Staff A-Z

Qualifications/ Educational Background

• Doctor of Music (Composition) Ohio State University 1972
• MMus (Music Theory & Harmony) Florida State University, 1967
• BM (piano) Florida State University, with Honors, 1965

Post-graduate work:

• Stanford University, California 1983
• Computer Music, IRCAM, Paris 1981
• Fulbright Fellowship to work at the Experimental Music Studio, Polish Radio 1972-1974
• Electronic Music, Dartmouth College (USA), 1972
• Certificate in Conducting, Mozarteum, Austria, 1966

Teaching Experience

• Instructor – Butler University, Indianapolis, 1967-69
• Teaching Assistant – Ohio State University 1969-71
• Guest Professor, Royal College of Music, 1988 – 89
• Guest Professor, University of Texas-Austin, 1992, 1995, 2000
• Guest Professor, University of New Zealand, 1997
• Composer in Residence at Trinity College of Music in 2003 -04
• Joined the Trinity composition staff in the autumn of 2004
• Professor, Royal Academy of Music, 2007-09
• Numerous workshops, seminars, new music projects, residencies world wide since 1974.

Creative Outputs

Important commissions have included the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Festival Hall, International Computer Association, National Portrait Gallery, The Royal Ballet, BBC Proms (Royal Albert Hall), TransAtlantic Arts Consortium, The Bath Festival, ISCM Festival, Cheltenham Festival, Belgian Radio, Warsaw Autumn and Stavanger Speculum Festival (Norway).

CDs of Montague’s works are available on NMC (UK), ASV, Continuum, Op 111, Signum and numerous other labels.

He has published over 50 articles in magazines and journal, and contributed 18 articles to The New Groves Dictionaries of Music.

His music is published by United Music Publishers, UK.

External Appointments

New Music Associate- Kettle’s Yard Art Gallery and Museum, University of Cambridge, 2010-2012 where he runs a monthly concert series.

Awards

International Piano Magazine Award: “Best New Music Piano Recording” (2006) for his CD Southern Lament (NMC)

British Composer Award Finalist, 2004

Fellowship of Leeds College of Music (FLeedsCM), 2004

Honorary Fellow- Trinity College of Music (Hon FTCL), 2001

Year of the Artist Award, 2000, UK

Distinguished Alumnus Award Ohio State University, 2000

Distinction in Computer Music, 1996 Ars ElectronicaPrix, Linz, Austria

Ernst von Dohnanyi Award for Musical Excellence, 1995

First Prize, 1994 Bourges International Competition for Electroacoustic Music, France

Winner, The London Dance and Performance Award for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Music, 1988

Fulbright Fellow, Warsaw, 1972-1974

Andrew has worked with distinguished soloists such as Guy Johnston, Stephen Hough, Jennifer Pike and Peter Donohoe, and has given the premiere of a new work for ‘DJ’ and ensemble by Gabriel Prokofiev. He has prepared music for film composer Debbie Wiseman, conductors Barry Wordsworth and Ed Gardner, and has performed alongside celebrities such as Jonathan Ross, Henry Kelly and the late Sir Terry Wogan.

He has held teaching posts at Lancaster and Oxford Brookes Universities and is the long-standing conductor of the Junior Trinity Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Elstree Concert Band and St. Paul’s Sinfonia, the latter of which he has conducted in over a hundred concerts. In February 2004 Andrew was awarded first prize at the prestigious Allianz-Cornhill Musical Insurance Conducting Competition having received unanimous votes from both jury and orchestra. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

His opera and theatre engagements include Peter Grimes at La Fenice in Venice, Amadeus at the National Theatre, Salomé and La cenerentola for Wexford Festival Opera, Dorian Gray at Slovak National Theatre, Il barbiere di Siviglia and a staged Messiah for English National Opera, the world première of James MacMillan’s Clemency at ROH2 Covent Garden and for Scottish Opera at the Edinburgh Festival, Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie for Capella Cracoviensis in Kraków, After Dido at The Young Vic, Tristan und Isolde; Der Kaiser von Atlantis; Acis & Galatea; Fidelio; Eithne; Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny; Madama Butterfly; Carmen and Werther for Irish National Opera.

His concert and festival appearances include the Prague International Spring Festival, Royal Albert Hall, Kilkenny Arts Festival, Bach Festival in Lausanne, Switzerland, Festivale Musicale sull’acqua in Lago di Como, Italy as well with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Ulster Orchestra.

Qualifications/ Educational Background

• MA in Music Education
• BA in Music Education with Qualified Teacher Status
• DRSAM (Singing Teacher)
• FHEA
• FISM

Research Interests

• Pedagogy
• Vocal Health

Creative Outputs

Raising awareness of the benefits of effective voice screening: a study of vocal health among undergraduate singing students
Janet Munro, Patricia Holmes, Terry Clark, Emma Redding

Reflective Conservatoire (2012) GSMD

A specialist in the US-Mexican composer Conlon Nancarrow, he has spent 10 years, researching, curating, arranging and presenting his works around the world.

