The Nemesis Trio – Heather Stewart (violin), Helena Svigelj (cello) and Amos Lucidi (piano) – has won the Cavatina Intercollegiate Chamber Music Competition.

The competition is open to all major UK conservatoires, and is always fiercely contested. This year’s competition was held at the Royal Academy of Music on Monday 15 May 2017. The trio gave an outstanding performance of Beethoven’s Piano Trio in C minor, Op. 1, No. 3.

This is the second year running that Trinity Laban students have won the competition, following last year’s win by the Isbilia Quartet. The Nemesis Trio has benefited from working with Trinity Laban’s professors and also the Wihan Quartet, the Richard Carne Quartet in Residence. All three members of the trio are scholarship recipients and this triumph demonstrates the value of supporting our students.

Helena said:

“As chamber music is our passion, we are thrilled to have won the 2017 Cavatina Competition! We would like to offer special thanks to professors David Kenedy and Peter Tuite, and to the Wihan Quartet for their enthusiastic support.”

For more information visit the Cavatina Chamber Music Trust website. 

Andy Race – who graduated from the BA Contemporary Dance in 2013 and was a member of Transitions Dance Company 2013-14 – has been offered a contract with Tavaziva Dance Company. 

Tavaziva was established in 2004 and is led by Zimbabwean-born Bawren Tavaziva. His unique style is a choreographic synthesis of ballet, contemporary and African dance. Upon joining the company Andy will be sharing the stage with fellow Trinity Laban alumni Lisa Rowley and Theo Samsworth.  

Andy commented: 

“I’m very excited to be joining Tavaziva for their new creation IZINDAVA in July. My time at Trinity Laban enabled me to become a diverse dance artist, giving me the essential skills needed to pursue a career in dance.” 

Tavaziva’s vision is to make original contemporary African choreography that excites, transforms and enriches people’s experience of dance. Through performances, training, learning and participation, the company aim to share a culture of creative exchange, opportunity, excellence and innovation.  

Trinity Laban’s dance programmes train technically advanced, versatile and creative dance artists, with many choreographers keen to work with our graduates. To find out more visit our Study pages. 

Image credit: Chris Nash

Trinity Laban is pleased to announce the Residency of the Linos Piano Trio from the beginning of the academic year 2017-18.

In concerts, masterclasses and workshops the trio will explore a wide range of music with Trinity Laban students, both aiming to broaden the  students’ educational horizons and stimulate interest in all possible directions.

Trinity Laban is extremely grateful to The Carne Trust for supporting this residence. The Trust already has a long history of supporting Trinity Laban’s Junior Fellows and Ensembles in Residence.

Pianist Prach Boondiskulchok commented –

“We are really excited and honoured to be invited by Trinity Laban as an Ensemble in Residence. Trinity Laban is an institution whose forward-looking ethos inspires us to present our most innovative projects next year, including the exploration of the origin of the piano trio repertoire from C. P. E. Bach to Beethoven, and a concert in celebration of Debussy music in his centenary year.”

The Linos Piano Trio has achieved recognition as an extremely dynamic and creative young chamber ensemble. Drawing on the varied musical backgrounds of its members, which include specialisms in historically informed performance, contemporary music and composition, the trio has become renowned for its distinctive voice. 

For more information visit the Linos Piano Trio website.

Trinity Laban alumnus Richard Gaddes has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Manhattan School of Music, New York City.

The commencement ceremony will take place on Friday 12 May 2017 at the Manhattan School of Music and The Riverside Church in Upper Manhattan. The ceremony will be live streamed on their website.

Richard commented:

“My four years at what was then called Trinity College of Music were some of the happiest days of my life. Although this will be my fourth honorary doctorate, I am most proud of the degree I received in 1964 which was earned as the result of receiving such fine teaching from the wonderful professors at the Institution. I will always be grateful for that.”

During his time at Trinity Laban, Richard was Head Student 1963-64 and President of the Students Union. He has sustained an outstanding career across the UK and USA, serving as the general director of Santa Fe Opera and as co-founder & general director of Opera Theatre of St. Louis.

To find out more about studying with us visit the Trinity Laban website.

For more information and to watch the live stream visit the Manhattan School of Music website. 

Image: The Riverside Church

Harpist Noelia Cotuna has achieved enormous success this week by winning first prize in the Camac Competition. 

The Camac is widely regarded as the UK’s most prestigious harp competition. It is open not only to undergraduate and postgraduate students from all UK conservatoires, but also to all graduates and professional harpists resident in the UK under the age of 30. This makes Noelia’s win as a first year undergraduate a particularly impressive achievement.

