Staff A-Z

Naomi’s professional choreographic work has been commissioned and presented across Canada and Europe (since 1998) within festivals such as TanzArt (Germany), Brighton Fringe (UK), Dancing of the Edge (Canada) and Chutzpah! (Canada). Naomi’s practice-led research is published in academic journals and book chapters (Intellect, Frontiers and Routledge), she presents regularly at national and international conferences and is a reviewer for the Frontiers in Psychology Journal. Naomi’s artistic work and teaching is informed by her doctoral research which examined the effect of mindfulness meditation on a creative process of dance making. Naomi’s current research is funded by Arts Council England.

Qualifications / Educational Background

Graduate Studies & Professional Qualifications

• Reader of Choreographic Practice – July 2021
• Senior Fellow Higher Education Academy – May 2019
• PhD Creative Practice (Dance) – July 2013, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance – London, UK
• Fellow Higher Education Academy – September 2007
• MA Choreography – October 2004 Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance – London, UK

Undergraduate Studies

• Bachelor of Fine Arts – Major in Dance – April 1998, Simon Fraser University – Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
• Professional Dance Diploma – April 1996, Grant MacEwan Community College – Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Creative Outputs

• Book chapter entitled ‘Moving as a thought process: the practice of choreography through stillness’ for the Routledge Dance Companion Series, edited by Professor Helen Thomas & Stacey Prickett – 2019
• International Association of Dance Medicine and Science, Montreal, practitioner wisdom presentation, October 2019
• 5th International Dance & Somatic Practices Conference – Coventry University – invited presenter – July 2019
• Perf/Forming Future: Artistic Doctorates in Europe, Middlesex University – invited presenter – April 2019
• Frontiers of Psychology, Expertise in evaluating choreographic creativity: An online adaption of the Consensual Assessment Technique, co-authored with Lucie Clements, Emma Redding & Jon May, 9:1448. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01448, August 2018
• Presented in Parallax Trinity Laban Research series ‘Moving as a thought process: studio development and creative encounters’ + documentary film by Jason Brooks – October 2018
• Arts Council England, Grant for the Arts funding award – for Part 2 Research and Development – dance-making and mindfulness with Lucille Teppa and Tara Silverthorn – February 2016 – November 2018
•  Journal of Performance and Mindfulness, ‘Moving as a thought process: An insight into mindfulness through dance and choreography’, co-authored with Tara Silverthorn & Lucille Teppa, article published Autumn 2018
• XVII International Conservatory Week Festival, St Petersburg, Russia – invited presenter – October 2017
• AHRC Leverhulme Imagery project team for In the dancer’s mind: creativity, novelty, imagination, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, September 2014 – December 2017.
• 4th International Dance & Somatic Practices Conference – Coventry University – invited presenter – July 2017
• Girls’ Day School Trust, The Cultivation of Mindfulness in Schools conference – invited presenter June 2017
• Presented at Labanarium, Mental imagery and creativity – University of Surrey – January 2017
• International Association of Dance Medicine and Science, Hong Kong, practitioner wisdom presentation entitled: ‘Mindful Moving: An insight into mindfulness through dance-making and choreography’, October 201
• Presented in Parallax Trinity Laban Research series ‘Moving as a thought process: An insight into mindfulness through dance and choreography’ + documentary film by Jason Brooks – October 2016
• Performance and Mindfulness International Symposium, Huddersfield University, paper presentation – June 2016
• Journal Article, ‘Sharing Practitioner wisdom: Collaborative approaches to learning and teaching for contemporary dancers in conservatoire training’, Journal of Dance & Somatic Practices, co-authored with Dr Emma Redding & Alison Curtis-Jones – April 2016, Vol 8, No 2.
• Foundations for Excellence Conference – Meeting the challenges of excellence in Music and Dance – invited presenter – November 2015
• Arts Council England, Grant for the Arts funding award – for Part 1 Research and Development – dharmakaya with Lucille Teppa and Tara Silverthorn – August 2015 – October 2016
• Co-authored book chapter, ‘Dancing and flourishing: mindful meditation in dance making and performing’ with Professor Sarah Whatley in Dance, Somatics and Spiritualties: Contemporary sacred narratives, leading voices in the field, edited by Sarah Whatley, Glenna Batson, Amanda Williamson, Intellect November 2014
• International Association of Dance Medicine and Science, Basel, Switzerland, practitioner wisdom presentation entitled ‘Interdisciplinary approaches to learning and teaching for contemporary dancers in conservatoire training’, October 2014
• World Dance Alliance Global Summit, Angers, France, panel presentation entitled ‘Interdisciplinary approaches to learning and teaching for contemporary dancers in conservatoire training’, July 2014
• PhD Creative Practice (Dance) thesis entitled dharmakaya: An investigation into the impact of mindful meditation on dancers’ creative processes in a choreographic environment, June 2013
• Research in Dance Education Volume 11 Issue 3, 251, book review of Charm and speed: virtuosity in the performing arts, V. A. Howard , June 2010
• Authored chapter in The artists’ stories: Featuring 30 Canadian Artists, published by Canadian Arts Alliance, June 2006
• International Association of Dance Medicine and Science, Stockholm, Sweden, ‘The development of a longitudinal inter-disciplinary screening program for full time dance students’. Paper presentation, Emma Redding, MSc, Rogerio Correa, Peter Curtis, Sarah Irvine, MSc, Naomi Lefebvre Sell, MA, November 2005

