Staff A-Z

Philip works freelance as a recitalist, accompanist and pianist for coaching, session work, and rehearsals. He is a conductor and rehearsal director for opera groups, choirs and orchestras, and a composer and musical adviser. Philip Colman has acted as pianist, songwriter and arranger for television programmes, as an arranger for the Royal Opera House, and as a pianist for the National Film Theatre, Ballet Rambert, RADA and London Contemporary Dance Theatre.

Julian Coward read Classics at the University of Cambridge. After graduating he worked for a period in the City and then as a schoolmaster before moving into professional music.

Several years of freelancing led to his appointment in 1983 to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, though he continued to play with many of the London orchestras as well as work in education.

John has, throughout his career, combined instrumental teaching with practicing and teaching the Alexander Technique, performing and coaching. From 1976 to 1986, John was a member of the BBC Symphony Orchestra during which time he also taught at Westminster School. In 1991 he joined the Trinity College of Music staff and was that year also appointed to teach Alexander Technique in the Royal College of Music Junior Department.

Fiona’s first professional work was with the Bournemouth Sinfonietta and the impressive Roger Norrington. Her debut as a solo performer was in 1986 playing Weber’s Concerto No. 2 with the London Symphony Orchestra under Bramwell Tovey at the Barbican Hall. In 1988 Fiona won the LPO Pioneer award for the best young performer and the ‘reward’ was to play Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto at the Royal Festival Hall.

She has worked with conductors of the stature of Leonard Slatkin, Tamás Vásáry, Mark Elder, Bernard Haitink, Daniel Harding and Ricardo Chailly. She speaks of Mark Elder’s respectfulness and wonderful musicianship and adds that he is an ex-Bryanstonian; Chailly is ‘exciting, wonderful and a perfectionist’; Harding is ‘incredibly intelligent and his beats are wonderfully clear’ and she speaks glowingly of Haitink’s amazing inspiration.

Tony Cross was a specialist musician at Wells Cathedral School before studying music at The City University and a postgraduate in orchestral studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Having graduated he has been ubiquitous as a freelance trumpeter in all of London’s major symphony, chamber and opera orchestra’s for nearly thirty years. His early career focussed on a passion for contemporary music and included extended periods of work with both the London Sinfonietta and Ensemble Modern. This was contrasted with historically informed performances on original instruments with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the English Concert.

Professorial Staff – Violin

Diana has been a professor at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance since 1994.

Diana is one of the most distinguished violinists in Great Britain, her career spanning a wide spectrum of musical activities. After winning prizes in the Niccolò Paganini and Alberto Curci violin competitions, she developed a busy international career as a recitalist and a concerto soloist, playing an extensive repertoire from the Baroque to the Contemporary. She gave the first performance in Finland of the Violin Concerto by Peter Maxwell Davies and is dedicated to the promotion and performance of new works.

Alison Curtis-Jones FHEA, MA, PGCE, BA(Hons)

Artistic Director of award-winning Summit Dance Theatre, internationally recognised dance artist, movement consultant, contemporary choreological expert, researcher and leading exponent in re-imagining Rudolf Laban’s ‘lost’ choreographic works. Ali teaches annually in Switzerland and Croatia and her choreographic work performed throughout Europe, UK, Switzerland and Canada, filmed and screened by Swiss TV company RSI, German TV company ARTE and featured in the BBC documentary Dance Rebels.

Ali presents conference papers and lecture demonstrations, workshops and masterclasses internationally. The body as a dynamic archive is central in her work, examining dance pedagogy, training practices and creative processes for contemporary dancers. Her current practice promotes movement for wellbeing and her written work published in Journal of Dance and Somatic Practice, Movement and Dance Magazine, Dance Books, and her chapter ‘Transmission: Reimagining Laban. Contemporising the Past, Envisioning the Future, in Transmissions in Dance: Contemporary Staging Practices, published by Palgrave Macmillan. 

Ali teaches at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and The University of Creative Arts.

Born in Bologna, Italy, Gabriella studied in Italy, France and Germany with Pierre Jamet and Fabrice Pierre, Jaqueline Borot, Giselle Herbert and Anna Loro.

Now based in London, she continues to follow an international and high profile career performing and teaching the harp.Captivating audiences around the globe her critically acclaimed recordings span solo, chamber and orchestral works on the Claves, Koch, Stradivarius, Dal Segno and Ambitus labels, and she has also made many live recordings for French, German, Italian and Swiss Radio.

Her wide and varied repertoire covers most solo, concertos, chamber music repertoire as well as orchestral works (symphonic, operatic and ballet). Internationally active as a soloist and chamber musician, Gabriella has given recitals and concerts throughout Europe, USA, the Far and Middle East.

