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Celebrating Alan Britten CBE with Trinity College London

Mon 7 October 2019

Trinity Laban hosted a VIP reception to celebrate the donation of £500,000 from the international exam board

Last Thursday’s (3 Oct) reception commenced with a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the newly named Trinity College London Room in memory of Alan Britten CBE, who gave many years of dedicated service as a trustee of both Trinity Laban and Trinity College London (TCL).

 

Anthony Bowne and Judi Britten cut a ribbon to open the newly named Trinity College London Room in memory of Alan Britten CBE

The room is one of six dedicated practise rooms across the Faculty of Music which now house the Conservatoire’s new Yamaha Disklavier and five handcrafted Steinway B grand pianos.

Purchased with TCL’s generous gift, the new pianos allow even more young musicians to access world-class instruments for practice and performance.

The ceremony was attended by Alan’s wife Judi Britten, daughters Sophie Blake and Tamara Britten, and granddaughter Tegan Blake, alongside TCL Executives Stuart Pearce, Professor Michael Rofe and Richard Michel.

Ahead of the event, the family commented –

“We’re grateful to Trinity Laban and Trinity College London for this honour. Alan Britten loved being part of the colleges and greatly enjoyed attending everything he could. We’re delighted he is being remembered in this way and that his name will continue to be a part of Trinity Laban.” 

Current masters student Christos Fountos delighted guests with a short recital of Scarlatti and Schumann performed on the Yamaha Disklavier. Like many students at the Conservatoire, Christos has benefited from the support of a TCL scholarship during his undergraduate studies, from which he graduated with First Class Honours.

The celebration continued with a VIP drinks reception and a specially crafted programme from leading international piano stars Sergio De Simone (Head of Keyboard), Martino Tirimo, Penelope Roskell, Deniz Arman Gelenbe, Alexander Ardakov, and Philip Fowke, compered by the Conservatoire’s Director of Music, Havilland Willshire, demonstrating the breadth of teaching talent within our Keyboard Department.

 

The six performing Keyboard Department staff members posed with grand piano

Among those attending this unique performance were Craig Terry, Managing Director of Steinway UK, and Maura Romano, Steinway Halls Sales Executive, as well as current and former governors of both TCL and Trinity Laban, and TCL alumni and former scholars.

Speaking ahead of the event Sarah Kemp, CEO Trinity College London, said –

“Trinity College London is thrilled to have been able to make this gift to Trinity Laban in the loving memory of Alan Britten and we are honoured to have a room in the college named after us. Alan was a huge supporter and faithful servant of both our institutions, and of music in general, so we thought this to be the perfect legacy and we know these pianos will give enormous pleasure to those who use them.”

Professor Anthony Bowne, Principal of Trinity Laban, commented –

“We are incredibly grateful for this exceptional gift from Trinity College London. While studying with us, our talented piano students deserve the very best instruments, and we’re thrilled that this donation will further enhance our world-class facilities and equip our students with the tools to match their ambition.

Tonight cements Trinity Laban and Trinity College London’s long-standing and immensely important relationship and our mutual mission to promote and support musical performance and education across the globe.”

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Images credit Juno Snowdon Photography