra and making debuts with, the Philharmonia, the London Mozart Players, Sinfonia Viva, and the French chamber orchestra, Le Balcon.

Trinity Laban Chamber Choir with Alexander Douglas
St Alfege Church, Greenwich
Thursday 6 June 2024, 13:05

Conductor, composer and multi-genre musician, Alexander Douglas, conducts Trinity Laban’s Chamber Choir in a programme that features classical works alongside gospel music.

Trinity Laban Opera: Dido’s Ghost
Great Hall, Blackheath Halls
Thursday 4 – Saturday 6 July 2024

As its annual Summer opera, Trinity Laban presents Errollyn Wallen’s continuation of the story of Dido and Aeneas, which frames the original Purcell opera within Wallen’s new drama.

A graphic banner shows black and white photos of a double bass and a woman of colour overlayed with the words The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, Clod Ensemble and nu civilisation orchestra

Trinity Laban Dance Collective collaborate with Clod Ensemble and Nu Civilisation Orchestra to celebrate Charles Mingus

Posted 31 October 2023 Comments are disabled

On 9 and 10 November, Clod Ensemble and Nu Civilisation Orchestra, featuring dancers from the Trinity Laban Dance Collective, present a new perspective on Charles Mingus’ iconic 1963 recording The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady. Part of the 2023 EFG London Jazz Festival, this show will transform the Grade II-listed Shoreditch Town Hall into a vibrant cabaret venue to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the album.

Mingus always envisioned dance accompanying his provocative masterpiece. Trinity Laban Dance Collective, comprised of students currently on the MA/MFA Dance Performance programme, are working with Clod Ensemble and Nu Civilisation Orchestra as they honour that vision and bring it to life for a new generation.

Collaboration is at the heart of Trinity Laban’s approach to artistic development. Programme leader Hilary Stainsby says:

“This is a great opportunity for the TLDC students to develop their performance skills in collaboration with a fantastic creative team, working alongside professional dancers and practitioners. We are particularly committed to offering different performative experiences on this programme, and this project is wonderfully unique and interesting.”

At Shoreditch Town Hall, dancers including Valerie Ebuwa, Faye Stoeser and TLDC will fill the venue with movement and energy. The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady will see the dancers delivering both dense-knit choreography and passages of improvisation which dovetail with the band’s playing. The movement direction from Clod Ensemble’s Co-Artistic Director Suzy Willson will employ the same daring, bold approach that has characterised Clod Ensemble’s work since the company launched in 1995.

Nu Civilisation Orchestra will be led by the MOBO-nominated Peter Edwards and feature their Founder/Artistic Director and Trinity Laban Honorary Fellow Gary Crosby OBE on bass. The professional ensemble of the acclaimed talent development organisation Tomorrow’s Warriors, Nu Civilisation Orchestra has toured and performed extensively, including a BBC Proms performance in 2019, a UK tour in 2021 of What’s Going On a tribute to Marvin Gaye’s seminal masterpiece, and an acclaimed national tour of Joni Mitchell’s Hejira and Mingus albums in 2022.

In addition to Mingus’ work in full, the shows will also feature performances of new music from Peter Edwards, Clod Ensemble’s Artistic Director Paul Clark, and rising drummer/composer Romarna Campbell (current live drummer for Fever Ray).

This performance also gives audience members the chance to move along with the music in celebration of Mingus’ composition. With dancers, band and audience all sharing the floor, attendees have the opportunity to get up close to world class performers and lose themselves in dancing along with this rhythmically explosive work. Wallflowers, hip-shakers, Mingus buffs, music-lovers of all stripes – all are welcome in this celebration of the sensuality and power of jazz.