Head of Harp, Gabriella Dall’Olio, commented –

“Noelia performed a sensational final round in the Camac Competition. Her performance was spell-binding (her Danse des Lutins by Renie was from another galaxy!), and the jury were unanimous in awarding her the first prize. Her fellow students Juan Antonio Garcia and Michela Zanoni also gave touching and inspired performances in the final.

 All staff and students in the Harp Department at Trinity Laban are extremely happy for Noelia for her success in this prestigious competition and proud of her focus and total commitment.”

Trinity Laban’s world-renowned Harp Department has a history of success in this competition. The 2016 first prize recipient, Richard Allen, is also a Trinity Laban graduate and this year Noelia competed against fellow undergraduate Michela Zanoni and Masters student Juan Antonio Garcia, meaning that three of the five finalists were from Trinity Laban. Previous winners have included alumni Tamara Young and Claire Iselin.

Head of Strings, Nic Pendlebury, commented –

“To win the prestigious Camac Harp Competition is a fantastic achievement for Noelia. It is a tribute to the wonderful teaching Trinity Laban’s Harp Department offers and in particular to the knowledge and inspiration of her teacher Gabriella Dall”Olio. Noelia is already an outstanding musician and artist and will, I am sure, have a glittering career.” 

Trinity Laban Professor of Choreography and award-winning choreographer Wayne McGregor CBE has developed two exciting new programmes, featuring numerous alumni.

This year, Studio Wayne McGregor (which encompasses all of Wayne McGregor’s creative output, including Company Wayne McGregor) has launched PEER, a mentoring programme for final year vocational dance students and recent graduates. Current student Natasha Wort has been announced as a participant for this year, receiving a year-long programme of tailored interactions with Studio Wayne McGregor.

FreeSpace is another cornerstone programme. This major new artist development and community engagement programme will offer choreographic artists studio space free of charge in meaningful blocks of time towards creation, research and rehearsal.

Trinity Laban alumni Maxine Doyle and Kerry Nicholls are among this year’s cohort of FreeSpace artists, alongside Candoco Dance Company, which was artistically co-directed by alumni Pedro Machado and Stine Nilsen from 2007 to 2017, and features alumni Olivia Edginton and Megan Armishaw as dancers.

Wayne McGregor recently gave a talk at the Laban Building to Trinity Laban Masters students, sharing thought-provoking advice and information. You can catch up on the highlights on our Twitter feed.

McGregor has also recently announced a new show as part of Sadler’s Wells new season, in which he will be working with a geneticist who will build up a DNA profile of his ‘personal biological archaeology’ to inform the choreography.

For more information visit the Studio Wayne McGregor website.

On 23 March 2017, Through the Shutters warehouse in Greenwich was filled with brand new sounds as composers competed in the Daryl Runswick Competition, one of Trinity Laban’s premier prizes.

Trinity Laban Contemporary Music Group, directed by Gregory Rose, performed brand new pieces based on the theme of ‘repurposing’. DJ George Percy and adjudicator Ed Bennett then selected composers Heather Stephenson and Andrew Liddell  to win the prize, awarded in association with Non-Classical.

The sold out evening was a resounding success with a great atmosphere in an unusual, up and coming local venue.

Heather commented:

“I’m thrilled to be awarded joint first in this competition alongside Andrew. I thoroughly enjoyed writing for this project and am very grateful for the support from Gywn Pritchard, Gregory Rose and my teacher Errollyn Wallen. I have already learnt so much since starting my Master’s Degree here at Trinity Laban and am looking forward to further developing my voice as a composer throughout the rest of my time here and beyond.”

Andrew added:

“I thoroughly enjoyed the Daryl Runswick concert and felt it was a fitting celebration for us to mark the end of our classes for the year. I was grateful for the opportunity to have my piece performed at the event and to hear the other composers’ pieces. Since nearly all of the composition students and many of the teachers were in attendance there was a nice lively atmosphere, and this was also helped by the choice of venue.”

The life and work of Daryl Runswick, Former Head of Composition at Trinity Laban, will be celebrated at a gala concert at Cadogan Hall on Tuesday 6 June. Runswick has dedicated his new piano concerto to Trinity Laban professor Aleksander Szram, who will be performing as a soloist in this premiere. With other performers including the King’s Singers, London Voices and Daryl Runswick himself, is an opportunity to hear a star-studded line up, performing  a lively and varied programme which reflects Runswick’s eclectic career.

For more information on the concert visit the Cadogan Hall website.

