Staff A-Z

Yami is a multidisciplinary artist, a movement and theatre director,  working at the intersection of dance, theatre and cross-arts. Between making her own work, Yami deliver workshops and mentor.

Irina Lyakhovskaya was born in St Petersburg, Russia. She graduated from the St Petersburg Conservatoire in 1999, where she studied with Alexander Sandler. In 2000, she was invited to continue her studies in England as a postgraduate scholar at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance (then known as Trinity College of Music) with John Bingham.

In 2003, Irina won first prize in the TCM Association’s Soloist Competition with her interpretation of the Schumann Piano Concerto. Since then, she has given many performances at leading international venues including the Philharmonic Hall in St Petersburg, Smetana Hall in Prague and the Coliseum in Porto. In the UK, she has appeared at the Southbank Centre, Symphony Hall, St John’s Smith Square and Cadogan Hall performing solo recitals and as the concerto soloist in Mozart, Haydn, Schumann, Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov concertos. Her work has also been broadcast on BBC television and radio.

An active chamber musician, Irina performs internationally with violinist Eleanor Percy, with whom she has given numerous recitals at the Wigmore Hall in London. They have recorded sonatas by Brahms and Prokofiev for the ImLab label, and the complete Mozart sonatas for Melodiya. Currently, Irina is artist in residence at Eastbourne Arts Centre where she is performing the complete Beethoven piano sonatas in eight concerts.

Irina has worked at Trinity Laban as a professional accompanist since 2002.

Richard Markson’s musical destiny was foreshadowed at the age of twelve when Paul Tortelier invited him to Paris to become his pupil. He later worked with Pierre Fournier, whose lifelong support became instrumental in the development of his solo career.

A much acclaimed London début, following which The Times proclaimed him “A quite outstanding cellist”, led to engagements throughout the world. In addition to appearances in his native Britain, the USA and Europe, he has completed twenty-six world tours extending from the Far East to Latin America.

Kit Massey is a fourth generation musician, working professionally as a violinist, pianist and arranger in London. He studied at Trinity College of Music with Michael Bochmann and Andrew Haveron where he received a first class degree and several prizes for solo and ensemble playing. After graduation, he played with the Santiago Philharmonic Orchestra, performing much of the core ballet and opera repertoire. Back in London, he continued a busy recording and performing career, with the Heritage Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra, working with artists as diverse as Tim Minchin, Aphex Twin and Antony and the Johnsons.

This year I’m celebrating 55 years in the entertainment industry! When I was a ‘serious’ singing student my singing teacher sent me for a pantomime audition. Got the job (still don’t know how) and that was my start. I’ve since worked in many different areas of the entertainment industry, notably Opera, Musicals, as well as Pantomime, Music Hall, Television drama and situation comedy, films and straight theatre. Glyndebourne Festival, Summer Season and my first West End Musical, Beyond the Rainbow, in which I played the village idiot! I even had a go as a Rock Ballad singer in West Berlin while auditioning for the Deutsche Oper and the Komische Oper! West End musicals include Evita, Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Roland Cassard), Sweeney Todd (Judge Turpin) and Aspects of Love (George Dillingham) – I did that one again in Lincoln.

Described as “an immaculate accompanist” (BBC Music Magazine), pianist Andrew Matthews-Owen enjoys a busy career partnering some of the outstanding artists of our time on the concert platform, commercial recordings and broadcasts, and as a coach.

Specialising in vocal accompaniment, Andrew has partnered Patricia Bardon, Susan Bickley, Claire Booth, Susan Bullock, Anne Sophie Duprels, Rebecca Evans, Helen Field, Gareth Brynmor John, Natalya Romaniw, Nicky Spence, Elgan Llyr Thomas, Elin Manahan Thomas, Katie Van Kooten and Sir Willard White, at many major venues and festivals, including frequent appearances at Southbank Centre (QEH and Purcell Room) and Wigmore Hall.

Gerard McChrystal comes from Derry, N.Ireland. He took up the saxophone as a second study for his RNCM audition in 1982. By 1987 he had made his concerto debut with the RTE Concert Orchestra playing the Dubois Concerto live on TV. His UK debut was with the Philharmonia in 1989 premiering Out of the Cool by Dave Heath. He studied at the RNCM, Manchester and was the first student to graduate with three awards including a distinction in his PPRNCM. Further studies with John Harle and Frederick Hemke at The Guildhall School, London and Northwestern University, Chicago followed. Competition success includes The Royal Overseas League, RTE Musician of the Future, The Lombard and Ulster Music Foundation, Countess of Munster, The Sir James Caird Award, NFMS Award, BBC Opportunity Knocks! and The Park Lane Group. His Wigmore Hall debut came as a result of winning the intercolleagiate Ivan Sutton Recording Award.

Wayne McGregor is a multi-award-winning British choreographer and director, internationally renowned for his physically testing choreography and groundbreaking collaborations across dance, film, music, visual art, technology and science. He is Artistic Director of Wayne McGregor | Random Dance, Resident Company at Sadlerʼs Wells, and Resident Choreographer of The Royal Ballet.

Rhona has been Singing Lead for the Musical Theatre Department since 2020. She is an established singer, actress, musician and dancer and has performed extensively in the West End, internationally and regionally. Alongside performing, Rhona works as a musical director and musical supervisor and has over 20 years of experience as an educator within both the Musical Theatre and Classical sectors at University and Conservatoire level.

Michelle joined the Faculty of Music at Trinity Laban in 2017 and teaches on a variety of BMus, MMus, and FCM modules related to music, history and culture. She is also the programme tutor for CPMM. She was formerly a Fulbright Scholar at Durham University and taught previously at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Xavier University, and Martin Methodist College. Michelle holds a PhD in musicology, with a cognate in British literature, from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and also holds a MMus in music history and a BMUS in piano performance. Michelle has also worked as a professional pianist and piano teacher.

Research interests and areas of supervision:

• Trauma studies
• Critical theory
• Medical humanities
• Music and conflict/ war
• Music, memory and narrative
• Music and gender
• Cultural musicology, particularly 19th-, 20th- and 21st-century Britain

Florence has been the Senior Costume Technician at Trinity Laban since 2019. Florence previously worked as a freelance Designer and Maker, costuming work choreographed by Samir Kennedy, Patricia Okenwa, Theo Lowe, Lizzie Kew-Ross and Theo Clinkard among many others. Recent collaborators at Laban include Hetain Patel, Hagit Yakira and H2 Dance for Transitions Dance Company.