News

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

The month of July saw many achievements for our alumni as well as some exciting new announcements. 

Moses Boyd was shortlisted for the prestigious Mercury Prize for his latest album Dark Matter. Read about Moses’ reaction to the nomination and the other artists in the running for the award on the BBC website. 

Dance alum Patrick Webster and 2020 Transitions member Lewis Sharp were accepted into Overture, the New Adventures professional development scheme for emerging dance teachers and community dance artists. 

Also continuing with their professional development, Yukiko Masui, Sarah Golding and Rachel Cherry were among the artists announced in The Place’s Choreodrome programme. 

Recent Transitions Dance Company alum Iole La Sala was recognised in the Premio Roma Danza 2020 international dance competition, winning third prize for her film ‘Smartphone Dance‘. 

Cara Curran was announced as the newest member of the alto section in early music vocal ensemble Stile Antico, and, following her success as President of Decca Records, Rebecca Allen was named President of the rebranded EMI Records. 

Alumni remained active in the world of dance research and education in July. Stella Howard continued her work with Breathe Arts Health Research to deliver Breathe Dance for Strength and Balance. Participant Wendla talks about the impact of the project on her movement capability in this video. 

Choreographer, movement director and TL alum Robbie Synge was announced as one of six professional mentors who will give free advice to young artists through Highland Youth Arts Hub.The project aims to prevent a talent drain during the pandemic.  

Kiki Selioni launched The Makings of the Actor, a new organisation promoting the development and dissemination of best practices in actor training pedagogy. 

Chloe Aligianni worked on ‘Maths Meets Arts‘, a four-day educational festival sharing collaborations between artists and mathematicians. 

Kate Haughton created new interactive dance video Our Minutes, exploring our perception of the passage of time, while former TL dance lecturer Peter Curtis published The Dancing Potter, an autobiographical account of his successful careers in the worlds of both dance and pottery. Listen to his recent interview with Phoenix FM. 

Music alumni continued to take to the virtual stage this month. Unable to host its usual crowds in person, Glastonbury festival went online and saw Nubya Garcia perform her new single ‘Pace’ alongside fellow alum Joe Armon-Jones. Watch the performance from 31’50” on iPlayer. 

Yu Tamura created the music video for Grammy-nominated artist J.S. Ondara’s single, ‘Shower Song’. Part of a new album from the singer, Yu’s video is one of several works Ondara has created in collaboration with artists around the world, highlighting our shared experiences during lockdown. 

Following her winning performance of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ at last year’s Trinity Laban Gold Medal, Elena Abad has arranged another classic Queen song for violin. Watch her twist on  ‘Love Of My Life’ on YouTube. 

Showcasing their talents on Facebook, Reuben James performed live on the Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club page, Martin Wray and Minn Majoe performed ‘Who Will Buy‘ from Oliver in an uplifting video filmed from home, and Babatunde Sosan played organ in a live-stream performance as part of the African Concert Series. 

Composition alumni saw their commissioned works premiered online in July. The Ret Frem Ensemble performed Liam Mattison’s haunting quartet for flute, clarinet, violin and cello, while The Riot Ensemble played Soosan Lolavar’s new work for solo violin, ‘Undone‘. Watch this introduction exploring Soosan’s creative process. 

Giving audiences their classical music fix, Stjepan Hauser released the latest instalment of his ‘Alone Together’ concert series, playing some of his favourite movie scores live from Dubrovnik, and Duncan Ward conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in a concert on the ‘digital stage’ of Festival D’Aix en Provence.

In July, TL alumni continued to demonstrate their highly creative and experimental practices. Music alumni Bastard Assignments teamed up with alum Eleanor Perry of dance duo Thick & Tight in a collaborative video project, while all-female dance collective Mass Hysteria premiered their “boundary-defying” performance Wo/anderland, reimagining what it is to perform in a ‘post-touch’ world. 

Visual artist and choreography alum Anna Nykyri released short film In-Between, collaborating with photographers around the world to capture cityscapes during the pandemic to show the effects of social distancing. 

We caught up with transdiciplinary artist and MA Creative Practice alum Laura Rouzet in our Alumni Spotlight series, discussing her work and how she’s been staying creative during lockdown. 

Elisabeth Schilling’s INVISIBLE DANCES – Art after Lockdown began touring internationally, proposing an alternative format to presenting and touring dance, inspired by current restrictions in the cultural sector.  

July saw many new music releases from TL alumni, including jazz alum Emma-Jean Thackray‘s new LP Um Yang and harpist Guilia Rettore‘s album ‘Six Nocturnes Concertants’, composed by the virtuosic harp and violin duo Bochsa and Kreutzer. 

‘Symphony in C: A Carbon Symphony’ by David Earl was released online. Performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the symphony was developed in collaboration with the Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO) at Carnegie Institution of Washington. 

Alumni continued to develop new initiatives to stay connected with their creative communities. Piano alum Peter Hewitt released weekly videos, performing and introducing movements from Beethoven’s piano sonatas to provide an easy way into the music. 

Maria Marchant took to the airwaves on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune, discussing her weekly composition series 7 Works in 7 Days at 7pm with host Sean Rafferty. Listen from 43’30”. 

Neil Valentine set up Space for Peace, a music project which brings together singers and instrumentalists of all kinds and uses Zoom for connecting, recording and improvising in performance. 

Listen to Melissa Brown’s new podcast ‘Bold as Brass’ on Spotify, where the trombone alum chats to professional brass players about their lives and careers. 

As lockdown continued to ease, alumni were able to start performing live in venues again, with a mix of virtual and in-person audiences. 

Elliot Galvin impressed critics with his improvised performances in Kings Place’s Culture Clinic series, where audiences share their lockdown experiences and feelings with musicians who then ‘prescribe’ a tailor-made musical response. 

Ruben Fox, Deschanel Gordon, Artie Zaitz, Michael Shrimpling and Will Cleasby performed at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club as part of jazz ensemble The Banger Factory, and Joshua Smith danced in the BBC Proms commissioned film and score Beethoveniana, choreographed by Cameron McMillan who recently created work for our 2020 Transitions cohort.

COMING UP 

Don’t miss Laura Jurd and Corrie Dick of the acclaimed Dinosaur quartet performing in Sound Cellar’s ‘In Our Own Space‘ livestream concert series at 20.15 on 13 August.  

Tune in to TL YouTube on Thursday 13 Aug at 17.00 for the premiere of Mateo Dupleich Rozo’s experimental short-film hola casita. 

Enjoy live music from the Leo Richardson quartet in the churchyard of Southwark Cathedral on Saturday 15 August, with social distancing measures in place. 

Nubya Garcia’s highly anticipated debut album Source will be out on 21 August. Pre-order the album and listen to more of Nubya’s music on her website. 

The renamed ‘Regeneration Festival’ will be a four-day programme of socially-distanced performances in Florence. 27 August will see pianist, singer and TL alum Sam Jewison perform in ‘The Three Divas’ concert. 

Adam Russell’s immersive performance-installation exhibition Fairground Reminiscence will return this month, adapted for social distancing. Tickets are also available for the live outdoor performances on the 29 and 30 August. 

Check out dance alum Alexandra Baybutt’s range of online classes in areas such as somatic movement principles, Laban/Bartenieff movement system and pregnancy yoga. Book ahead for the October round of classes. 

Enjoy your very own one-to-one live performance with Ayanna Witter-Johnson, Cherise Adams-Burnett or Christina McMaster, who are set to feature in Kings Place’s Culture Clinic later this month.