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In October 2019 Trinity Laban awarded composition legend Steve Reich with an Honorary Fellowship

The event celebrated Steve Reich’s work by way of a performance and Q & A session with our staff and students led by Dominic Murcott, Head of Composition.

Described by The New Yorker as “the most original musical thinker of our time”, Steve Reich is recognised as a composer ahead of his time, with his music world-renowned for pushing boundaries and experimenting with form.

At Trinity Laban we too embrace the new, the experimental and the unexpected whilst providing unique opportunities to collaborate and innovate, building upon a foundation of technical excellence and classical form.

As the UK’s only conservatoire of music and contemporary dance we are proud to provide opportunities for the two art forms to converge, and with Steve Reich’s music a favourite of many eminent choreographers, it was a very special moment to be able to celebrate his work.

Steve Reich at Trinity Laban

“There’s just a handful of living composers who can legitimately claim to have altered the direction of musical history and Steve Reich is one of them,”

The Guardian

Nic Pendlebury Steve reich event

Nic Pendlebury

Nic Pendlebury is Head of Strings at Trinity Laban, leading one of the most vibrant string departments in Europe. Embracing a student cohort from around the world his staff includes many of the country’s leading musicians. As well as his educational and managerial responsibilities, he conducts several of the Conservatoire’s orchestras and ensembles, including Trinity Laban String Ensemble.

Nic is also the founder and violist of the internationally acclaimed Smith Quartet, renowned for their performance of new music and for winning the Prudential Award for the Arts. Now into their third decade, they have collaborated with many of the world’s leading musicians including John Adams, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, David Tannenbaum, Andy Sheppard and Django Bates.

Dominic Murcott smiling at Steve Reich

Dominic Murcott

Dominic Murcott is Head of Composition at Trinity Laban. The Department has become renowned for its inventive 'fine arts' approach to music making, the integration of acoustic composition and sonic arts, and the championing of individuality.

Much of Dominic’s work combines acoustic instruments with computers, film and other media. He has a continuing interest in work that is personalised for specific performers and has created acoustic/electronic pieces for trumpeter Noel Langley, percussionist Joby Burgess, clarinettist Joan Enric Lluna, harpist Sioned Williams and the Elysian String Quartet, among many others.

Steve Reich

Steve Reich’s music has influenced composers and mainstream musicians all over the world. Music for 18 Musicians and Different Trains have earned him two Grammy Awards, and in 2009 his Double Sextet won the Pulitzer Prize. Reich’s documentary video opera works – The Cave and Three Tales, made in collaboration with video artist Beryl Korot – have been performed on four continents. His work Quartet for percussionist Colin Currie sold out two consecutive concerts at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London shortly after tens of thousands at the Glastonbury Festival heard Jonny Greenwood (of Radiohead) perform Electric Counterpoint and the London Sinfonietta delighted audiences with his Music for 18 Musicians.

In 2012, Reich was awarded the Gold Medal in Music by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has additionally received the Praemium Imperiale in Tokyo, the Polar Music Prize in Stockholm, the BBVA Award in Madrid and the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale. He has been named Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and has been awarded honorary doctorates by the Royal College of Music, The Juilliard School, the Liszt Academy in Budapest, and the New England Conservatory of Music.

Composition legend Steve Reich with his Honorary Fellowship