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Trinity Laban awards Honorary Fellowships to leading figures in the arts

Mon 11 December 2017

Music and Dance icons were presented with the highest honour from Trinity Laban during ceremonies for 2017 graduating students.

An Honorary Fellowship was presented to the Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre Jude Kelly CBE and prominent conductor Dr Tim Reynish on Wednesday 6 December, whilst Artistic Director of The Place, Richard Alston CBE received his award on Friday 8 December.

Olivier award-winning Judith Kelly CBE has been the Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre – Europe’s largest Arts Institution – in London for over 10 years. In her varied career, she founded Battersea Arts Centre, Solent People’s Theatre and was the founding director of the West Yorkshire Playhouse, and has directed over 100 theatrical and operatic productions from the Royal Shakespeare Company to the Châtalet in Paris.

In collecting her award, she commented –

Trinity Laban has been ground-breaking in its approach to personal creativity and practical industry know-how. All of us want the Arts to matter and contribute to society’s prosperity in every way. Trinity Laban is helping students to fully realise their artistic potential. 

Dr Timothy Reynish was previously Head of the School of Wind and Percussion at the Royal Northern College of Music for 21 years, building the RNCM Wind Orchestra as one of the leading ensembles of its kind. Outside of education, he has commissioned and premiered many works, and performed and toured on an international stage.

In collecting his award, he commented –

It is a great honour to receive this award, and to join so distinguished a group of past recipients not only from the world of music, but from the wider fields of dance, theatre, education and performing arts in general. I am especially pleased that the award recognises the importance of the wind ensemble in contemporary music, and the great contribution being made currently by the Department of Wind, Brass and Percussion at Trinity Laban under its director, Andrew Dunn.

Richard Alston is recognised as one of the most prominent figures in contemporary dance, having been Artistic Director of The Place – home to London Contemporary Dance School and Richard Alston Dance Company – since 1994. He was previously Resident Choreographer with Ballet Rambert, and was Artistic Director there from 1986 until 1992.

In collecting his award, he commented –

I have worked in dance long enough to have seen the legacy of Rudolf Laban blossom from the small but impassioned Art of Movement Centre at Addlestone in Surrey into the impressive and wide reaching establishment that Trinity Laban has become today. Over the years the centre has progressively taken huge steps to ensure its continuing relevance to contemporary practice and ideas in dance. Trinity Laban remains a vital ingredient in the world of creative education and vocational training.