Staff A-Z

Sue Addison was born in Louth, Lincolnshire, which is situated in the heart of England and also at the heart of the brass band movement. It was during her teenage years as a member of the Market Rasen Town Band that Sue fell in love with playing the trombone. She then went on to study the trombone seriously at the Sam Newsom Music School in Boston before receiving an Exhibition Scholarship at the Royal College of Music London. She studied the trombone at the Royal College for four years with Arthur Wilson and John Iverson, graduating with an Honours ARCM, and receiving the Brass prize. Shortly after completing her studies at the Royal College, Sue was offered a position in the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under the directorship of Sir Simon Rattle.

It was during this time that the growth of the Period Instrument movement was having a positive impact on the music business and Sue was increasingly offered the opportunity to be part of this exciting new development. For this reason, she moved back to London as a freelance player where she became principal of the newly–formed London Classical Players, The Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Sixteen Choir and Orchestra, Academy Of Ancient Music and the Gabrieli Consort. She was a member of the English Baroque Soloists and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique for twenty-two years under the directorship of Sir John Eliot Gardiner.

Will trained at London Contemporary Dance School where he gained BA Hons in Contemporary Dance. He then went on to become a member of Transitions Dance Company at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance; a programme that brings together the worlds most exciting choreographers and exceptional young dancers which toured the UK, Japan and Singapore.

Jess started teaching in 2013, and now runs the Youth Programme for Longfield Hall in Brixton, running drama and theatre-based workshops and classes for young people. She works in a freelance capacity for the Learning and Education teams at the Lyric Hammersmith, the Old Vic, the National Theatre and the Coram Shakespeare Schools Foundation.

Robert Alderson studied with the late Frederic Cox at the Royal Northern College of Music. After completing his studies he joined Scottish Opera for three years, then returned to Manchester and gained his Dip Ed Mus in Secondary Education (Distinction). Following this he gained a position as Head of Music in a large comprehensive school in Lancashire.

He returned to the RNCM as a Senior Lecturer in the School of Vocal Studies where he taught many young singers who are now enjoying successful, international careers. His teaching career has taken him across the world and he has been a vocal tutor, guest lecturer and has given masterclasses in many countries; Russia (Tchaikovsky Conservatoire Moscow and Krasnodar Conservatoire Krasnodar) England  (Trinity Laban London. Yorke Trust Opera Course Norfolk) Germany (Bayreuth Festspiehaus) Wiesbaden (Wiesbaden Opera house) Austria  (Bregenz Festspeile) Australia  (Australian National University Conservatoire of Music and Drama in Canberra  followed by an invitation to give classes at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. Mount Lawley) America (Connecticut University’s Vocal Studies Department) Ireland  (TU Dublin Conservatoire) Belgium (The Singel and Ghent Opera Studi) Egypt (Cairo University Music Faculty, Cairo Opera House. A Member of the board for Egypt’s First International Conference on Music Education at the Helwan University In Cairo ) India (Neemrana Music Foundation and Lyric Ensemble of Delh. Professor Alderson has recently ( June 2024 ) returned from Mexico where he was invited to take vocal masterclasses with the students at the Mexico Opera Studio.

Simonetta has collaborated as a dancer and choreographer in many Companies in Italy: Jazz Ballet, Encanto, Pudore ben in Vista, Dark Camera, La Fabbrica dell’Attore, MDA. Her choreography has been shown in Italy, UK, Turkey, Japan, and Colombia. Since 1999 MDA Produzioni Danza has produced her choreographies in Italy. Simonetta has been teaching for more than 20 years in Italy (Ballet, Contemporary Dance, Contact Improvisation, Improvisation, and Feldenkrais) and she has also taught in France, Germany, Colombia, Norway, and Israel. She recently moved to London and has taught at London Contemporary Dance School, Moving East, Independent Dance, Goldsmiths and Trinity Laban.