Tickets for The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady at Shoreditch Town Hall

NOTE: limited availability for Thu 9 Nov, Fri 10 Nov SOLD OUT

The MA/MFA Dance Performance at Trinity Laban is designed to foster a supportive and dynamic environment within which students can challenge and explore their voice, agency and artistry as dance performers. Find out more about Trinity Laban Dance Collective, the MA/MFA Dance Performance and how we support dance artists to grow their careers:

https://www.trinitylaban.ac.uk/study/dance/postgraduate-programmes

The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady is supported by

Postcode Society Trust

Cockayne – Grants for the Arts and the London Community Foundation

Stanley Thomas Johnson Foundation

Hinrichsen Foundation

Arts Council England

Lead image photography by Manuel Vason

Lead image design by Miriam Waldbillig/Studio Frith

Participants of the Trinity Laban Saxophone Competition stand in a row facing the camera.

Trinity Laban Saxophone Competition 2023 winner announced

Posted 18 October 2023 Comments are disabled

Congratulations to Jake Phillips, the winner of this year’s Trinity Laban Saxophone Competition, and Steph Barker who was awarded a highly commended!

The annual Trinity Laban Saxophone Competition took place on October 9, and was adjudicated by Dr. Emilie Capulet (Programme Leader – BMus). Competitors were required to perform a five-minute movement/section/piece from their 2023 end of year recital programme, reacting to the written feedback given to develop their performance.

The programme was as follows:

Annabelle Duxbury Improvisation 1 (Ryo Noda)
Steph Barker Fusion Suite. Mvt 3 (Catherine McMichael)
Zhiwei Feng Prelude and Cadence from Prelude, Cadence and Finale (Alfred Desenclos)
Amadea Topalli Hot Sonate: Mvt I (Erwin Schulhoff)
Lily Skinner The Door of No Return: Mvt 3: The Door of Return (Althea Talbot-Howard)
Jake Phillips October Dances: Mvt 2 (Mick Foster)

Dr. Emilie Capulet said: “It was wonderful to hear such a varied and diverse programme of works, performed to the highest standards by all the students taking part.”

Jake Phillips, the 2023 winner said: “Firstly, I would like to thank Howarth of London for sponsoring the competition. It was a great opportunity for us all to perform and receive some well-informed and much-appreciated feedback from our new program leader Emilie Capulet.

I was last on the program, and it was a privilege to stand outside and hear all the other participants perform before me. I played the second movement of Mick Foster’s October Dances, an exciting but melancholic piece which really challenged me and brought out the best in my playing. It was an honour to win the competition and I look forward to continuing my progress with the help of some new equipment (courtesy of Howarth of London, thank you again!)”

We gratefully acknowledge the generous support we receive from Howarth of London to make this annual competition possible and extend our thanks to Gavin Tate-Lovery (TL alum) for joining us on their behalf. The winner received a £250 voucher to spend at Howarth of London’s shop at 31 Chiltern Street, London W1U 7PN.

A.R. Rahman stands next to TL Principal Anthony Bowne. They are jointly holding a signed agreement between TL and KM Music Conservatory.

Academy Award-winning composer A.R. Rahman visits Trinity Laban

Posted 6 October 2023 Comments are disabled

We were delighted to welcome A.R. Rahman to Trinity Laban this week. His visit followed a headline show at the O2 on Saturday 30 September, his first London performance in six years.

A.R. Rahman dropped in at Laban Building and King Charles Court to check out the work of our Music, Dance and Musical Theatre students, including a Composition seminar and a rehearsal with students Samyuktha Rajagopal (violin) and Martina Joy (viola).

In addition to his glittering career as a composer for screen, A.R. Rahman is the Founder of KM Music Conservatory in Chennai, India. KM Music Conservatory was founded to expand the horizons of musicians in India. While continuing to respect and strengthen the art of Indian music, the institution also offers an education in Western music and music technology. KM Music Conservatory provides students with a strong artistic, intellectual, and technical foundation for pursuing professional careers in music. Students will graduate with an internationally competitive education in Western music and music technology and production. During Principal Anthony Bowne‘s visit to India earlier this year, he signed a partnership agreement with KM Music Conservatory, which will lead to students from KMMC being able to split their studies between Chennai and London.

A.R. Rahman is also an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College London in recognition of his vast contribution to music in India.

