Staff A-Z

Diana has been a professor at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance since 1994.

Diana is one of the most distinguished violinists in Great Britain, her career spanning a wide spectrum of musical activities. After winning prizes in the Niccolò Paganini and Alberto Curci violin competitions, she developed a busy international career as a recitalist and a concerto soloist, playing an extensive repertoire from the Baroque to the Contemporary. She gave the first performance in Finland of the Violin Concerto by Peter Maxwell Davies and is dedicated to the promotion and performance of new works.

Alison Curtis-Jones FHEA, MA, PGCE, BA(Hons)

Artistic Director of award-winning Summit Dance Theatre, internationally recognised dance artist, movement consultant, contemporary choreological expert, researcher and leading exponent in re-imagining Rudolf Laban’s ‘lost’ choreographic works. Ali teaches annually in Switzerland and Croatia and her choreographic work performed throughout Europe, UK, Switzerland and Canada, filmed and screened by Swiss TV company RSI, German TV company ARTE and featured in the BBC documentary Dance Rebels.

Ali presents conference papers and lecture demonstrations, workshops and masterclasses internationally. The body as a dynamic archive is central in her work, examining dance pedagogy, training practices and creative processes for contemporary dancers. Her current practice promotes movement for wellbeing and her written work published in Journal of Dance and Somatic Practice, Movement and Dance Magazine, Dance Books, and her chapter ‘Transmission: Reimagining Laban. Contemporising the Past, Envisioning the Future, in Transmissions in Dance: Contemporary Staging Practices, published by Palgrave Macmillan. 

Ali teaches at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and The University of Creative Arts.

Born in Bologna, Italy, Gabriella studied in Italy, France and Germany with Pierre Jamet and Fabrice Pierre, Jaqueline Borot, Giselle Herbert and Anna Loro. Now based in London, she continues to follow an international and high profile career performing and teaching the harp.Captivating audiences around the globe her critically acclaimed recordings span solo, chamber and orchestral works on the Claves, Koch, Stradivarius, Dal Segno and Ambitus labels, and she has also made many live recordings for French, German, Italian and Swiss Radio. Her wide and varied repertoire covers most solo, concertos, chamber music repertoire as well as orchestral works (symphonic, operatic and ballet). Internationally active as a soloist and chamber musician, Gabriella has given recitals and concerts throughout Europe, USA, the Far and Middle East. She also freelances with some of the most outstanding UK and European orchestras: the Vienna Philharmonic, Vienna State Opera, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Conductors she works with include Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Mariss Jansons, Valery Gergiev, Simon Rattle, Lorin Maazel, Sir Colin Davis, Antonio Pappano, Bernard Haitink, Seiji Osawa and Esa-Pekka Salonen amongst countless others.

Research interests and areas of supervision:

• Harp performance
• Musicology

David Delarre is a musician, composer and music educator. Through his work with the award winning singer Eliza Carthy MBE and Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, David has performed at a number of high profile venues and festivals across the UK and Europe.

He has recently recorded sessions for BBC Radio 2, 3 and 4 and has also performed on BBC 1 for Jools Holland and BBC 1 Breakfast TV. His theatre credits include The Globe’s production of The Two Noble Kinsman, Bartholomew Fair, Tony Award winning Broadway musical Hadestown and the National Theatre’s Hex.

Matthew Denton (violin) has performed for more than 20 years as the leader of the Carducci Quartet – one of the UK’s most successful string quartets.

As a chamber musician he has won prizes at international competitions including the Concert Artists Guild (USA), Kuhmo (Finland), Charles Hennen (Holland), Osaka (Japan), Bordeaux (France) and London (UK). In the UK he also won awards from the Royal Overseas League, Tillet Trust, Tunnel Trust, Countess of Munster Trust and the Parkhouse Award.

Steven combines a performing career with the post of Assistant Curator to the Finchcocks Collection, one of the principal collections of historical keyboard instruments in Europe. In 1993 he won the Broadwood Harpsichord Competition and made his London recital debut shortly afterward. Additional performances include chamber music on fortepiano with Ensemble Galant and the Fitzwilliam Quartet as well as conducting new productions with New Chamber Opera and Opera Restor’d. He went on tour to the USA, where he played the complete Brandenburg Concertos with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

Graham Anthony Devine was born in England and began his musical studies at Chetham’s School of Music, Manchester studying guitar with Gordon Crosskey. At 19 years old, Graham relocated to Brazil where he lived for almost a decade giving many recitals and masterclasses throughout South America during this period.

In April 2002, Graham was awarded first prize at one of the guitar’s most prestigious international competitions, the Alhambra International Guitar Competition held in Alcoy, Spain. He was to repeat this success one month later by winning the first prize at the Emilio Pujol International Guitar Competition, Italy. He is the only English guitarist to win either of these competitions.

