We’re delighted to introduce the new cohort of Trainee Music Leaders who won places on our industry-leading programme to develop their skills and experience leading creative music workshops in community settings.
Over the next year, they’ll be working in East London and across the country with our 2022-23 TML partners Orchestras Live, Britten Pears and Southbank Sinfonia and we’re excited to welcome them to our musical family.
Nii Kwartey Owoo – TML hosted by Orchestras Live
Nii Kwartey Owoo is a UK based Ghanaian musician, dance artist, choreographer, educator, cultural advocate and interdisciplinary Artist. His interest is in common traditional cultural practices found across Africa and its similarities across the globe and within diaspora communities.
Nii was given the title Custodian of Culture by the elders of his royal family in Accra at the age of 12, a role that he has since carried with him and one that continues to influence his artistic practice.
Nii has taught African dance and music at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London (SOAS) and currently African dance module leader and lecturer on the BA(Hons) Diverse Dance Styles by IRIE! dance theatre, London.
Nii plays various African percussive instruments and is lead artist of his dance and music company, Asasaa Ensemble. They play electrifying highlife music, infused with global and afrocentric sounds with vibrant rhythm arrangements from his Ghanaian heritage and influences from across the African Continent.
He collaborates and works with companies and non-profits organisations globally to disseminate and deliver music and dance initiatives in rural areas and abroad, creating collaborations and expanding reach, using his technical skills in digital and media creation.
“I am with much excitement looking forward to the shared creative processes, musicianship and co-creation with orchestras as well as the other trainees involved. For me, the traineeship is another journey of learning, shared knowledge and sharpening skills.”
Twitter: @niithefuture
Website: www.niikwarteyowoo.com
Charlie Law – TML hosted by Britten Pears Arts
Charlie is a singer-songwriter based in Suffolk who plays guitar/harmonica/stompbox and piano. He writes songs about mental health, canal boats and broken campervans!
Charlie has taught one-to-one music lessons for a few years and this year jumped into the world of community music sessions. After attending some great training workshops with Britten Pears Arts, he delivered my first group songwriting session with kids aged 7-12 in August with Eastern Angles Theatre Company.
‘I hope this Traineeship with Spitalfields Music & Britten Pears Arts is going to turn me from a newbie music leader into a pro! I’m looking forward to being guided by experienced facilitators and learning their tried and tested warm up games and expert tips. I will feel confident to step out of my comfort zone and re-imagine the way I deliver sessions. I can’t wait to see the difference it will make in the community.’
Twitter: @charliethelaw
Instagram: @charliethelaw
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/charliethelaw
Alex Fryer – TML hosted by Southbank Sinfonia
Alex is based in London and enjoys a varied career as an oboist, singer, and conductor.
Alex studied music at the University of Southampton before completing his masters in oboe at the Royal College of Music. After graduating, Alex was part of Southbank Sinfonia 2019 where he started to explore music education work.
During the pandemic, Alex joined the pathways scheme with Wigmore Hall Learning, where he worked (over zoom) with participants aged from 2 to 82. He found the impact music had on improving the well-being of all the participants hugely inspiring and this further whet his appetite to pursue music leading as part of my career.
‘I’m delighted to be a Trainee Music Leader with Spitalfields and Southbank Sinfonia, and I can’t wait to get stuck in with hands-on music leading and to learn from the fantastic practitioners, many of whom have been Trainee Music Leaders themselves, over the coming months.’
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alex.fryer.180
Yusuf Narcin – hosted by Spitalfields Music
Yusuf is a bass trombonist from London, working in a range of musical settings. With orchestral music laying the foundations for his practice, his journey on the trombone has now found direction in contemporary music, jazz, folk, klezmer and improvised music. Big band bass trombone playing is a large part of Yusuf’s career, being a founding member of the award winning Patchwork Jazz Orchestra, and regular player with the London Jazz Orchestra, London City Big Band and other large Jazz ensembles. He is also a member of the award winning brass band/theatre troupe, Perhaps Contraption..
Collaborative writing and group improvisation is an integral part of Yusuf’s musical philosophy, and as a result, he has nurtured a desire to listen, play and learn from a variety of musical traditions. As an educator and workshop leader, Yusuf has worked regularly for Multistory Orchestra, Britten-Pears Arts, LSO Discovery, and has taught curriculum music with a focus on early years music education.
‘Being a TML is exciting as I will be surrounded by inspirational people with fresh approaches to creativity and leadership. I’m also looking forward to developing my own creative practise and becoming a more confident all round leader/artist.’
Twitter: @yuslicey
Electra Perivolaris – hosted by Spitalfields Music
Described as ‘A Classical Star of the Future’ by BBC Introducing and ‘One of a new generation of female trailblazers’ by BBC Radio 3, Electra Perivolaris is a composer and pianist of mixed British and Greek heritage. Her music has been performed internationally by musicians from the London Symphony Orchestra, Hebrides Ensemble, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and BBC Concert Orchestra. She was chosen to represent her generation of female composers in a new commission for BBC Radio 3 and the BBC Singers.
In 2021 Electra graduated with Distinction from the Master of Music in Composition course at the Royal Academy of Music, London, winning the Diploma of the Royal Academy of Music Award and being awarded a 2021-2022 RAM Fellowship, working as a composer to deliver creative participatory projects in diverse settings across London with Open Academy, the RAM Community and Participation department. She is Ambassador for the BBC Young Composer Scheme and has been selected for the Royal Philharmonic Society Composers’ Programme for 2022-2023.
Electra’s work on participatory projects in community settings is central to her practice as a composer. Recent participatory work has included composing a new ‘micro-opera’ with women in a homeless shelter in East London as part of a Streetwise Opera Re:Sound commission, as well as a London Sinfonietta/Live Music Now/Theatre of Sound co-commission, working with families living with dementia to create a new chamber opera which was premiered in Stone Nest, a converted Welsh Chapel in London’s West End and featured in BBC Radio 3’s Music Matters programme.
‘I am absolutely delighted to be part of the Spitalfields Trainee Music Leader Scheme and to have the opportunity to develop my compositional approaches to work in community settings, as well as strengthening my practical skills in building a lasting career as a facilitator and workshop leader. Through collaborating with others I hope to transform classical contemporary music from a genre seen to be elite, to a form which can reach wider audiences in a range of settings and the TML Scheme will enable me to develop my approaches to meaningful participatory work with people from all walks of life.’
Website: www.electraperivolariscomposer.com
Twitter: @EPerivolaris
Instagram: @electraperivolaris
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/electraperivolaris
Stay connected to our social media to follow the 2022-23 Trainee Music Leaders’ workshops and projects!