Starting as a self-taught musician, he has gradually made a transition from playing drums and percussion as a member of The High Llamas as well as recordings with Pavement, Stereolab and many others, to classically-based composition and education. Since 2003 he has been Head of Composition at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, forming a department that has become well-known for its innovative methods and student-centred approaches.

He has taught at every educational level and is currently in demand as a supervisor and examiner for practice-based PhDs.

Dan is also a featured artist with Lee Oskar Harmonicas, pioneering his own style of beatbox harmonica playing which has seen him perform on television in Japan, Ireland, France, the U.K. and the U.S. 

Dan is lead singer of Irish band Hermitage Green, which he founded with his brother in 2010. Hermitage Green signed to Sony in 2015 and have been releasing music and touring internationally since. To date, they’ve released three studio albums and their music has been streamed over 40 million times on Spotify. 

The band tour extensively in Europe, North America, Australia, and the Middle East. In the Summer of 2022, they joined Paloma Faith on her UK tour before heading to Australia and the Middle East in the Autumn on their own headline tour.  

Aleksandra is a Polish accompanist and a répétiteur. She graduated from the Royal Academy of Music where she studied piano with prof. Christopher Elton and prof. Hamish Milne, whereas her chamber music studies were supervised by prof. Michael Dussek and Ian Brown.

Aleksandra is a prizewinner of both solo competitions and chamber music contests such as the III International Chopin Competition in Budapest, Wilfrid Parry Brahms Prize, Brenda Webb Accompanist Prize and many others. In 2022 she joined the Solti Accademia Young Artists and, together with soprano Katrine Deleuran Strunk, she was chosen to be the Leeds Lieder Young Artist.

Aleksandra gained the majority of her professional experience in the field of opera at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance where she was a Junior Fellow in Piano Accompaniment 2019-2021. Since then, she has worked as a répétiteur with Gidon Saks on his role of Hagen in Deutsche Oper, Opera Loki on Carmen and Tosca, Puzzle Piece Opera, All Aboard! Opera, Gilbert and Sullivan Society, Longhope Opera and others.

Apart from her Academy mentors, Aleksandra is particularly grateful for artistic advice from prof. Richard Stokes, Christoph Prégardien, Ferenc Rados, Maxim Vengerov, Michel Beroff, Rodney Friend and Sarah Pring.

Hilary holds a BA in Psychology and Linguistics, ARAD and PDTC Teaching certificate from the Royal Academy of Dance, and has recently completed her Pilates Teachers Qualification with the Pilates Foundation, UK. She has more than 12 years experience as performer and dance teacher and has worked with a wide spectrum of dancers both abroad and in the UK.

Performing the first solo tuba recital at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester and the first tuba player to be awarded the Worshipful Company of Dyers Award at the Royal Overseas League Competition, Les has always pushed the boundaries. His 3 solo releases, Salt of the Earth, Shine and Affinity have won numerous awards including Brass Band World, British Bandsman, 4barsrest.com Solo CD of the Year and the prestigious Roger Bobo Award in Recording Excellence from the International Tuba Euphonium Association.

Away from solo performance Les is part of the tuba section of the American based, Brass Band of Battle Creek and as a chamber musician is a member of the Fine Arts Brass Ensemble, a group with a 30 year history having performed in over 60 countries. He has also performed with orchestras throughout the UK, including the Halle, RTE Concert, Ulster and London Symphony Orchestra.

Alongside his performing commitments Les is tuba tutor at the Royal Northern College of Music, RNCM Junior School, Salford University, Birmingham Conservatoire and Huddersfield University. He has given masterclasses at the Trinity College and Royal Academy of Music, London.

He has served as tutor for the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Switzerland and has performed recitals and masterclasses throughout the UK, Europe, USA, South America, Japan and Australia.

Paul Newland PhD MMus GMusRNCM – studied composition with Anthony Gilbert and Sir Harrison Birtwistle at Royal Northern College of Music Manchester as a James Caird Scholar, with Michael Finnissy at Royal Academy of Music London and with Simon Holt at Royal Holloway University of London with an AHRC award. He received his doctorate in 2006.

In 1999 he was awarded a Japanese government Monbusho scholarship and studied in Japan with composer Jo Kondo from ’99-’02.

Recent commissions and performances include: surface for London Symphony Orchestra commissioned for the UBS Soundscape Pioneers series and premiered at the Barbican, 5 for harpsichord, dancer and film for Jane Chapman and dancer Gregoire Meyer, time quivers and monotonous forest for ensemble Radius commissioned by the Britten Foundation premiered at the Wigmore Hall, momiji gari for Japanese guitarists Norio Sato and Toshimitsu Kamigaichi and husk for [rout] and Okeanos.

Recent performances by Exquisite Corpse include London’s Vibe Bar, Café Oto and Sonic Art Oxford. As part of an ongoing project Graft duo Exquisite Corpse created a series of semi-improvised works with choreographer Mari Frogner giving performances at Crondell St. Underground Car Park Shoreditch, The Book Club Spitalfields and The Old Police Station Deptford.

