Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a

music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact definition of music, definitions of mu ...

and dance conservatoire based in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...

and

postgraduate Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and str ...

students based at three campuses in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwic ...

(Trinity),

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home ...

and

New Cross New Cross is an area in south east London, England, south-east of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Lewisham and the SE14 postcode district. New Cross is near St Johns, Telegraph Hill, Nunhead, Peckham, Brockley, Deptford and Gree ...

(Laban).

Faculty of Music

History

Trinity College of Music was founded in central London in 1872 by Henry George Bonavia Hunt to improve the teaching of church music. The College began as the Church Choral Society, whose diverse activities included choral singing classes and teaching instruction in church music. Gladstone was an early supporter during these years. A year later, in 1873, the college became the College of Church Music, London. In 1876 the college was incorporated as the Trinity College London. Initially, only male students could attend and they had to be members of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

. In 1881, the College moved to Mandeville Place off Wigmore Street in Central London, which remained its home for over a hundred years. The college took over various neighbouring buildings in Mandeville Place. These were finally united in 1922 with the addition of a Grecian portico, and substantial internal reconstruction to create a first floor concert hall and an impressive staircase. However, other parts of the college retained a complicated layout reflecting its history as three separate buildings. The building is now occupied by the

School of Economic Science The School of Philosophy and Economic Science (SPES), also operating under the names the School of Philosophy and the School of Practical Philosophy and legally named the School of Economic Science (SES), is a worldwide organisation based in ...

. Trinity moved to its present home in Greenwich in 2001. The east wing of King Charles Court was constructed by John Webb as part of a rebuilding of

Greenwich Palace Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

; it was subsequently absorbed into the Royal Naval Hospital complex, designed in part by Sir

Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren PRS FRS (; – ) was one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history, as well as an anatomist, astronomer, geometer, and mathematician-physicist. He was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 churc ...

, which had later become part of the

Royal Naval College Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...

(RNC). To make the buildings suitable for Trinity's use and remove the accretions of a century of RNC occupation required a substantial refurbishment programme. Work to provide new recital rooms revealed that the building's core incorporates masonry from the Tudor palace. The overall cost of the move to Greenwich was £17 million.

Junior Trinity

Many of the college's staff also teach at Junior Trinity, a Saturday music school for exceptional young musicians who are keen on pursuing a musical career. Junior Trinity offers instrumental and vocal tuition for children and young people ages 5–19, along with GCSE and A-Level courses in Music and Music Technology for older students. Many students of Junior Trinity often continue their musical studies at top conservatoires and universities across the country. Trinity was the first music college to create such a department, and many conservatoires have now followed in Trinity's steps.

Admission

Admission into the Faculty of Music is by competitive auditions, held annually in November or December and March or April. The Faculty of Dance asks for similar qualifications and entry is also by audition; auditions are held at Trinity Laban itself and also at selected venues across Europe and the US. The Conservatoire has an acceptance rate of around 9.9% making Trinity Laban one of the most selective schools in the UK and Europe.

Trinity College London

Trinity College London was founded in 1877 as the external examinations board of Trinity College of Music. Today, the board's examinations are taken by students in over 60 countries, giving external students the opportunity to attain qualifications across a range of disciplines in the performing arts and arts education and

English language learning and teaching English-Language Learner (often abbreviated as ELL) is a term used in some English-speaking countries such as the US and Canada to describe a person who is learning the English language and has a native language that is not English. Some educatio ...

. Trinity College London is based at the Blue Fin Building in central London. Trinity College London validated Trinity College of Music's Graduate Diploma (the GTCL) before it was replaced by the BMus model in 1997.

Trinity College of Music's historical association with the Masonic Order

Trinity College of Music has an historical association with

Freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, with the Trinity College Lodge No 1765 being founded in 1878 by seven early teaching members of the college who were freemasons, including the founder, the Reverend Henry George Bonavia Hunt. In the past, freemasonry was an important though private feature of the life of the College, among both members of staff and the undergraduate and postgraduate men. Trinity College Lodge is no longer associated with the college, since no member of the college belongs to it. However, by co-incidence, the College's patron, the Duke of Kent, has been Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England since 1968.

Faculty of Dance

History

Laban Dance Centre was founded in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

as the Art of Movement Studio by

Rudolf Laban Rudolf von Laban, also known as Rudolf Laban (German; also ''Rudolph von Laban'', hu, Lábán Rezső János Attila, Lábán Rudolf; 15 December 1879 – 1 July 1958), was an Austro-Hungarian, German and British dance artist, choreographer and ...

