News

Our monthly roundup of some of the successes for Trinity Laban alumni.

December saw the beginning of the pantomime season which featured several musical theatre alumni: Lori McLare as Liza in Sell A Door’s Peter Pan at Winter Gardens Blackpool; Morgan Wilcox performing in Duncan Reeves Productions Ltd’s Cinderella at Lighthouse Poole; Juan Douglas performing in Robin Hood at Peepul Enterprise; Haydn Cox as Alan in Sleeping Beauty at Buxton Opera House; Laura Porter performing in Beauty and the Beast at Hawthorne Theatre; and James Darch as Prince Charming in Cinderella at the King’s Theatre in Edinburgh.

Continuing the festive performances, musical theatre alumnus Katie Finch performed in The Woodville Theatre’s Christmas Show Flipper’s Perfect Present, whilst recent musical theatre graduate Elize Layton played Lucy in Narnia (a musical retelling of C. S. Lewis’ The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe)at Brentwood Theatre, and fellow musical theatre alumnus Leo Rowell performed in the Thursford Christmas Spectacular, one of the largest shows of its type in Europe.

In musical news, the Puppini Sisters – founded by vocal alumnus Marcella Puppini and featuring fellow alumnus Kate Mullins – delighted at The Greenwich Winter Time Festival, and alumnus Sam Jewison and his Orchestra presented a sold-out Christmas with Sinatra show at The Jazz Café.

Music alumnus Ayanna Witter-Johnson was announced as a Yamaha Artist and will be playing their silent cello range – SVC 110. To celebrate she recorded a festive Christmas cover of ‘Wonderful Christmas Time’ at their London showroom.

December also saw alumni feature in two brilliant BBC radio broadcasts: Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour spoke to dance alumni Liv Lorent MBE, choreographer and artistic director of BalletLORENT, about directing Carol Ann Duffy’s Rumpelstiltskin; and BBC Radio 1Xtra had a ‘Jazz Special’ featuring interviews with alumni Moses Boyd, Nubya Garcia, Joe Armon-Jones and Oscar Jerome.

Nubya also joined several other alumni and students, such as Joe Armon-Jones, Daniel Casimir, Dylan Jones, Mutale Chasi, Jake Long and Twm Dylan performing at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club as part of a triple-bill.

Continuing the jazz success, Ezra Collective, featuring alumni Femi Koleoso and Joe Armon Jones, topped off a great 2017 by winning the Urban Music Awards for best jazz act and several alumni – including ensembles Maisha, the James Beckwith Trio, and Binker and Moses – were named jazz artists to look out for in 2018 by Jazzwize.

December was an exciting month for our dance alumni winning prestigious awards: rising-star choreographer, dance educator and dancer Preeti Vasudevan was named one of the Lincoln Center’s 2018 Emerging Artists in recognition of outstanding talent; whilst choreographer and founding member of WAUHAUS Jarkko Partanen won the annual Finnish State Award for Performing Arts with the multidisciplinary arts collective. The committee cited the collective’s “unique voice, which can be heard in their brave, pioneering and successful works. The collective excels in open-mindedly addressing the themes of each work, which in turn creates surprising, timely and aesthetically refined performances”.

Don’t miss:

Award-winning choreographer and TL alumnus Maciej Kuźmiński returns to Laban Theatre on 18th January with his compelling double bill. More info

Emily Gray (Mezzo-soprano), Jordi Morrell  (Viola), Georgina Bowden (Composition), Ben Vize (Jazz Saxophone), Iyad Alsughair (Piano), and Ana Rodriguez Moran (Flute) showcasing their talents at the Gold Medal Competition at King’s Place,  Monday 29th January 2018.

Clarinettist and alumnus Nadia Wilson will be releasing debut album ‘Clarinet Fantasies’ in January 2018 on Prima Facie Records with composer & pianist Martin Butler. More info

Alumnus Daisy Brown in Mozart’s ‘The Abduction from the Seraglio’ at The Grange Festival next summer, directed by John Copley. Book now