Jazz breaking news: Empirical To Be Artists-In-Residence At Trinity
Friday, July 29, 2011
The Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music has announced a new partnership with the award-winning young band Empirical for the next 2011-12 academic year.
This collaboration with the Jazzwise and Mojo 2007 album of the year and 2010 MOBO award winners means Empirical will effectively be artists-in-residence. The band will be involved in a range of teaching activities and performances.
Simon Purcell, head of the Trinity jazz department, commented that the partnership with Empirical illustrated the faculty’s focus on innovative performance: “The relationship is intended to challenge the cliché of jazz education. Empirical is embracing both the jazz tradition and the need to redefine itself, and it is a prime opportunity for our new students to benefit from their peers and equip them for a lifetime in music, across a range of musical genres.”
Purcell also says that Trinity Laban’s south east London location provided the perfect setting to attract a much wider range of young people from the local multicultural communities to music education. “Trinity Laban’s history of improvisation, collaboration and community work in jazz education embodies the musical practices most relevant to a conservatoire in the 21st century.”
– Selwyn Harris