Staff A-Z

Jo is a community music practitioner-researcher from East London. She is a Research Fellow at York St John University’s Institute for Social Justice, an associate of The International Centre for Community Music and a supervisor and visiting lecturer at Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. Jo is interested in performing arts for social justice and practice research, with particular focus on the ethics of making together, agency and cultural democracy. As a community musician, Jo has led creative music-making projects across the education sector, in community centres, health settings and for arts organisations including orchestras and galleries.

Rivka Golani is recognised as one of the most outstanding violists of modern times. She has greatly contributed to the advancement of viola technique and inspired many composers to write for the instrument. More than 350 works have so far been composed for Rivka, including over 80 concertos, a record matched by no other violist in history.

Rivka has performed as a soloist with many of the world’s most prominent orchestras: BBC Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, the Hallé, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, Royal Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Jerusalem Radio Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan, Montreal Symphony, Toronto Symphony, and countless others. She has also performed as a soloist at the Proms concerts in London three times, including at the last night of the Proms.

In May 2023, Natasha joined Trinity Laban Health, transitioning from her role in the Healthcare Team at The Royal Ballet. Previously, she served as a dedicated soft tissue therapist and lecturer within the Physical Support Team at London Contemporary Dance School.

Stephanie Gonley studied with David Takeno at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard School in New York, and is now a professor of violin at Trinity Laban and at the Guildhall. She also teaches at the Upbeat Summer Music Festival in Croatia and has given masterclasses in Israel and the USA as well as in the UK.

Stephanie plays first violin with the Nash Ensemble and has made several recordings with them. She also appears regularly at international chamber music festivals in Europe, the United States and Canada.

Ricardo Gosalbo is a Spanish-French collaborative pianist. After training at Trinity Laban and Guildhall School, he won several prizes including the ‘Prix de Lied’ at the Concours International de chant-piano Nadia et Lili Boulanger. He performs regularly with singers and has appeared at prestigious venues across Europe. He has also been featured on Spanish national broadcasters and BBC Radio 3 ‘InTune’.

Aside from his duties at Trinity Laban, Ricardo works at Guildhall School and City Lit, where he also teaches piano and harmony. A devoted champion of Spanish and Hispano-American music, Ricardo is currently conducting doctoral research on Spanish Art Song while serving as director of the Hispanic Music Series.

Amanda trained as a dancer at Laban and Florida State University. She has danced for (among others) Clare Baker, Mothers of Invention and Erica Stanton. Amanda Gough and Sonia Rafferty formed Double Vision in 1997 and have choreographed numerous works together most recently, recipice (2022) for  BA3 Commissioned Work. Amanda’s dance film Grace Notes (2011) has been screened in festivals in the UK, Uruguay, USA and Brazil.

Amanda also works as a freelance dancer, teacher and choreographer.

Calum Gourlay was born in Glasgow and grew up playing in Fife Youth Jazz Orchestra, The National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland and Tommy Smith’s Youth Jazz Orchestra, in which he was the very first bassist selected from across Scotland at the age of 16.

In 2004 he was the only bassist enrolled that year for the BMus Jazz course at The Royal Academy of Music. He graduated with first class honours in 2008.

He has since gone on to establish two residencies at the Vortex Jazz Club, London – Thelonious from 2015 to 2017 presenting the entire catalogue of Thelonious Monk with Martin Speake and Hans Koller; and a monthly big band residency playing his own music starting in February 2017.

Ben is an acting coach, director and videographer with an MA in Actor Training and Coaching from Central School of Speech and Drama.

He specializes in the training approaches of French practitioners Jacques Lecoq and Philippe Gaulier, and has previously worked with movement director Chris Evans (Gecko).

Ben has directed shows at the White Bear Theatre, the Bread & Roses and the Brighton Fringe, and assisted on productions at ArtsEd (BA Musical Theatre) and the British American Drama Academy.

Yolanda Grant-Thompson trained at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music, receiving an Entrance scholarship, the Lord Pitt and Wingate Awards. She has performed at the Royal Opera House in Sir Trevor Nunn’s production of Porgy and Bess and was invited to play the role of Annie in the subsequent BBC TV film of that production. Yolanda has sung with English National Opera, Dutch National Opera and Opera Holland Park, where she was awarded their Laura Monaghan Bursary in her first season with them. Concert solo performances include the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall & Purcell Room at London’s Southbank and St Martin-in-the-Fields.