Link to PhD thesis:https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/2634/

Awards:

• External Examiner, Bath Spa University, BA Dance, 2021-2024
• Professional Development Course for External Examiners, Advance HE, 2018
• External Examiner, University of Sunderland, BA Professional Dance, MA Advanced Dance Practice, MA Advanced Professional Practice (Dance), 2018-2022
• External Examiner, University of Salford, BA (Hons) Dance 2019-2023
• Validation panel member, University of Sunderland, BA Professional Dance, MA Advanced Dance Practice, MA Advanced Professional Practice (Dance) 2018
• Reviewer for Arts, open access journal
• Reviewer for Frontiers in Psychology – an open access online journal

This season he takes up the position of Ring Cycle Conducting Fellow at Longborough Festival Opera, conducting performances of Siegfried, and working towards their Ring Cycle in 2024. A finalist in both the LSO’s Donatella Flick and Athens International Conducting Competitions, he has worked on the music staff at ENO, Den Jyske Opera, and the Grange Festival, collaborating with orchestras including the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Odense Symfoniorkester, and the Britten Sinfonia, and has performed at the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, and the Barbican. 

Harry’s recent composition highlights include commissions for the Oxford Lieder Festival and the Wigmore Hall, and his musicals James and the Giant Peach, Guess How Much I Love You, and Mr. Men & Little Miss have toured internationally with Sell-A-Door Productions. Other theatre scores include The Kreutzer Sonata (Arcola Theatre), Sleeping Beauty and My Mother Said I Never Should (The Theatre Chipping Norton), King Lear, As You Like It,  and Love’s Labours Lost (The Minack Theatre). For the screen, credits include Stalker (CBS), and Rossum’s Universal Robots for BBC Radio 4 .

As a soloist with orchestra, he has performed with Musikkollegium Winterthur, the London Soloists Chamber Orchestra, the Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra and with the Gulbenkian Symphony Orchestra among others.

He has worked with leading conductors including Christopher Warren-Green, Pascal Rophé, Nikoloz Rachveli and Gianluca Marcianó.

In July 2010 Mikhail won the Bronze Medal at the prestigious Vianna da Motta International Piano Competition in Lisbon.

Mikhail lives in London and plays mostly in the UK and Europe. He has been taking part in numerous festivals across Europe including Zaubersee festival in Lucerne and Suoni dal Golfo in La Spezia, Italy.

Among his chamber music partners are Boris Brovtsyn, Anastasia Kobekina and Natalie Clein. He is interested in historical performance practice and gives recitals on fortepianos.

Mikhail is also known for his collaboration with singers including Anna Gorbacheva, Nardus Williams, Yuri Yurchuk, Tuuli Takkala and Anush Hovhannisyan.

Mikhail’s repertoire stretches from early Baroque to contemporary music with its focus on J. S. Bach, Viennese classics, German romantics and Chopin.