She also freelances with some of the most outstanding UK and European orchestras: the Vienna Philharmonic, Vienna State Opera, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Conductors she works with include Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Mariss Jansons, Valery Gergiev, Simon Rattle, Lorin Maazel, Sir Colin Davis, Antonio Pappano, Bernard Haitink, Seiji Osawa and Esa-Pekka Salonen amongst countless others.

Research interests and areas of supervision:

• Harp performance
• Musicology

Emily is the leader of the Hallé Orchestra, which she combines with a vibrant career guest leading other ensembles across Europe, alongside engagements as a soloist, chamber musician and teacher.

Penny began her career combining piano performance with school and college teaching, first leading an A-Level Music department over forty years ago.

She joined Junior Trinity in 2002, tasked with developing the GCSE and A Level examination courses. Consolidating her teaching experience by examining for Edexcel since 1990, she has in turn become a Senior Examiner and a Principal Examiner.

Dedicated to offering opportunities to young musicians she is a trustee for several music charities, co-ordinates a Young Musician of the Year competition and has run a concert series for young professionals in her converted chapel home.

David Delarre is a musician, composer and music educator. Through his work with the award winning singer Eliza Carthy MBE and Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, David has performed at a number of high profile venues and festivals across the UK and Europe.

He has recently recorded sessions for BBC Radio 2, 3 and 4 and has also performed on BBC 1 for Jools Holland and BBC 1 Breakfast TV. His theatre credits include The Globe’s production of The Two Noble Kinsman, Bartholomew Fair, Tony Award winning Broadway musical Hadestown and the National Theatre’s Hex.

Professorial Staff – Violin

Matthew Denton (violin) has performed for three decades as leader of the internationally acclaimed Carducci Quartet, one of the UK’s most celebrated ensembles. 

As a chamber musician, he has won prizes at major international competitions including the Concert Artists Guild Competition, Kuhmo Chamber Music Competition, Charles Hennen Competition, Osaka International Chamber Music Competition and Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition. In the UK, he has received awards from organisations including the Royal Over-Seas League, Tillett Trust, Tunnell Trust, Countess of Munster Musical Trust and the Parkhouse Award. 

With the Carducci Quartet, Matthew has recorded more than 25 albums for labels including Signum Records, Naxos, BMG, Somm Recordings and Nimbus Records, as well as the quartet’s own label. He has performed at leading venues worldwide including Carnegie Hall, the Library of Congress, Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw and Tivoli Concert Hall, with the quartet presenting around 90 concerts each year. 

Renowned for their complete cycles of Bartók, Beethoven and Shostakovich, the quartet received a Royal Philharmonic Society Award for their landmark ‘Shostakovich15’ project—ten complete cycles presented worldwide, culminating in an immersive single-day performance at Shakespeare’s Globe. 

Steven combines a performing career with the post of Assistant Curator to the Finchcocks Collection, one of the principal collections of historical keyboard instruments in Europe. In 1993 he won the Broadwood Harpsichord Competition and made his London recital debut shortly afterward. Additional performances include chamber music on fortepiano with Ensemble Galant and the Fitzwilliam Quartet as well as conducting new productions with New Chamber Opera and Opera Restor’d. He went on tour to the USA, where he played the complete Brandenburg Concertos with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

Graham Anthony Devine was born in England and began his musical studies at Chetham’s School of Music, Manchester studying guitar with Gordon Crosskey. At 19 years old, Graham relocated to Brazil where he lived for almost a decade giving many recitals and masterclasses throughout South America during this period.

In April 2002, Graham was awarded first prize at one of the guitar’s most prestigious international competitions, the Alhambra International Guitar Competition held in Alcoy, Spain. He was to repeat this success one month later by winning the first prize at the Emilio Pujol International Guitar Competition, Italy. He is the only English guitarist to win either of these competitions.

Graham records for NAXOS and his many CD releases, which include the music of J.S. Bach through to South American music and twentieth century repertoire, have received rave reviews worldwide. His 2005 NAXOS release, British Guitar music, was chosen as disc of the week on America’s NPR radio station and CLASSIC FM’s John Brunning commented “Graham Devine, who plays with great sensitivity, strikes me as an ideal artist to continue Julian Bream’s musical legacy.’’

Mike Doolan is a Dancer, Lecturer, and Strength and Conditioning coach. He graduated with an MFA in Dance Science from Trinity Laban in 2021, and he is currently in the final year of an MSc in Strength and Conditioning at St Mary’s University, Twickenham. As a dancer, he worked with companies such as the Greek National Opera, English National Ballet, Akram Khan Company and Andonis Foniadakis Company performing in classical and contemporary repertoire from 2010-2019.

Within the Dance Science department, Mike is Laboratory Technician and Strength and Conditioning coach. He also lectures in Physiology and Training Strategies for dancers on the BSc program and teaches on the Physical Awareness and Development program on the BA. Mike also teaches Contact Improvisation and is co-director of Contact Improvisation at Goldsmiths University and has taught in schools such as The Place, Royal Ballet School, London Studio Centre, Urdang Academy.