Olivia Edginton, who graduated from the BA Contemporary Dance in 2015 and was a member of Transitions Dance Company 2015-16, has joined Candoco Dance Company as a dancer.

Candoco Dance Company is the leading contemporary dance company of disabled and non-disabled dancers. Candoco is a partner of Trinity Laban and was artistically co-directed by Trinity Laban alumni Pedro Machado and Stine Nilsen from 2007 to 2017. Dancing alongside Olivia will be fellow alumnus Megan Armishaw.

At the heart of Candoco’s work are national and international productions created by world class choreographers. Alongside this, through their learning projects and activities they provide access to the highest quality of work for people participating in contemporary dance for pure enjoyment, or as part of a developing career.

Trinity Laban’s dance programmes train technically advanced, versatile and creative dance artists, with many choreographers keen to work with our graduates. To find out more visit our Study pages. 

Photo Credit: Chris Nash

Choreographer and Trinity Laban alumnus Adam Rutherford is the latest DanceXchange Choreography Award holder.

The inaugural award exists to support artists at an early stage of their choreographic career as part of DanceXchange’s new Artist Development programme.

Adam will receive bespoke support in the form of studio and production space, advice and mentoring, as well as a cash bursary and the opportunity to present their work as part of the dx Scratch sharing event.

Speaking to DanceXchange, Adam commented:

“I am very honoured and excited to be a recipient of the award and look forward to the opportunity to develop my portfolio career. The award will allow me to place the art at the forefront of my working practice without the additional worries related to time, space and funds which many independent choreographers frequently encounter.”

For more information visit the DanceXchange website.

Image: rutherforddance.com 

Trinity Laban are delighted to announce that Gemma Okell is the new Director of Blackheath Halls.

Taking up her post in April, Gemma will continue to broaden and develop Blackheath Halls’ diverse programme of concerts and events, as well as building on the venue’s thriving community programmes. She will also work closely with staff and students of the Faculty of Music, for whom Blackheath Halls is an important home for rehearsal and performance activities.

Gemma brings a wealth of experience in artistic programming, participation, management and fundraising, as well as a particular passion for working with children and young people.

Gemma commented:

“I am thrilled to be taking up this post at Blackheath Halls, an established home for live music, comedy, children’s theatre and community events in South East London. It’s a very important time for the venue, as we embark on a £2 million renovation of this Grade II listed building. I look forward to creating artistic programmes that will engage existing loyal supporters, attract new audiences and develop the relationship with Trinity Laban’s international community of students and staff “

Professor Anthony Bowne, Principal of Trinity Laban and Chair of Blackheath Halls, commented:

“On behalf of everyone at Trinity Laban and Blackheath Halls, I am thrilled to welcome Gemma, who brings not only a wealth of knowledge and experience, but also a deep-rooted passion for what we do. Blackheath Halls has an extraordinary and illustrious history, and we are all excited to work with Gemma on its next chapter.”

CoLab – Trinity Laban’s annual festival of collaboration – took place between 13 – 24 February 2017, exploring new ideas, and bringing together multiple art forms and people from a number of different continents.

There were many highlights, including Blind Date at Tate Exchange, Dance Jam, which featured several visiting artists, and two Friday sharings – CoLab at Creekside and Spaghetti Southern – both of which played to packed crowds in the Laban Building.

Other international projects included The Brexchange Jazz Project – bringing together jazz students from across Europe – and Colab Horizons, featuring visiting students and staff from the National Taiwan University of Arts.

Head of CoLab Joe Townsend commented:

“CoLab 2017 was pretty impressive and summed up the broad theme Different the Same. The creative artistry, willingness to experiment and the sheer hard work of everybody involved has led to a festival that exceeded all expectations.

We hosted the AEC Pop and Jazz Platform where educational leaders from across Europe visited projects and were highly complementary of the broad-minded approach to work and the creative bravery on show. They also commented on the exceptional standard of many CoLab projects and the high standards of teaching at TL that enable CoLab to be so exciting. 

The second week of CoLab saw a number of exciting high profile events, but what excites me the most is the focussed work that goes on in projects that often don’t get such a large performance, projects such as: Political Dreamland, A Performance and Awakening. There were three Public Engagement projects in hospitals, a prison and working with older people in association with the Tate Modern. Initial feedback has been that these projects have been life affirming and on occasion life changing.

A huge thank you to everyone involved in CoLab this year and, to those who would like to get involved next year, you are warmly invited to think of ideas that extend, deepen and challenge the way that we make our art together.”

To find out more and to see images from the 2017 festival, please visit the Trinity Laban website. 

Photo Credit: James Keats