He has recently released two critically acclaimed CDs on Toccata Classics and Stone Records. His new record made on historical Bechstein has been released by Willowhayne Records.

In smaller groups he has played with Gary Husband’s ‘Drive’, Django Bates’ Human Chain, NYC performance artist/violinist Laurie Anderson and pianist/singer-songwriter Steve Nieve, The Smith Quartet, Kirk Lightsey, Norma Winstone, Jason Palmer’s Quartet featuring Jeff Ballard. He is a member of Oren Marshall’s ‘Charming Transport Band’ featuring musicians from Ghana and Nigeria. Julian has also performed with vocalists Cleo Laine, Beverley Knight, Joe Lee Wilson, Liane Carroll, Eddi Reader, Charlene Spiteri, Jacqueline Dankworth, Lizz Wright, Juliet Roberts, Keziah Jones, Terri Walker, Christine Tobin and punk rock legend Steve Ignorant (formerly of Crass).

Born in Florence, Italy, Sergio De Simone is laureate of numerous international piano and chamber music competitions, including the V. Bellini International Piano Competition, the Premio Trio di Trieste International Chamber Music Competition and the Beethoven International Piano Sonata Competition (Memphis, Tennessee). Sergio has performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician in Italy, Spain, France, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and the USA for prestigious concert societies. Examples include La Società dei Concerti in Milan, Amici della Musica in Florence, Sagra Musicale Umbra, Verdi Theater in Pisa, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Biennale Musica of Venice, Harris Auditorium in Memphis, Tennessee (USA), International Music Festival in Torroella de Montgrì-Barcelona, Mills College Hall in Oakland, California (USA), Settimana Musicale Chigiana, Valli Theatre in Reggio Emilia, Bellini Theatre in Catania, Winter Festival in Sarajevo, Tartini Atelier in Ljubljana and the National Theatre in Sarajevo.

He has performed as a soloist with orchestras such as the Romanian State Orchestra, Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, Meadows Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Strumentale-Città di Prato, Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana and Sarajevo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Solisti di Città Lirica Orchestra of Pisa and Intersezioni Festival Orchestra, conducted by Jonathan Webb, Anton Nanut, Paul Philips, Alessandro Pinzauti, Augusto Vismara, Giuseppe Camerlingo and Daniele Giorgi, amongst others. His chamber music repertoire is vast and ranges from duo to quintet. He dedicates part of his activity to contemporary music both as solo and ensemble performer. Since 2000, he has been ‘pianist in residence’ at the Chigiana Academy in Siena for the Composition Summer Course given by Azio Corghi and Giorgio Battistelli and the Film Music Course given by Academy Award winner Luis Bacalov.

Sergio De Simone graduated from the A. Boito Conservatory of Music in Parma with full marks, summa cum laude and honourable mention. His musical development was deeply influenced by  the cellist of the Quartetto Italiano, Franco Rossi (with whom he studied chamber music) and by Joaquin Achucarro with whom he studied at the Chigiana Academy in Siena, (where he was awarded the Diploma of Merit as well the Guido Agosti, SIAE, and the E. Contestabile scholarships) and at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas (USA) as a recipient of the Joel Estes Tate Scholarship and where he was winner of the the Von Mickwitz Prize for Piano Performance. He also has attended masterclasses with Murray Perahia, Aldo Ciccolini, Philippe Cassard, Bruno Canino, Pier Narciso Masi and Christopher Elton.

Milena’s chamber music partners include Ivry Gitlis, Vadim Repin, Leonidas Kavakos, Antonio Meneses, Yuja Wang, Denis Kozhukhin, Vadim Kholodenko, Konstantin Lifschitz, Beatrice Rana, Boris Andrianov, Itamar Golan, Julian Rachlin, Roman Simovic, Gordan Nikolitch, Tim Hugh and many others.

Milena’s concerts have been broadcasted live on BBC Radio 3, Medici TV, Rai Uno in Italy, Arte etc. and her performances praised as “…exceptionally delivered performance, charged with brilliant combination of operatic quality, which was jaw-dropping at times”, “seductive and exciting…with rare artistic sensibility” in the press.

Milena is a resident viola and a chamber music coach at the Culture Festival in Sardinian town of Santulussurgiu, taking place in August every year, which enjoys versatility of students from all continents.