More about KM Music Conservatory

KM Music Conservatory is a higher education institution founded in 2008 by the A. R. Rahman Foundation. Located in Arumbakkam, Chennai, in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the conservatory offers a range of part-time and full-time courses in Hindustani and Western classical music and music technology. Composer A. R. Rahman is the Founder and Principal, Fathima Rafiq the Executive director.

KMMC is developing a newly founded symphony orchestra, to serve as resident studio orchestra for A.R. Rahman’s compositions and to perform for the general public in Chennai and elsewhere in India.

More about A.R. Rahman

Described as the world’s most prominent and prolific film composer by Time, his works are notable for integrating Eastern classical music with electronic music sounds, world music genres and traditional orchestral arrangements.

He has won two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, four National Film Awards, fifteen Filmfare Awards and thirteen Filmfare Awards South in addition to numerous other awards and nominations.

His extensive body of work for film and the stage earned him the nickname “the Mozart of Madras”. In 2009, Time placed Rahman in its list of World’s Most Influential People.

Carolyn Bolton is pictured in black and white. She is wearing a black turtleneck, the neck of which she is pulling up to her chin.

Carolyn Bolton appointed Creative Director of ENBYouthCo

Posted 28 September 2023 Comments are disabled

Second year MFA in Dance Leadership and Community Practice student, Carolyn Bolton, has been appointed Creative Director of ENBYouthCo.

Born in Columbia, South Carolina, Carolyn Bolton began her pre-professional training at the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities before completing her Bachelor of Arts in Dance Performance and Choreography at the University of South Carolina. She received a full scholarship to the Martha Graham School for Contemporary Dance in New York and trained with Béjart Ballet Lausanne before joining Ballet Rambert in 2013. She has since had the pleasure of working with Julie Cunningham and Company and L’Opera National du Rhin and has been featured in film and television work with Marvel Studios, Apple TV, and HBO Max.

Carolyn has presented two site-specific solo works for the Operaestate Festival in Bassano Del Grappa, Italy and has been an Artist-in-Residence for both the Operaestate Festival and for The Place’s Choreodrome in London. Her choreography has been performed nationally and internationally, most notably at Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, National Theatre’s River Stage, Rich Mix, Rambert’s In The Making, The Place’s Resolution, The Lowry, South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities and Youth America Grand Prix.

Carolyn has worked with the Centre for Advanced Training at Trinity Laban since 2019. In 2022, she was nominated for a Black British Theatre Award in the Achievement Category for Best Teacher. Carolyn has been invited as an academic tutor, guest instructor and lecturer in both ballet and contemporary styles for numerous schools including London Contemporary Dance School, Trinity Laban, Tring Park School for the Performing Arts, Mountview, Shockout Arts, The Dang and Bird College.

In 2023, Carolyn was one of nine artists/companies selected by The Place for their commissioned community projects. The proposed intergenerational work Seeking the Unseen explored the body as an archive and received excellent reception from those involved in the process. She is proud to be working with the Royal Opera House on both the Chance to Dance and Create and Dance programmes.

More about ENBYouthCo

Launched in 2012, English National ballet’s youth dance company ENBYouthCo promotes personal creativity, commitment and innovation and offers young talented artists aged 14 – 19 an opportunity to fulfil their potential and progress their dance journey.

ENBYouthCo focuses on both ballet and contemporary dance technique, reflecting the varied and diverse styles seen in English National Ballet’s repertoire. The programme offers high profile performance and creative development opportunities, including a main stage performance in London during the Company’s season, and access to a wide range of professional artists, international choreographers and creatives.

Head of Libraries, Claire Kidwell, being presented the Excellence Award for the Jerwood Library by Dr Charles Inskip

Jerwood Library wins IAML Excellence Award for the fourth time!

Posted 13 September 2023 Comments are disabled

We are delighted to announce that Trinity Laban’s Jerwood Library of the Performing Arts has, for the fourth time, been awarded an Excellence Award by the UK & Ireland Branch of the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres. Trinity Laban’s Head of Libraries, Claire Kidwell, was presented with the award at the 2023 IAML Annual Congress at Cambridge University.

