News

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

This month, we presented alumnus Richard Gaddes – former General Director of Santa Fe Opera and Opera Theater of St Louis – with an Honorary Fellowship, which was presented by fellow Trinity Laban alumnus Sir Matthew Bourne at a reception in New York City.

On the topic of awards, President of Decca Records and Alumnus Rebecca Allen has won the prestigious Music Week Women in Music 2017 ‘Business Woman of the Year’ award, whilst jazz alumnus Moses Boyd was awarded a second MOBO award for Best Jazz Act.

It’s been a bumper month for Boyd, who was been nominated for Best Jazz Act at this year’s Urban Music Awards as part of duo Binker and Moses, alongside fellow alumni Camila George Quartet and the eventual winners Ezra Collective. 

There have been countless alumni performances at the Cambridge and London Jazz Festivals this month, and some fantastic reviews including some below:

• Dee Byrne’s Entropi (Dee Byrne, Rebecca Nash, Olie Brice and Matt Fisher)
• Elliot Galvin Trio (Elliot Galvin and Corrie Dick)

It’s not just music alumni who have been performing at the jazz festivals. Dance graduates Elisa Vassena and Stella Papi joined forces with jazz bassist and alumnus Olie Brice for a new interdisciplinary double bill by dance artist Kasia Witek which was performed at the LJF.

Other festivals this month included Emerge Festival at The Space, London, a festival for emerging dance and physical theatre work. It featured performances from Greta Gauhe as part of contemporary dance group Follow Through Collective and musical theatre alumni Our-Kind who presented Utopia. Additionally, alumnus Mary Ellen Beaudreau is amongst a collection of five choreographers who have created work for Festival Ballet Providence’s ‘Up Close On Hope Series’.

We recently announced that Robert Clarke will be one of two dance artists to receive a Compass Commission, our flagship commissioning programme in partnership with Greenwich Dance. Maurice Kelliher has also received funding from Dance On The Radio for his latest work Lost Broadcasts, which will be presented in 2018.

In performance news, vocal alumni Katy Huntley, Tom McKenna, and Lucy Bray premiered Stephen McNeff’s new opera The Burning Boy in Cornwall, which received a 4* review in The Times. Another vocal alumni, Nardus Williams, performed the double role of Marjana/Maggie in the world premiere of Glyndebourne Youth Opera’s Belongings, with Ashley Beuchamp as the répétiteur for the production.

After a sell-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe, Luca Silvestrini‘s award-winning company Protein performed Border Tales at The Place. Additionally, Silvestrini’s Protein and People Dancing have launched People Dancing: Together, a new programme of participatory dance aimed at engaging the public in creating and performing dance in diverse communities.

Over in the West-End, new musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie has opened at the Apollo Theatre, with alumnus Theo Jamieson as the Musical Director. Musical Theatre graduates Duncan Cumming and Christy Bellis have been performing in Erasmus Theatre’s production of Into the Woods which is touring Italy, whilst Lucy Elson performed in Tiger Bay The Musical at the Wales Millennium Centre this month. 

Don’t miss:

Musical theatre alumnus Leo Rowell performing in the Thursford Christmas Spectacular throughout December.

Jeff Wayne’s musical version of The War of the Worlds has gone on sale! Book now for the arena tour in 2018.

Alumni Marcella Puppini and Kate Mullins, performing as part of the Puppini Sister at the Greenwich Wintertime Festival this December.