She received Bachelor and Masters of Music in violin from the Belgrade University of Arts and Music, and Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. After this Milena continued her further studies with viola and has completed another Masters degree at the Zurich University of Arts under Lawrence Power.

Milena plays a Giovanni Battista Rogeri violin ca. 1680, and Paolo Antonio Testore viola from 1740.

Since graduating he has worked with a number of influential choreographers and music artists. It was here that Waddah found his love for working not only in live theatre but making movement for film. His interests lie in creating honest and authentic work where he draws inspiration from instinctual human nature. For the last few years, Waddah has been working independently teaching, directing and choreographing to further nurture and develop his voice as a young and emerging choreographer. He co-founded performance company Fubunation, with Rhys Dennis.

He has recorded and appeared with singers such as Marion Montgomery, Dame Cleo Laine, Claire Martin OBE and Dame Jessye Norman.

In 2015, he toured in the USA and recorded with Seth MacFarlane.

He was Sir Richard Rodney Bennett’s drummer of choice and for eight years, toured and recorded as a member of Stacey Kent’s group, including her Grammy-nominated 2007 release Breakfast on the Morning Tram on Blue Note.

Matt was a founder member of the Grammy-nominated John Wilson Orchestra performing on various televised BBC Proms and concert tours, 2010-19.

He regularly appears with the BBC Big Band and often with the BBC Philharmonic and the BBC Symphony orchestras, including the Last Night of the Proms, 2017.

Travelling as John Wilson’s drummer, he has most recently performed with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the Antwerp Radio Orchestra and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.

In 2018, Matt toured internationally with Sir Simon Rattle with the London Symphony Orchestra for various Leonard Bernstein centenary concerts including performances of Bernstein’s 2nd Symphony, The Age of Anxiety and a concert version of Wonderful Town.

In 2019, he performed at the Edinburgh Festival with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in a concert version of West Side Story for Sir John Eliot Gardiner OBE.

Matt played and recorded for Alan Barnes’s Parliamentary Jazz Award winning 60th birthday project +11 and subsequent album release.

Many appearances at Ronnie Scott’s have included main shows with Claire Martin, Jim Mullen’s Organ Trio, James Pearson’s Portrait of Bill Evans and Oscar Peterson Celebrations also with Dave Newton, Joe Stilgoe’s 80s big band project and as a frequent guest member of the Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Orchestra.

West End musical theatre credits include the 2015 Savoy revival of Gypsy and ‘the Broadway transfer of An American In Paris‘ at the Dominion theatre, 2017.

Anything Goes at the Barbican, 2021/22

Recent film soundtrack includes Motherless Brooklyn, Catch 22, Doug Days, Four Kids and It, Blythe Spirit, The Lost Marilyn Tapes, A Spy Among Friends and The Great Escaper.

Matt played drums for Callum Au’s critically acclaimed orchestral album, Songs and Stories featuring Claire Martin OBE, released in 2020.

He continues to perform with orchestras such as the LSO, the RLPO, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Aurora Orchestra and with Britten Sinfonia for Alison Balsom’s 2022 Warner Classics album release.

2023 recording releases include Claire Martin’s Richard Rodney Bennett songbook album project along with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and John Wilson’s cast recording of the original score of Oklahoma with Sinfonia of London.

Matt appeared at the BBC Proms last year with the RSNO performing with Nicola Benedetti in a UK premiere performance of Wynton Marsalis’ Violin Concerto.

Recent activities also include concerts with the BBC Big Band, James Pearson’s Gershwin Rhapsody In Blue project, The Callum Au – James Davison Quintet, Pete Horsfall quartet, Purdy, Rob Barron’s Celebrating Bernstein trio project and festival appearances with the Guy Baker Big Band.

Forthcoming concerts include the Philharmonia Orchestra at the Southbank Centre as part of their American Music festival for conductor Marin Alsop and concerts and broadcasts with the Orchestre National de Lyon.

In November 2023, Matt will play on a national tour with John Wilson’s Sinfonia of London.

2023 sees the launch of Matt’s own project and recording release Beyond Category celebrating the music of Duke Ellington featuring Pete Horsfall, Alec Harper, Alex Garnett and Will Barry.