, an

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

dancer, choreographer and a dance/movement theoretician. In 1958, the school moved from Manchester to

Addlestone Addlestone ( or ) is a town in Surrey, England. It is located approximately southwest of London. The town is the administrative centre of the Borough of Runnymede, of which it is the largest settlement. History The town is recorded as ''Atte ...

in Surrey, and then in 1975 to

in London, where it was renamed the Laban Centre for Movement and Dance. In 1997, it was renamed the Laban Centre London. In 2002, the centre moved to newly built premises in Deptford and was renamed Laban.

The faculty today

Laban offers undergraduate, postgraduate (including Transitions), among other courses. The Faculty of Dance also provides classes for adults and young people on the local community, including the Centre for Advanced Training. In 2019, the London International Screen Dance Festival was introduced by the institution. Laban Creekside (Deptford) includes 13 purpose-built dance studios; eight with ballet barres, the 300-seat Bonnie Bird Theatre, a smaller studio theatre, and a dance library. Laban Laurie Grove (New Cross) also has a number of studios and performance laboratories.

Architecture award

Designed by Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron (who won the Pritzker Prize in 2001 and who also designed the

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It ...

and the

National Stadium in Beijing The National Stadium (), also known as the Bird's Nest (), is an 80,000-capacity stadium in Beijing. The stadium was jointly designed by architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron from Basel-based architecture team Herzog & de Meuron, pr ...

for the 2008 Olympic Games), the centre's building in Deptford won the

Stirling Prize The Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize is a British prize for excellence in architecture. It is named after the architect James Stirling, organised and awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The S ...

for Architecture in 2003. Herzog and de Meuron collaborated with visual artist

Michael Craig-Martin Sir Michael Craig-Martin (born 28 August 1941) is an Irish-born contemporary conceptual artist and painter. He is known for fostering and adopting the Young British Artists, many of whom he taught, and for his conceptual artwork, ''An Oak Tree ...

to create the building. The building includes an eco-technological roof known as a "brown roof". After parts of the building's cladding were damaged by Storm Eunice in February 2022, The Twentieth Century Society repeated 2020 calls for the Deptford building to be listed, so that any repairs respected the building's design quality. If it was added to the Heritage List for England it would become its first 21st century building.

Notable alumni

Music

* Howard Arman (conductor) * Peter Arnold (pianist) *

Sir Granville Bantock Sir Granville Ransome Bantock (7 August 186816 October 1946) was a British composer of classical music. Biography Granville Ransome Bantock was born in London. His father was an eminent Scottish surgeon.Hadden, J. Cuthbert, 1913, ''Modern Musi ...

(composer) * Sir John Barbirolli (conductor, CH) *

Helen Bower Helen Bower (born 1985) is a British-born violinist and sound artist. She is known for her experimentation with violin and loop station, particularly through her "...the Looping Glass" series. Whilst living in Melbourne, Australia, she was Presid ...

(violinist) * Thomas Bowes (violinist) *

Mairead Carlin Mairead, Máiréad or Mairéad, is a feminine name and the Irish variation of the given name Margaret, which is believed to mean "pearl". Another spelling variation is Maighread, which is the dominant Scottish Gaelic spelling of the name. It may ...

(singer) * Edith Coates (mezzo-soprano,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

) *

Avril Coleridge-Taylor Gwendolen Avril Coleridge-Taylor (8 March 190321 December 1998) was an English pianist, conductor, and composer. She was the daughter of composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and his wife Jessie (née Walmisley). Personal life She was born in South ...

(pianist, conductor, composer) * Deva (composer, singer) *

Wilberforce Echezona Wilberforce William Chukudinka Echezona was a Nigerian musicologist and a pioneer teacher of music in Nigerian universities. He was the first Igbo man to be educated at London's Trinity College of Music, and the first African to obtain a degree ...

, musicologist *

Predrag Gosta Predrag Gosta ( Cyrillic: ''Предраг Госта'') is a Serbian-American conductor, harpsichordist, and baritone. Life and career Predrag Gosta was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (present day Serbia), on 14 January 1972. His father was bor ...

(conductor, harpsichordist) * Gavin Greenaway (composer) * Heather Harper (soprano, CBE) * Stjepan Hauser (

2Cellos 2CELLOS (stylized 2CΞLLOS) were a Croatian cellist duo, consisting of classically trained cellists Luka Šulić and Stjepan Hauser. Signed to Sony Masterworks since 2011, they released six albums. They played instrumental arrangements of wel ...

) (cellist) *

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan, 3 June 1943) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, instrumentalist, lyricist and singer, popular for his works in Indian Cinema, prominently in Tamil films. Reputed to be one o ...

(composer, singer, songwriter) * Albert Ketèlbey (composer) *

Fela Kuti Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti (born Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti; 15 October 1938 – 2 August 1997), also known as Abami Eda, was a Nigerian musician, bandleader, composer, political activist, and Pan-Africanist. He is regarded as the pi ...