Graham records for NAXOS and his many CD releases, which include the music of J.S. Bach through to South American music and twentieth century repertoire, have received rave reviews worldwide. His 2005 NAXOS release, British Guitar music, was chosen as disc of the week on America’s NPR radio station and CLASSIC FM’s John Brunning commented “Graham Devine, who plays with great sensitivity, strikes me as an ideal artist to continue Julian Bream’s musical legacy.’’

excerpt

Michael Doran has to pinch himself to think that he is still doing what he loves so long after getting the drumming ‘bug’ as a boy, playing along to his Dad’s dance band records with shoe brushes on brown paper, dreaming of being the drummer! Luckily, one thing led to another until attending the Royal Academy of Music, studying Percussion and Timpani under Professors James Blades and Nicholas Cole. Within a year of leaving he had been appointed Principal Percussion with Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet (now the Royal Ballet Sinfonia). Three years later he joined English National Opera as Co Principal, moving up to Principal Percussionist in 1996. He revels in ENO’s broad range of repertoire and challenging production style, finding particular satisfaction in working closely with composers such as Mark-Anthony Turnage, David Sawer, Torsten Rasch and Jonathan Dove. In addition to his playing he has gained a reputation for his organizational skills, especially in connection to the huge percussion requirements in operas such as Die Soldaten (Zimmerman), Punch and Judy (Birtwhistle), Grande Macabre (Ligeti) and A Dog’s Heart (Raskatov). He has been percussion consultant to Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires and Adelaide Festival.Mick lives in Surrey, with his gorgeous wife and two beautiful kids. Hobbies include Manchester Utd, golf and scuba, but his dream day off? Getting that long awaited century for the village cricket team followed by a fine meal and vintage wine with family and friends, whilst listening to great live music.

Kit Downes is a BBC Jazz Award winning, Mercury Music Award nominated, solo recording artist for ECM Records. He has toured the world playing piano, church organ and harmonium with his own bands (‘ENEMY’, ‘Troyka’ and ‘Elt’) as well as with artists such as Squarepusher, ‘Empirical’, Benny Greb and Sam Amidon. He has written commissions for Cheltenham Music Festival, London Contemporary Orchestra, Ensemble Klang at ReWire Festival, the Scottish Ensemble, Cologne Philharmonie and the Wellcome Trust.

Andrew J Dunn studied at the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Whilst a student he performed as soloist with various ensembles at the Royal Academy of Music and as an ensemble member with the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra (Claudio Abbado), the London Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and the Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra. During his formative professional training years he performed for conductors such as Riccardo Chailly, Claudio Abbado , Sir Neville Marriner, Lynn Harrell, and Michael Tilson-Thomas, to name a few.

Andrew J Dunn studied at the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Whilst a student he performed as soloist with various ensembles at the Royal Academy of Music and as an ensemble member with the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra (Claudio Abbado), the London Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and the Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra. During his formative professional training years he performed for conductors such as Riccardo Chailly, Claudio Abbado , Sir Neville Marriner, Lynn Harrell, and Michael Tilson-Thomas, to name a few.

Becky Edmunds is a video artist and documentary film maker. Originally trained as a dancer and choreographer, she worked in live performance until 2000, when she moved into a screen based practice. She has collaborated with a wide range of artists and organisations to create video works, including Rosemary Lee, Station House Opera, Blast Theory, Rajni Shah, Fiona Wright, Caroline Bowditch, Gill Clarke, Independent Dance, Siobhan Davies Studios, Arts Council England and various dance agencies.

Sam works a freelance piano / keyboard player, musical director and arranger.

Main credits: The Real Thing, The Official Dan Ackroyd Blues Brothers Show, Boney M, Brotherhood of Man, J.T.Q, Odyssey, Rose Royce, The Crissy Lee Quartet, George McCrae, Glenn Miller Orchestra (Europe), Jimmy James, Katy Setterfield, Marti Wilde, Sunchaser, The Contours, The Fellowship, Zak Barrett Quartet.

Dominic Ellis-Peckham is a conductor of immense energy and focus, delivering ‘gutsy, raw and exciting performances’. He has received critical acclaim for his dedication to the Renaissance and Baroque era, whilst also passionately championing new works and delivering inspirational collaborations, specialising in choral music.

Praised internationally for his ‘freshness and vitality’ in the direction choral and orchestral performances and recordings, Dominic holds an array of positions, including Guest Conductor for Aldeburgh Music, Music Director of London Oriana Choir, Assistant Music Director of the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain, Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of Chamber Choir of London, Artistic Director of The Fourth Choir, Visiting Lecturer at the University of Oxford and Guest Chorus Master for The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.