Siobhan Grealy began her studies at the Royal College of Music and went on to postgraduate studies at The Royal Academy of Music, where she studied with William Bennett, and then in France with Charles Dagnino. As a young artist, Siobhan won numerous prizes, awards and competitions, which launched her career as a chamber musician and soloist appearing throughout the UK and Europe in concert halls, on television and on radio.

In addition to teaching at Trinity Laban, Christopher is the Principal Piccolo of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and Principal Flute of the Orchestra of English National Ballet.

He is also the piccolo teacher at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Deirdre Gribbin is an Irish composer, whose work has been described as “astonishingly accomplished” and “pure magic” and “so powerfully expressive that it communicates its meaning instantly” by Richard Morrison in The Times, for her Aldeburgh produced opera “Hey Persephone!” which won The Arts Foundation Award for Opera, and Northern Arts Outstanding Artist Award. She was appointed as External Output Assessor for the Research Excellent Framework; REF 2020-22.

Research interests and areas of supervision:

• Composition
• The interface between music and theatre audiences
• Music and interactive healthcare technology in practice and rehabilitation hospitals in Canada
• Music and genetics
• Composition as a developmental tool for young adults with cognitive delay
• The music of Per Norgard
• Orchestration and the capacity of acoustic sound
• The role of women in music
• Music written out of conflict
• Audience participation and inclusive in contemporary music experiences
• Music, new plays and dance

Sophie Grimmer graduated with a first class honours degree from the University of York and studied singing at the Royal College of Music (Countess of Munster/London Sinfonietta Education scholarships) winning the Concerto Prize (Messiaen’s Poèmes pour Mi), Great Elm Vocal Competition and Miriam Licette Overseas Award to study French song with Régine Crespin. She then continued her operatic training with a full scholarship on the Dramatic Integration Programme (now Opera as Theatre) at Banff Arts Centre, Canada.

Her solo career, here and abroad, has involved work in opera and on the concert platform. She has performed leading roles including Mimi and Minerva in Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, the title role in Bizet’s Carmen, Hannah in Birtwistle’s Yan Tan Tethera and Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at venues such as English National Opera, Aldeburgh Festival, Banff Arts Centre (Canada), Covent Garden Festival, Riverside Studios and Shakespeare’s Globe. She was worked under directors such as David Freeman, Stephen Pimlott, Stephen Langridge, Tim Carroll, Carlos Wagner, Loveday Ingram and Simon Callow.

In concert, she has performed with ensembles such as the Brodsky Quartet (CD), the Lindsay String Quartet, Sinfonia ViVa, Richard Alston Dance Company and L’Ensemble 2e2m (France) at venues including the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, Wigmore Hall, London Handel Festival, Festival Musica Strasbourg and Festival Agora (IRCAM, Paris). Sophie has performed several world premieres including works by Mark-Anthony Turnage, Judith Weir, Daryl Runswick and Colin Riley. Sophie also performs lead singing roles in theatre and film. These include Complicite’s Out of a House Walked a Man (Royal National Theatre, dir. Simon McBurney) and Strange Poetry (Walt Disney Concert Hall, LA Philharmonic, dir. Simon McBurney, cond. Esa-Pekka Salonen); Oedipus Plays (Royal National Theatre/Epidaurus Theatre, Greece, dir. Sir Peter Hall); and Do I Love You? (National Film Theatre/Channel 4).

Austin Gunn made his professional operatic debut as Vorsinger Zaide with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras in the Edinburgh International Festival.  Other notable EIF performances include 1st Tenor Soloist Curlew River and Zweite Lehrbube Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

Berlin-born, London based, from a young age SAHRA was totally immersed in all things music having been through Aldeburgh Young Musicians program and later accepting a scholarship to study at Trinity Laban. Growing up she was happiest listening to her dad play Somalian music at home and now she’s most comfortable when surrounded by her musical community which she holds close to her heart. To this day she is still working and playing with the musicians she’s known since day one and intends to bring everyone along with her for the ride. SAHRA can proudly call herself a vocalist, composer and arranger, an artist in the truest sense of the word who you will find either performing on stage or teaching singing part-time at the prestigious Trinity Laban.