Most recently Exquisite Corpse performed common wealth a work created specifically for the derelict Commonwealth Institute building on Kensington High Street. This new piece was created in collaboration with choreographer Mari Frogner and commissioned by Fruits of the Apocalypse for their Common Sounds project as part of Kensington and Chelsea Arts Festval. Forthcoming performances include Bermondsey Street Festival London and the Theatre of Yugen San Francisco.

Current projects include a new piece nicholas givotovsky as part of ensemble [rout]’s Lost and Found project, and a web-based collaboration with the Dutch dancer Aleksandra Borys.

CD releases include: Standing Jump recorded by [rout] on [rout]one (Divine Art 29001), Butterfly dreaming… performed by Philip Howard (Divine Art 25021), 1-4 commissioned and recorded by Jane Chapman on ‘Wired’ (NMC D145), and Trance commissioned and recorded by Noszferatu (NMC D166).

Complete list of works is available at https://pnewland.moonfruit.com/

He is a recipient of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for Composition (1993) and the New Millenium Composer’s Award (2010).

Yolanda danced with BoyBlue Ent for 13 years, before being promoted to the teaching faculty and working as a Teaching Assistant, Rehearsal Director and Assistant Choreographer. Yolanda is also a lecturer for the Trinity Laban Centre for Advanced Training Programme.

Some of Yolanda’s performance and creative credits include; Got to Dance, Breakin Convetion, Eurovision Opening Liverpool, MOBO Awards, Guys and Dolls (Talawa Theatre Company), An Night with BoyBlue (Barbican Theatre), and the Queens Platinum Jubilee.

The main areas of research that Uchenna is involved in focus on marginalised identities in Western classical music and digital pedagogy. Drawing on years of experience in digital learning, she founded plainsightSOUND – an online research project highlighting the under-recognised work of historical Black African diasporic classical musicians in Britain.

Uchenna is also founder and artistic director of Decus Ensemble – a chamber group specialising in under-performed music composed for wind and strings. Much of their repertoire emerges from her research into Black classical music and repertoire and is regularly presented through concerts and workshops. Uchenna has appeared as a presenter and guest contributor for several BBC Radio programmes, including Sounds Connected and Inside Music. She also presented the BBC Radio 3 Sunday Feature documentary ‘Frank Johnson, Queen Victoria and the Black Brass Band’, which followed her research into the life of the innovative 19^th-century African American performer and composer.

In 1997 he joined the Bobby Wellins Quartet, the rhythm section of which continues today as the Liam Noble Trio, recently documented on the 2009 CD “BRUBECK”, gaining an almost unprecedented 5 star review in The Guardian.

In 2001, “In The Meantime”, released on Basho Records, explored longer compositional forms and unorthodox improvisational structures, and April 2002 saw a commission from Birmingham Jazz resulting in a song cycle based on Japanese Death Poetry. Noble plays keyboards and samples throughout, marking a new foray into electronica inspired by artists such as Aphex Twin and Arto Lindsay.

In 2004, following a Cheltenham Festival gig the previous year, Liam recorded the acclaimed “Romance Among The Fishes” on Basho Records with guitarist Phil Robson and the New York rhythm section of Drew Gress and Tom Rainey on bass and drums respectively.

Liam’s working relationship has continued with Tom Rainey in the free improv trio, “Sleepthief” with Ingrid Laubrock, with an album released in September 2008, and a second, “The Madness Of Crowds” in 2011. Other frequent collaborators have included Christine Tobin, Paul Clarvis and Julian Siegel. His growing reputation as a free improviser has also resulted in recent performances with Mary Halverson, Marc Ducret, Mat Maneri, Evan Parker, Okkyung Lee and Peter Evans.

In June 2011 he was featured on a recording by Zhenya Strigalev with Larry Grenadier, Tim LeFebvre and Eric Harland. “Brother Face”, an expanded version of his trio with Chris Batchelor and Shabaka Hutchings, looks to expand short form composition into longer arcs. As a kind of summation of the diverse areas in which he works combined with a compositional eye for structure, this new group was highly praised at its premiere performance at the Cheltenham Jazz festival in 2012.

A solo CD, “A Room Somewhere”, released in 2015 on Basho Records, features an eclectic mix of improvisations, as well as versions of music by, amongst others, Edward Elgar, Joe Zawinul, Gillian Welch, Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Liam has also played duo gigs with Dave Liebman and Tim Berne, two highly contrasting giants of jazz who exemplify the chameleon-like tendencies of his collaborations.

Liam holds posts as Lecturer in Jazz at Birmingham Conservatoire and 
Trinity Laban. He has published 4 volumes of transcriptions of the Bill Evans Trio, and a book of original compositions “Jazz Piano; An In Depth Look at the Styles of the Masters”, both published by Hal Leonard.