Matt is currently interim Head of Jazz at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he also teaches for the Woodwind, Brass & Percussion department.

He is director of the Guildhall Big Band devising a concert project series spanning the history of Big Band jazz.

For the Woodwind, Brass & Percussion department, Matt has most recently devised a project intended to bring the study of drum kit more closely aligned to that of multi-percussion. This has involved working closely with the composer Mark-Anthony Turnage and celebrated drummer Peter Erskine in preparing material and special events scheduled for the forthcoming academic year.

He regularly gives masterclasses and workshops at the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal College of Music and Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.

Matt is also a visiting Jazz and Drums consultant member of the Britten-Pears Foundation, Aldeburgh Young Musicians.

Holly is a London-based dance artist, teaching for several organisations including Trinity Laban, Royal Academy of Dance, Aesop’s Dance to Health, Wee Movers and was an Artist in Residence at Greenwich Dance. Her teaching spans working with children and young people, to adults and older adults, in education, community settings and dance studios. Alongside her teaching work, Holly is Associate Programme and Primary Steps Coordinator at The Royal Ballet School and was previously Participation Producer for RISE Youth Dance.

Holly trained in Contemporary Dance at Trinity Laban and is currently studying for teaching qualifications with the ISTD.

Malcolm’s love of many different styles of jazz has made him a versatile performer as well as a distinctive voice on the UK Jazz scene. In 1989, after studying at Exeter University and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, he joined the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, occupying the lead trombone chair for two years. He has since performed with a variety of artists including Kenny Baker, John Dankworth, Henry Lowther, Martin Speake and Liam Noble. His debut album Lyric Trombone (1996) received wide acclaim – including encouraging words from American trombonist Jimmy Knepper, one of Malcolm’s major influences. He has also worked with soul artists Ronnie Spector and Martha Reeves and has twice toured with Bryan Ferry, featuring on two of his albums As Time Goes By, and The Jazz Age. More recently,  Malcolm has performed widely with the acclaimed Basin Street Brawlers and Three Way Stretch, a trio which also features Liam Noble and Dave Wickins, and draws on a wide range of jazz styles to achieve it’s unique sound. Their album I’ll be Seeing You (2020) is dedicated to the memory of the late Dave Wickins.

As a vocalist, Malcolm has developed a distinctive swinging style and an exciting approach to scat singing. Things are Looking Up by VoxCity5 (2007), features Malcolm’s original arrangements for two voices and rhythm section. The line-up includes fellow vocalist,  Nia Lynn and pianist Barry Green. His next release (due out  Autumn 2020), features Malcolm’s vocals  backed by a quartet, all of whom are graduates of the Trinity Laban Jazz Course and now well known names on the UK jazz scene: Leo Richardson (saxophones), Chris Eldred (piano), Conor Chaplin (bass) and Douglas Marinner (drums).

Recently his disc of solo violin works by Kurtág and Bartók drew praise in The Strad Magazine as a “luxuriantly detailed reading” and in Gramophone Magazine for “his thoughtful, sympathetic performances”.

He has performed as a soloist with orchestras such as the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the Philharmonia, and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Recitals have included the Wigmore Hall and the Purcell Room. He has performed extensively across Russia with recitals and concerto performances from Moscow to Vladivostok, and played concertos in Hong Kong and Beijing. His repertoire ranges from baroque to contemporary and he has a number of ongoing projects to expand the violin repertoire through commission and rediscovery of lost works.

A committed chamber musician, Simon was a member of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Octet, performing in concert halls and broadcasts worldwide. Other projects have included the release of a CD of duos and trios by Kodály and Dohnányi.

In addition to masterclasses throughout the UK, he has visited and taught in institutions such as Central Conservatoire, Beijing; Academy of Performing Arts, Hong Kong; Zhiganov State Conservatoire, Kazan, Russia, and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and School of the Arts in Singapore. In 2018 he will be giving a class at the Moscow Conservatoire. He has been on the jury for international competitions, including as chair of a new competition in Kazan, Russia.

He plays on a Rogeri violin, made in 1708. He acts as a consultant to Viaduct Violins in Paris.