(musician, activist) *

Sunny Li Li Yun (), popularly known as Sunny Li, is a Chinese concert pianist. Based in London, Li studied at the Royal Academy of Music and Royal Northern College of Music prior to performing at venues around Europe. Biography In 2011, Sunny Li relea ...

(pianist) * Amaal Mallik (composer, singer) *

Mantovani Annunzio Paolo Mantovani (; 15 November 1905 – 29 March 1980) was an Anglo-Italian conductor, composer and light orchestra-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature. The book ''British Hit Singles & Albums'' sta ...

Andrew Matthews-Owen (pianist / accompanist) * Cecilia McDowall (composer) *

Salim Merchant Salim, Saleem or Selim may refer to: People * Salim (name), or Saleem or Salem or Selim, a name of Arabic origin * Salim (poet) (1800–1866) *Saleem (playwright) (fl. 1996) * Selim I, Selim II and Selim III, Ottoman Sultans *Selim people, an ...

(composer) * Mickey J. Meyer (composer) *

Tom Misch Thomas Abraham Misch (born 25 June 1995) is an English musician and producer. He began releasing music on SoundCloud in 2012 and released his debut studio album ''Geography'' in 2018. In 2020, he released his second studio album ''What Kinda Mus ...

(producer, composer, singer, guitarist) * Eric Parkin (pianist) * Margaret Price (soprano, DBE) * Marcella Puppini (singer) * A. R. Rahman (composer, singer, songwriter) *

Anirudh Ravichander Anirudh Ravichander (born 16 October 1990), also known mononymously as Anirudh, is an Indian film scorer music composer music producer singer and instrumentalist who primarily works in Tamil films. He is the son of actor Ravi Raghavendra. ...

(composer, music director, singer, songwriter, record producer, arranger, instrumentalist, conductor) * Amy Shuard (soprano, CBE) *

Iyad Sughayer Iyad Sughayer (born 16 October 1993 in Amman) is a Jordanian- Palestinian classical pianist. Sughayer started playing the piano at the age of five and studied at the National Music Conservatory (NMC) in Amman, Jordan. He was taught by the piano ...

(pianist) * Lana Trotovšek (violinist) * Philip Turbett (bassoonist) * Barry Wordsworth (conductor)

Dance

* Lea Anderson (choreographer, artistic director, MBE) *

Radhika Apte Radhika Apte (born 7 September 1985) is an Indian actress. She works predominantly in Hindi films, and has appeared in a few Tamil, Marathi, Telugu, Bengali, and English-language films. She began acting in theatre and made her film debut with a ...

(actress) * Cressida Bonas (actress) * Sir

Matthew Bourne Sir Matthew Christopher Bourne (born 13 January 1960) is an English choreographer whose work includes contemporary dance and dance theatre. Choreographer In 2007, Bourne contemplated a gay version of ''Romeo and Juliet''. Despite the succ ...

(choreographer,

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

) *

Bilinda Butcher Bilinda Jayne Butcher (born 16 September 1961) is an English musician and singer-songwriter, best known as a vocalist and guitarist of the shoegaze band My Bloody Valentine. Early life Butcher was born and raised in London and later reloca ...

(vocalist/guitarist of My Bloody Valentine) *

Chisato Minamimura Chisato Minamimura is a British dancer and choreographer. She is deaf and a British Sign Language user. Background Minamimura was born in Tokyo, Japan, and became deaf as a baby, after a treatment for a fever. As a child, she attended mainstream ...

(Japanese dancer and choreographer) *

Anjali Jay Anjali Jay (born 9 August 1975) is a British actress, writer and dancer. She trained as a dancer (Bharatanatyam and Contemporary) and has performed since the age of 7. Jay has had an extensive career in theatre, including working with the Ro ...

(actress and dancer) *

Jessica Ward Jessica may refer to: Given name * Jessica (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters with this name * Jessica Folcker, a Swedish singer known by the mononym Jessica * Jessica Jung, a Korean-American singer known by the m ...

(dance educator) * Nighat Chaudhry (Kathak Dancer)

Notable staff

Current and former staff include: * Deniz Arman Gelenbepiano, Head of Piano Department 2007–2016,

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most ...

BM, MSc, student of Adele Marcus and Gyorgy Sandor *

Richard Arnell Richard Anthony Sayer Arnell (15 September 191710 April 2009) was an English composer of classical music. Arnell composed in all the established genres for the concert stage, and his list of works includes six completed symphonies (a seventh w ...

former Professor of Composition * Peter ArnoldProfessor of Piano * Mulatu Astatkeconga drums *

Issie Barratt Issie Barratt (born 29 November 1964) is a British composer, known for her work in Big Band jazz and jazz education. Career Issie has been awarded commissions by the Philharmonia Orchestra, The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Bohuslä ...

composer *

Gabriele Baldocci Gabriele Baldocci (born May 10, 1980 in Livorno, Italy) is an Italian pianist and composer naturalised British. Baldocci is known worldwide for performing with the legendary Argentinean pianist Martha Argerich After studying with Ilio Barontin ...