The award panel comprised a variety of academics, librarians and professional musicians and was chaired by Dr Charles Inskip, Associate Professor at the UCL School of Information Studies. The Jerwood Library’s application was especially commended for identifying key aspects of collection development and paying good attention to equality, diversity and inclusion through the collection and links to the curriculum. Other areas highlighted were well-qualified staff who engage with the wider professional field, excellent accessibility provided by a wide range of formats and detailed catalogues and a commitment to information literacy, outreach and engagement with the mechanisms of the wider institution.

The panel concluded: “The Jerwood Library boasts a tremendously impressive range of text and music resources, and a wholly involved and committed library team. This is a library that is conscious of, and takes seriously, its responsibilities both to follow good practice and to lead it. Its commitment to User Education and Information Literacy is admirable, and may be useful to others who are looking to advance their offerings in this area.”

Valentina Ciardelli holds her double bass, she is wearing a green dress and stands in front of a black background.

Valentina Ciardelli appointed as Strings Professor

Posted 13 September 2023 Comments are disabled

We are pleased to welcome Trinity Laban alum, composer, double bassist, performer and visual artist Valentina Ciardelli as a Professor in our Strings department.

Originally a pianist, she started to play double bass in in 2010, graduating with Honours from the Istituto Musicale L. Boccherini in Lucca in October 2014. She then gained her Master of Performance (Honours) at the Royal College of Music in July 2016 and continued further studies under the guidance of Leon Bosch at Trinity Laban, where she was the recipient of scholarships from Trinity College London and the Leverhulme Trust. In 2018/19, Valentina was awarded Trinity Laban’s Carne Trust Junior Fellowship for an Individual.

Valentina has won several awards and prizes including first prize in the RCM Double Bass Competition 2016, the Vernon Elliot Double bass Competition 2018, the Vivian Joseph Classical Concerto Competition 2018, String Category and the De Simone and Partners prize in the Chamber Music Festival in Rome. Valentina also won a place with a scholarship in the Accademia Chigiana for summer 2018 with Maestro Giuseppe Ettorre.

She was finalist in important national and international competitions such as the Migliori Diplomati D’Italia (best young Italian music graduate) 2015 and double bass international competition Galicia Garcia Graves. She was selected with other sixteen young double bass players around the world to perform in the live final rounds at the worldwide double bass solo competition granted by Bradetich Foundation in Denton, Texas, at the end of August 2017.

Valentina also won several orchestral auditions such as Gustav Mahler Academy 2016 and BBC SO training scheme. She recently won the Artist in Residence at the BANFF, Alberta (Canada) that hosted her from 15 – 28 September 2019. She gave solo performances with I solisti veneti with M. Claudio Scimone. She has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in world renowned concert halls such as Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Teatro Argentina in Rome, St Martin in the Fields in London.

Find out more about Valentina Ciardelli here.

Photography: Discover Double Bass

Trinity Laban Students’ Union Freshers 2023!

Posted 1 September 2023 Comments are disabled

Trinity Laban Students’ Union presents FR*SHERS, their take on the classic university welcome week.

The TLSU team is cheeky, wild and packed with fun, so they’ve created a welcome week that matches that, with exciting activities that are definitely something to write home about. Just like the name, this year’s freshers week is big, bold, and a little bit naughty. Expect live music, dancing, games, delicious food, DJs, Drag and lots of glitter!

Find out more about Trinity Laban Students’ Union Freshers 2023 and book your tickets here.

Find the TLSU team at these locations on the following days and times to collect your wristbands and goodie bags!

Saturday 9 September – 10:00 – 17:00 at McMillan Student Village
Sunday 10 September – 10:00 – 15:30 at McMillan Student Village
Monday 11 September – 10 – 17:00 at KCC SU Office
Tuesday 12 September – 10 – 16:00 at Freshers Fair
Please note this is collection for both Full Wristband and Boat Party Wristbands. Additional Boat Party wristband collection dates will be announced soon.