News

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

The month of August saw exciting new announcements and awards for alumni. 

The AIM Awards saw Moses Boyd win UK Independent Breakthrough in celebration of his new album Dark Matter. During the ceremony fellow jazz drumkit alum Femi Koleoso led a tribute performance for the late Tony Allen. KOKOROKO, Ayanna Witter-Johnson and Joe Armon-Jones were recognised in the nominations shortlist. 

Ayanna Witter-Johnson was named a Royal Philharmonic Society Composer for the 2020-21 season. One of seven artists selected, the composer will receive an RPS commission to continue her work fusing classical music with R&B within the Philharmonia’s Music of Today series. Ayanna recently joined young musicians in a virtual performance of Destiny’s Child hit Survivor as part of Trinity Laban’s Summer Session Virtual Orchestra project. Watch now. 

Dance alum Izzy Catterall saw success in film festivals worldwide, with her animal rights-inspired dance film recognised at three international film festivals and her quarantine creation I Lost Myself selected for FLUX Moving Image Online Festival 2020. 

Tomorrow’s Warriors launched their Summer Runnings masterclasses for young people led by Nubya Garcia, Femi Koleoso, Moses Boyd, Peter Edwards, Joe Armon-Jones, Cassie Kinoshi, Axel Kaner-Lidstrom, Daniel Casimir and Laura Jurd,  

The Ivors Academy announced Sahra Gure as the latest appointments to its Youth Council. Sahra  spoke to TL this month about making strong connections in the music industry in our industry insights series 

Nubya Garcia impressed critics this month with her latest album Source, featuring fellow TL  alumni Cassie Kinoshi, Ms Maurice and Joe Armon-Jones. Read the New York Times’ profile on Nubya.  

More new music releases this month included harpist Giulia Rettore’s new album Six Nocturnes Concertants Op 59, recorded alongside violinist David Scaroni. Listen to an audio preview of the music composed by the virtuosic harp and violin duo Bochsa and Kreutze.  

As part of their Open House online programme, Glyndebourne Opera streamed their  production of Hamlet which featured vocal alum James Newby. . 

Kicking off the return of live on-stage shows was Elliot Galvin in King’s Place’s Culture Clinic Series, which was met with critical acclaim. Read this great review of Elliot’s performance in the Evening Standard. 

The It’s Time festival in Greenwich saw performances from alum and TL Innovation Award 2020 Winner Gabriel Askew.  

The New Generation Festival returned this year in a programme of socially-distanced performances in Florence, featuring Sam Jewison performing in ‘The Three Divas’ concert. 

Making the most of the warm weather, the Leo Richardson Quartet played live in the churchyard of Southwark Cathedral, while John Savournin led Charles Court Opera back onto the stage with an open-air performance of H.M.S Pinafore. 

Composition alum Dai Fujikura saw his new piano concerto Akiko’s Piano performed by the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra to mark the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombings at the annual Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony. 

Alumni continued to showcase work to audiences at home in August. Dinosaur bandmates Laura Jurd and Corrie Dick performed online with Sound Cellar, while Bastard Assignments and dance alum Eleanor Perry of Thick & Tight teamed up to create lip-synch video Woking.

In another alumni collaboration, Luca Silvestrini’s Protein Dance and Roswitha Chesher presented the UK debut of new short film The Sun Inside as part of the ongoing Protein 21 Reimagine programme. The video features clips from 152 contributors around the world, each interacting with light and shade through movement. 

Also teaming up with Protein to celebrate the company’s 21-year anniversary was alum and TL staff Stella Howard, presenting With my hands I remember with dancers from Trinity Laban’s ‘Inspired not Tired’ programme, Boundless. 

TL piano alum and accompanist Helen Nicholas performed works from 7 Virtuoso Etudes, a collection of classic Gershwin songs for piano, while Jazz re:freshed hosted a livestream featuring performances from jazz singer Sahra Gure and KOKOROKO trumpeter Ms Maurice. 

Taking to the airwaves were sarod virtuoso Soumik Datta with ‘Sounds of Silence’, a new five-part audio series in BBC’s Culture in Quarantine, and jazz pianist Reuben James, performing and chatting about music from his latest EP Slow Down on Melodic Distraction‘s guest show. 

Saxophone alum Camilla George shared insights into her career and latest album The People Could Fly in an interview on the 606 Club Straight Ahead Show, while pianist Jonny Liebeck discussed his new release Mellow Mind with London Jazz. 

Nefeli Tsiouti and Edel Quin gave online talks in the IADMS eNetworking sessions, sharing their expertise. 

Fulbright Scholar Roman Baca spoke to The Stage about how his experience as a US Marine led him to create unique dance company Exit 12 in this interview. 

Songhay Toldon created a new dance solo depicting his longing for the club dance scene during lockdown. Read more about the solo and Songhay’s experience as a dancer during the pandemic in this article. 

COMING UP 

The DC Jazz Festival has announced Camilla George as one of five 2020 DCJazzPrix Finalists. 

Dubbed the ‘Golden Girl of Jazz’, Camilla will take part in a virtual performance on Sunday 27 September at Union Stage as part of The 16th Annual JazzFest. 

Following her first performance on 29 August, concert pianist Yuki Negishi will perform in City Music’s online recital series for two more dates over the coming months. Book tickets for the performances here.