- piano * Andrew Bernardi-violinist * Oliver Butterworthformer Professor of Violin *

Nicholas Clapton Nicholas Clapton (born 16 September 1955) is an English countertenor, singing-teacher and author. Life and career Clapton was born in Worcester, England and read music at Magdalen College, Oxford. He studied singing with David Mason and Dia ...

singer (former Professor of Singing) *

Natalie Clein Natalie Clein (born Poole, Dorset) is a British classical music, classical cello, cellist. Her mother is a professional violinist. Her sister is the actress Louisa Clein. Early life and education Clein started playing the cello at the age of ...

cello * Christine CroshawProfessor of Piano, Chamber Music and Accompaniment * Alison CrumProfessor of

Viola da gamba The viol (), viola da gamba (), or informally gamba, is any one of a family of bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitch ...

, member of the

Rose Consort of Viols The Rose Consort of Viols is an English ensemble of viol players who perform mainly early consort music, including works by Orlando Gibbons, John Dowland, and Henry Purcell. They have performed around the world at many events, have appeared a n ...

Meredith Davies (Albert) Meredith Davies CBE (30 July 1922 – 9 March 2005) was a British conductor, renowned for his advocacy of English music by composers such as Benjamin Britten, Frederick Delius and Ralph Vaughan Williams. His co-conducting, with the com ...

Principal 1979–88 * Graham Anthony Devineclassical guitar * Terry Edwardsconductor * Myers Foggin CBEPrincipal * Philip Fowkepiano *

Sophie Fuller Sophie is a version of the female given name Sophia, meaning "wise". People with the name Born in the Middle Ages * Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson * Sophie of Thuringia, Duchess of ...

Musicology *

Harry Gabb Harry Gabb CVO (1909 – 1995) was an English organist, who served at Llandaff Cathedral, St Paul's Cathedral and the Chapel Royal. Background (William) Harry Gabb was born in Ilford, Essex on 5 April 1909. He studied organ at the Royal Colleg ...

organ professor * Henry Geehlconductor, composer, pianist * Rivka Golaniviola *

Philip Jones Philip, Phillip, Phil or Phill Jones may refer to: Sports *Phil Jones (American football) (born 1946), American football coach * Phil Jones (footballer, born 1961), English footballer who played for Sheffield United in the Football League * Phil J ...

former Professor of Trumpet (founder of the

Philip Jones Brass Ensemble The Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, founded in 1951 by trumpeter Philip Jones, was one of the first modern classical brass ensembles to be formed. The group played either as a quintet or as a ten-piece, for larger halls. It toured and recorded exten ...

) * Mark Lockheartjazz saxophonist *

Joanna MacGregor Joanna Clare MacGregor (born 16 July 1959) is a British concert pianist, conductor, composer, and festival curator. She is Head of Piano at the Royal Academy of Music and a professor of the University of London. She is currently artistic direc ...

piano (honorary Professor) Andrew Matthews-Owen pianist and coach *

Stephen Montague Stephen Rowley Montague (born March 10, 1943 in Syracuse, New York) is an American composer, pianist and conductor who grew up in Idaho, New Mexico, West Virginia and Florida. Musical Statement ''"I write music to engage an audience, to seduce ...

composer * Andrew Poppycomposer * Joan Rodgerssoprano * Daryl Runswickcomposer * Yonty Solomonpianist (Professor of Piano) * Stephen Stirlinghorn *

John Tavener Sir John Kenneth Tavener (28 January 1944 – 12 November 2013) was an English composer, known for his extensive output of choral religious works. Among his best known works are '' The Lamb'' (1982), ''The Protecting Veil'' (1988), and '' Son ...

composer (former Professor of Composition) * David Thomassinger (bass) * John Ashton Thomascomposer * Philip Turbettbassoon (modern and historical) * Jan Van Dykedance *

Vasko Vassilev Vasko Vassilev ( bg, Васко Василев, links=no; born October 14, 1970 in Sofia, Bulgaria) is a Bulgarian violinist and conductor. At the age of eight he had his first public appearance and released his first record with the Sofia Phil ...

violin *

Marguerite Wolff Marguerite Agnes Rachel Wolff OBE (17 February 1919 – 25 May 2011) was a British pianist. Marguerite Wolff was born in the West Ham area of London on 17 February 1919, the daughter of Walter and Selina (known as Nina) Wolff; her parents were ...

piano

References

External links

Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance
– official website

– profile on WhatUni {{authority control 2005 establishments in England Contemporary dance in London Dance schools in the United Kingdom Educational institutions established in 2005 Herzog & de Meuron buildings Music schools in London Performing arts education in London Universities UK