Keyboard

Teaching

Our programmes bring together the rigour of professional technical training with an emphasis on creative exploration. Under the guidance of our internationally renowned teachers, you will develop your technique, your confidence and discover your unique voice as a performing artist.

Through weekly allocation of individual Principal Study, Principal Study Enhancement and group classes, you will encounter a range of learning experiences to help discover your individuality as an artist. You will receive regular tutorials, repertoire and performance seminars and be encouraged to explore other keyboard instruments. In addition to the traditional canon, we also ensure you are exposed to the many radical currents taking place in contemporary music, through collaboration with composition students, staff and visiting artists.

A plethora of chamber music opportunities are built into the curriculum. These range from playing in duos to working with trios, quartets and quintets; from work with singers to any other combination of instruments you can think of!

Keyboard Teaching Staff

Head of Keyboard, Piano and Chamber Music

Dr Ji Liu

Artists in Residence

	Rolf Hind– Visiting Artist in Contemporary Piano
	Pascal Rogé
	Linos Piano Trio
	Philip Fowke – Emeritus Fellow, Piano

Piano

	Gabriele Baldocci – Piano		Eugene Asti -Vocal Accompaniment Coordinator
	Alexander Ardakov– Piano		Hilary Coates – Piano
	Christine Croshaw – Piano and Chamber Music		Douglas Finch – Piano, Contemporary Piano and Composition
	Martino Tirimo– Piano and Chamber Music
	Deniz Arman Gelenbe – Piano		Mikhail Kazakevich – Piano
	Yekaterina Lebedeva – Piano		Elena Riu – Piano and Contemporary Piano
	Penelope Roskell – Piano		Peter Tuite – Piano
		Ji Liu – Head of Piano and Keyboard at Trinity Laban – Piano

Contemporary Piano

	Douglas Finch – Piano, Contemporary Piano and Composition
	Elena Riu – Piano and Contemporary Piano
	Rolf Hind– Visiting Artist in Contemporary Piano

Chamber Music

	Sergio De Simone – Head of Keyboard, Piano and Chamber Music
	Martino Tirimo– Piano and Chamber Music
	Christine Croshaw – Piano and Chamber Music
	Eugene Asti -Vocal Accompaniment Coordinator
	Helen Yorke – Chamber Music Coordinator, Vocal Coach
	Richard Markson – Chamber Music, Senior Fellow (Strings)

Other Keyboard Instruments

	Steven Devine – Fortepiano and Harpsichord
	James Johnstone – Harpsichord and Chamber Organ
	Richard Gowers – Organ
	John Henry – Harpsichord

 Repertoire Studies

	Alisdair Hogarth – Keyboard Culture
	Phillip Colman – Accompanying
	Helen Yorke – Chamber Music Coordinator, Vocal Coach

Collaboration

As a pianist, accompanying other musicians is a privilege that enriches your experience as a performer. A collaborative piano specialism is available to third and fourth year undergraduates and to postgraduate students, with regular tutorials, coaching and classes.

Tutorials are also available from teachers across our instrumental departments, and a brand new class in Specialist Keyboard Skills aims to open up new landscapes by teaching improvisation in all its diverse forms, from continuo playing to dance accompaniment.

From the traditional to the cutting edge, you are encouraged to pursue innovative and exciting projects that push the boundaries of what is possible with keyboard instruments. Some of the most exciting innovations in the department take place through collaboration, including the opportunity to work with students from the Faculty of Dance through our annual CoLab festival.

Performance

Performance is at the core of the Department’s philosophy, with an abundance of solo and chamber opportunities available, affording you the chance to explore varied styles and repertoire. You will have regular opportunities to perform in our weekly recital series in the Old Royal Naval College Chapel, St Alfege Church and at Blackheath Halls. Our pianists often gain places in prestigious internal and external competitions and concert series, and receive key opportunities to play in professional venues across London, including St James’s Church Piccadilly, Steinway Hall, St Martin-in-the-Fields, Wigmore Hall and Cadogan Hall.

The Department promotes several concert series each year, in which all our students are encouraged to take part. Examples of recent concert series include:

• Keyboard, Piano and Chamber Music Festival: a major festival series celebrating a different composer each year.
• Staff Profiles: a showcase of concerts, curated by staff from the Department.
• New Lights Piano Festival: celebrating Contemporary Piano Music.
• The Undergraduate Keyboard Festival: provies a platform to perform in front of your contemporaries. The festival is recorded, and you will receive immediate feedback, to help inform your progression and develop your confidence as a performer.

Find out more about Music Performance Opportunities.

Facilities and Instruments

During your time at Trinity Laban you will have a chance to perform on some of the finest keyboard instruments. We take great pride in our piano estate, which consists of a hugely diverse range of models, from Steinway to Bösendorfer and Fazioli, in keeping with the demands of a pianist’s career in today’s world. We have a range of period instruments including several single- and double-manual harpsichords, fortepianos, a chamber organ and a recently purchased Karen Richter clavichord.

Organ students will learn and perform on a number of different instruments, both within the college and at numerous London churches and cathedrals with which we have close relationships.

Instruments:

• Piano
• Chamber Organ
• Harpsichord
• Fortepiano
• Clavichord

Your Audition

We are encouraging applicants to audition in person where possible. However, if for whatever reason you are unable to attend a live audition in London online recorded auditions are available for all applicants.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch: admissions@trinitylaban.ac.uk

Masterclasses

In our extensive series of masterclasses, we invite renowned visiting artists to bring the richness of their wide experience to your door. Visitors include Andrei Gavrilov, Malcolm Martineau and Boris Petrushansky, as well as more frequent opportunities to play before our Artists in Residence Rolf Hind and Pascal Rogé.

Graduates

Alongside our many established alumni, in the last few years many more graduates have also gone on to forge exciting careers:

Harriet Stubbs is a Yamaha artist and on the Board for the Grammy’s New York Chapter. Her first commercial album, Heaven and Hell: The Doors of Perception, featuring Marianne Faithfull was produced by multi Grammy award winner Russ Titelman.

Gen Li won first place at Jaques Samuel Piano Competition and at Brant International Piano Competition and in 2018 was awarded third place at the renowned, Hastings International Piano Concerto competition.

Iyad Sughayer is an international concert pianist and recording artist with BIS Records.

Guilio Potenza was a Concordia Foundation Young Artist and recorded the piano and violin repertoire of Leoš Janáček for Da Vinci Classic label.

Maria Marchant is a recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician. She is a member of the Stradivarius Trio and pianist-in-residence at the Shipley Arts Festival. She released the first recording of piano work of Granville Bantock

To view the impressive organisations that our alumni have worked with, visit Alumni Destinations.

For more information on the successes of Trinity Laban Keyboard graduates and what they have to say about the course, visit Alumni Profiles.

Useful Links

• View all Keyboard Teaching Staff
• How to Apply
• The Audition Day
• Audition Requirements
• Further Information for International Students
• Studying in London