Staff A-Z

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.

Khyle Eccles is a movement, dance and performance specialist with a varied portfolio career – and is one of very few dance specific strength and conditioning specialists in the UK. Khyle received his BA(Hons) at Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance, and his MSc Dance Science at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.

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.

Kate graduated from the Craniosacral Therapy Educational Trust. Before working as a Craniosacral Therapist, Kathryn toured as a freelance dancer/choreographer in Europe and America, working for choreographers such as Laurent Chetouane, Christ Haring/Liquid Loft, and William Forsythe.

Hubert Essakow is a London based choreographer, born in Johannesburg, South Africa. Trained as a classical ballet dancer by Dianne Cheesman, Hubert joined Capab Ballet at the age of 18 in 1989. In 2003 Hubert moved to London and joined The Royal Ballet Company, where he remained for 10 years becoming a soloist and performing in works by Frederick Ashton, Kenneth MacMillan, George Balanchine, Twyla Tharp, Mats Ek, Christopher Wheeldon and William Forsythe amongst others.

Lucy Evans trained at London Contemporary Dance School and Trinity Laban as part of Transitions Dance Company 2007 gaining an MA in Dance Performance. Whilst in Transitions, Lucy toured work in the UK and Europe by Henri Okguike, Jenni Kivela, Pablo Ventura, Aszure Barton and Cristian Duarte. Her career as a freelance dance artist has included performing with H2dance, La Fura del Baus, Cie. Willi Dorner, e.dance, Aletta Collins, DeDa and the Olympics Closing Ceremony under the direction of Kym Gavin.

Helen has been responsible for actor-training for the BA (Hons) Musical Theatre Performance course at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance since 2013.

Helen is a Lecturer, Director, Actor/Performer, Practitioner-Researcher and Visual Artist. As an educator, she has over 25 years’ experience in actor-training, course-development, academic supervision and theatre making in a combination of University and Conservatoire settings.

Widely regarded as a leading liturgical organist, improviser and choral director, Jonathan has been involved in music making at the Old Royal Naval College since 2016.

Born in Israel in 1967, Ofer studied with the legendary pedagogue Ilona Feher in Tel Aviv and later with Professor Dora Schwarzberg in Vienna. Isaac Stem, Pinchas Zukerman, Josef Gingold, Menahem Pressler and members of the Guarneri and the Borodin Quartet have also coached him. Ofer is now an associate professor of violin at Trinity Laban.

Much of his work has been as a chamber musician; first as leader and founder member of the Schidlof Quartet (1994-2001), and now as leader of the Falk Quartet (2001), performing with such artists as Murray Perahia and Jack Brymer. Ofer has performed as a soloist with most of the major Israeli Orchestras in the UK at the Barbican, Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Purcell Room. In Russia, Ofer has performed as a soloist and recitalist in most of the main venues, including the Bolshoi and Mali Saal in Moscow. Orchestral experience includes two years as leader of the London Soloists Chamber Orchestra (1996-1998), guest leading with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra as well as frequently guest leading the English Chamber Orchestra. In February 2003, Ofer made his debut performance as soloist with the English Chamber Orchestra and was immediately reinvited for subsequent performances.

Douglas Finch was born in Winnipeg and began improvising, composing and performing on the piano from an early age with the help of his mother. He later continued studying with Winnifred Sim, Jean Broadfoot and at the University of Western Ontario with William Aide. After receiving a Masters from Juilliard in New York under Beveridge Webster, Douglas won several awards and was a finalist at the Queen Elisabeth International Piano Competition in Brussels. After moving to London, he co-founded The Continuum Ensemble in 1994 and has collaborated in premiering many new works. He appears regularly with the ensemble at festivals including Spitalfields and at Southbank Centre, featuring composers such as Julian Anderson, Georges Aperghis, Henri Dutilleux, Charles Ives, Claude Vivier, Errollyn Wallen, Iannis Xenakis and many others. He has composed for piano, chamber ensemble, orchestra, theatre and film and his score for the feature film Painted Angels was described in The Independent as “an extraordinary triumph of artistic will”.

Research interests and areas of supervision:

• Transcription and borrowing approaches in musical composition
• Overlapping working methods in improvising and composing
• Contemporary music practice / collaboration / curation
• Composing music for independent art films