Staff A-Z

Deborah Lea is a former professional opera singer, now vocal and language coach, specialising in French repertoire and performance skills.

Yekaterina is an innovative contemporary artist with a passion for making classical music accessible to all. Her concerts speak in more ways than one. She believes that the fusion of various arts creates a richer experience of living beauty.

Graham studied at Guildhall School of Music and Drama where, during his studies, he was awarded the Brass Prize. He subsequently won the Birmingham International Trombone Competition and the London Philharmonic Orchestra Young Soloist of the Year. He has played with a wide range of orchestras including the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, London Symphony Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, London Philharmonic Orchestra and is now trombonist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. In addition, he has played with London Philharmonic Orchestra Brass Ensemble, London Symphony Orchestra Brass Ensemble and London Brass Virtusosi, and has given concerto performances with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

A classically trained Soprano vocalist, Elise has been educated and performed extensively in France, Italy, Germany and the UK. Combining her love of linguistics with music has enabled her to expand into vocal and language coaching, meaning she is always constantly engaged in a myriad of artistic and educational projects. She teaches French and general phonetics to singers at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and regularly coaches ensembles such as the BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Singers. She also works with opera companies (Nevill Holt, Meantime, Goldopera).

Born in Ongar, Essex, Matthew began learning trombone with his father aged 5. He continued his studies at Brentwood School and the Junior Royal Academy of Music, eventually graduating from the Royal Academy of Music in 2011 and 2013 with a BMus(Hons) and MA.

Kelvin Lim trained at the Royal College of Music and has worked for companies including: the Royal Opera House, English National Opera, Glyndebourne, Opera Holland Park, Grange Park Opera, English Touring Opera, Longborough Festival, Northern Ireland Opera, Neville Holt, Iford Arts and British Youth Opera. He is Co-Director of Postgraduate Opera (since 2008) and Vocal Coach at Trinity Laban Conservatoire, and has coached for ROH Jette Parker and was Senior Vocal Coach for Morley College. He was also conductor for Vox Integra’s Opera Course Italy 2018.

Charles Linehan is an independent choreographer and has been Choreographer in Residence at The Place Theatre, London; Joint Adventures, Munich; and an Associate Artist with Dance4, Nottingham

Venues and festivals Charles Linehan Company has performed at include: Brussels (Kaai Theatre), Paris (Rencontres Chorégraphiques Internationales de Saint-Denis), Venice (Venice Biennale), Munich (Joint Adventures, Muffathalle), National Arts Centre Ottawa, Harbourfront, Toronto; Hermitage St. Petersburg, Tanec Prague, DanSpace New York; PACT Zollverein, Essen; Dublin International Dance Festival, Brighton Festival and multiple venues in London

Research interests and areas of supervision: 

• Choreography
• Creative practice
• Lighting design: role , environment, interactivity
• Film making
• Screen dance festivals: production, curation

Ji Liu combines a distinguished and multifaceted career as a pianist, composer, scholar and educator. As an international soloist, he has performed at venues and festivals including Royal Albert Hall, Carnegie Hall, Auditorium du Louvre, Royal Concertgebouw and the National Centre for Performing Arts in Beijing. At Classic FM’s 25th anniversary, Ji Liu performed for His Majesty King Charles III and other distinguished guests at Dumfries House.

Research interests and areas of supervision:

• Programming strategy 
• Historically informed and contemporary performance practices 
• Participatory performance and audience studies  
• Performing (and composing and reworking) unfinished works and works with extended form  
• Researching silence  
• Schubert studies 

Joan Enric Lluna is a multi-talented musician who combines his work as a clarinettist with orchestral conducting and teaching. His commitment to chamber music has taken him to perform regularly with string ensembles such as the Alexander Quartet, the Tokyo Quartet, the Brodsky Quartet and the Jerusalem Quartet. He has played as part of a trio with Lluís Claret and Josep María Colom and has collaborated with first class international artists. His appearances at the City of London Festival, Festival Classique in The Hague, San Francisco Chamber Music series, Berlin’s Konzerthaus and the Liceo de Cámara in Madrid have been particularly notable. Joan has premiered and commissioned a number of chamber works by composers like César Cano, J. Torres, I. Žebeljan, P. Barker, D. del Puerto and H. Khoury, among others. In 2005 Joan formed Moonwinds, and since 2009, he has directed the international festival Residències de Música de Cambra in Godella, Valencia (Spain).

Gareth Lockrane started playing at the age of 10 and after raiding his dad’s record collection discovered jazz at 14. Early influences included Cannonball Adderley, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Bill Evans and Stan Getz on the jazz side whilst also being transfixed by the great blues-rock guitarists of the 60s and 70s as a child – Jimi Hendrix, Albert King, Eric Clapton and Buddy Guy continue to be major influences. On flute the initial main inspirations were saxophone “doublers” like Frank Wess, James Clay, Roland Kirk, Bobby Jaspar and James Moody and later on he fell under the spell of flute visionaries like Jeremy Steig, Eric Dolphy, Hubert Laws, Paul Horn and Eddie Parker amongst many others.

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.

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.

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

Anna Miell was born in Vienna, into a musical family. After completing her language studies, Anna moved to London in the late 1970s where she commenced her career.