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Gold Medal 2017 winner announced

Wed 25 January 2017

On Monday 23 January, Baritone James Newby was announced as the winner of the 2017 Trinity Laban Gold Medal.

The annual Gold Medal Showcase celebrates the success of outstanding young Trinity Laban musicians. Competitors are nominated by the Heads of each of Trinity Laban’s Faculty of Music Departments for their exceptional musical flair and professionalism, and all receive a Trinity Laban Director’s Prize for Achievement in recognition of this.

Upon winning, he commented –

“I have been so looking forward to the Gold Medal as an amazing way to finish off my time at Trinity Laban. It felt like such a celebration and quite rightly there was no hint of competition. I was so, so honoured to have even been chosen to represent such an amazing department full of extremely talented singers and great friends! Trinity Laban has been a phenomenal place to study and I have received so much great advice, support and teaching. A special mention should go to Linda Hirst for all her support and to Alison Wells my vocal teacher who has been a constant inspiration and has had such a massive impact on my life both musically and otherwise, I cannot thank her enough.”

This year’s adjudicators were Trinity Laban’s Director of Music, Dr Claire Mera-Nelson and award-winning percussionist Colin Currie.

Currie commented that the evening’s display had given all of the competitors “a fantastic start to their careers”, before praising Newby for “inhabiting a variety of styles superbly”.

Mera-Nelson rounded off the event by commenting –

“Year upon year, the standard of achievement demonstrated at the Gold Medal increases and it is a delight to watch these former and current students showing off the best of themselves.”

The 2017 finalists performing alongside James Newby were Jon Frank (French Horn), Rob Griffin (Jazz Saxophone), Urška Horvat (Cello), Ben Pearson (Composition) and Ettore Strangio (Piano). 

Image L-R: Claire Mera Nelson, James Newby and Colin Currie (JK Photography)