Ralph Allwood MBE DMus was Director of Music at Eton College for 26 years and is now a freelance choral director. He is the Director of the Eton (now Rodolfus) Choral Courses, which he founded in 1980. 9000 8 to 21 year olds have been students on courses over the last 42 years. He co-founded the Junior Choral Courses in 2012, and in recent years has launched courses in Texas, Shanghai and Shenzhen. The Rodolfus choir, made up of the best singers from the courses, has produced over 20 CDs since he founded it in 1982.

Ralph is co-founder and conductor of Inner Voices, a choir made up of singers from state schools in London. He is also Director of Chapel Music and an academic supervisor at Queens’ College Chapel, Cambridge and an Honorary Fellow of University College, Durham.

Research interests and areas of supervision: 

• Choreographic processes 
• Spectatorship 
• Dance analysis 
• Emotion and dance, expression, embodied emotion 
• Embodied cognition 

Kim Amundsen trained at the Oslo National Academy of Dance and Heinz-Bosl-Stiftung Ballett Akademie Hochschule fur Musik und Theater in Munich.

He has danced with several global recognised Ballet and contemporary Companies and productions includiding Bavarian State Ballet, Wayne Sleeps World of Classical Ballet, Wayne McGregor’s Random Dance Company, Matthew Bournes Adventure In Motion Pictures Swan Lake (World Tour) Ballet Ireland, Moving Art A Nordic Dance Company, Wildfire, Oslo Danse Ensamble, Traveling by Molly Molloy, Les Ballet de Trockadero, Julius Cesar Opera Lille, Song of the City Akademie, Street Dance the Movie, Three Cities Dance, Speak Easy Secrets by Julia Gleich and many more.

Robert Anderson is an independent dance artist based in London. He teaches improvisation and contact improvisation at Trinity Laban, Rose Bruford College and in a variety of settings in the UK and abroad.

Julie is a freelance bassoonist living In London. She leads a busy musical life playing with the London orchestras and chamber ensembles as well as teaching the bassoon and coaching ensembles at Trinity Laban, Goldsmiths College, Dulwich Prep School and James Allen’s Girls’ School.

As a freelance player, Julie plays regularly with London and regional orchestras, often as guest principal.

Graduating from the London Music School in 2001, Damien promotes connection to, and reflection of, sound in his classes, and encourages self-expression.

In class, you can expect sessions focused on the student’s success with an emphasis on application, authenticity and expression.

Sue trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. She has a first class degree in Music and Drama from the University of Birmingham, with three years’ classical singing and piano training at the Birmingham Conservatoire.

Born in Samara, Russia, Alexander Ardakov studied under the renowned pianist and professor Vera Gornostaeva at Moscow Conservatoire. Upon graduating, he joined the Moscow State Philharmonia as a performer.

Alexander won prizes at the Kabalevsky Piano Competition in Russia and the Viotti International Music Competition in Vercelli, Italy.

Moving to Britain and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, where he has been teaching since 1991, have helped him develop as an international recitalist of exceptional versatility and musical integrity.

Joe Arnold was a chorister at Wells Cathedral School in Somerset where he learnt trombone with Alan Hutt, former trombonist of the Royal Opera House and RPO, for 10 years. Joe was principal bass trombone of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain from the age of 16, and went on to study bass trombone at the Royal Academy of Music with Bob Hughes (London Symphony Orchestra) and Keith McNicol (Royal Opera House), graduating in 2012 after a year in the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, a pan-European youth orchestra. He has performed with all of the major London Orchestras as well as several others around the UK, and has been Principal Bass Trombone of the Orchestra of English National Opera since 2012.

Dominic Ashworth studied guitar at the University of Toronto, Canada, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He is an active freelance player who has worked with Carol Kidd, Jacqui Dankworth, Dave Cliff and Janette Mason. Dominic is also a composer, and has written and recorded many original works for radio and television and performs with orginal guitar trio Digtal Moves. He performs in London with groups such as Julian Stringle’s Pathfinder, the Mick Foster Group, Digby Fairweather’s Half Dozen and Michael Garrick’s Big Band & Quartet.