Alumni and Fellowships

Alumni

Many Leeds College of Music graduates achieve successful careers within the music industry. Some of our most high profile graduates are listed below.

Classical Music Alumni
Jazz Alumni
Popular Music Alumni
Music Production Alumni
Foundation in Music Production Alumni

Classical Music Alumni

Ashley Hicklin
After graduating in 2007, Ashley Hicklin signed a worldwide publishing deal with EMI which has led to him collaborating with and writing songs for a number of hit artists across Europe. He co-wrote the 2010 Belgium Eurovision entry, Me & My Guitar by Tom Dice. The song came 6th in the Competition held in Oslo and was a European-wide chart hit. Ashley’s debut album, Parrysland (Ferryhouse/Warners) was released in 2010 and he is currently demo-ing material for his second album. Whilst still at Leeds College of Music, his compositions were performed by London Sinfonietta, Goldberg Ensemble, the Apollo Saxophone Quartet and COMA Orchestra.

Katherine Gillham
Katherine Gillham is an SPNM shortlisted composer, something she achieved within a year of graduating from LCoM. Katherine has had works performed at the Royal Albert Hall, the Royal Festival Hall, and has also written for Glyndebourne Youth Opera. Commissions and performances include an electroacoustic soundtrack for Rhys Fullerton’s short film Untitled and a collaboration with writer and director Chrys Salt; Baghdad 2003. She has trained in opera, jazz and contemporary improvisation and continues to perform and create new works with performance art company The Gyg.

Jo Athroll
On graduating in 2006, Jo worked at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra first as Artist and Recordings Administrator and then as Deputy Orchestra Manager. In 2008, Jo was appointed as Festivals Administrator to the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Jo was recently appointed Production Manager in charge of classical music events at the Barbican Centre, London.

Andrew Smith
Alumnus Andrew Smith had his composition, The Sword in the Stone, performed by the Hallé Orchestra in July 2010. The performance formed part of a project being run by the Hallé’s Education and Outreach Department. For the project, Andy worked with 80 deaf children composing a song cycle based on King Arthur and Merlin The piece was originally devised when Andrew was commissioned by The Lancashire Sinfonietta to write a 30 minute piece with narration.

Sarah Devonald
Sarah Devonald has won several awards for her work on Radio 3. Over the years she has produced and worked on programmes including Mixing It, Private Passions and the Proms. She has also worked extensively in the music recording studio and has produced many sessions with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Nash Ensemble and countless chamber groups, plus a CD of Shostakovich’s Cheryomushki for the BBC Music Magazine. Sarah currently works as a freelance producer and writer.

Neil Balfour
Alumnus Neil is working across a number of music based areas, including an ambitious classical music project that involved getting his Leeds neighbourhood to embrace composition and music making! Neil also performs with orchestral pop band Arthur Rigby & the Baskervylles, and is due to launch PianoLab, a company that promotes professional music teachers around Yorkshire, as well as running workshop and masterclass activity.

Gemma Wild
Gemma Wild graduated from Leeds College of Music with a First Class honours degree in Music, followed by a Masters in Performance. While still a student Gemma was awarded the John Scheerer Prize for Woodwind, The Michael Grady Award for Composition, The Leeds University Armes Prize, the College Prize for Postgraduate Studies and The Robert Tebb Trophy for Outstanding Performance (Classical Style). During her time at Leeds College of Music she was commissioned to write a piece for the Goldberg Ensemble and collaborated with local poet Seni Seneviratne to write for the first Leeds Lieder+ festival. In 2007 Gemma was named as Lancashire Young Composer of the Year; 2009 saw Gemma collaborate with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic.

Margaret Feaviour
Margaret Feaviour was born in Leeds and studied at Leeds College of Music before moving to London to study at the Royal Academy of Music. As a soprano with the BBC Singers, Margaret performs all over the UK and abroad, and contributes to the ensemble’s nationwide outreach programme. In addition to her work with the BBC Singers and as a soloist, she is a member of the choir at St. Margaret’s Church Westminster Abbey and the Parish Church of the Houses of Parliament.

Camilla Bisengaliev
Prize-winning oboist Camilla progressed from the college’s FE to HE programme gaining a Postgraduate Music qualification in 2005. Camilla, who has performed with the Orchestra of Opera North and the Kazakh State Symphony Orchestra, still regularly performs recitals at the College as part of the Concert Season. In February 2005 Camilla was invited to a prestigious event at Buckingham Palace, celebrating the contribution of music to UK culture. Camilla is currently a member of the Boreas Trio.

Elizabeth Mansfield
Olivier Award nominated actress Elizabeth Mansfield studied at Leeds College of Music in the mid-1980s, specialising in opera performance. Elizabeth, who was in the original West End production of Godspell, is best known for her role as Music Hall singer Marie Lloyd in the musical Marie, a role written specifically for her. Marie was first produced by Elizabeth Mansfield and writer Steve Trafford in 1987. It opened at the City Varieties in Leeds and after a short tour went to the Edinburgh Festival and Drill Theatre, London. For her portrayal of Marie Lloyd, Elizabeth was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award, London Critic’s Award and a Sony Radio Award, for a BBC Radio 4 adaptation of the show.

Jazz Alumni

Matthew Bourne
Matthew Bourne was named the Perrier Young Jazz Musician of the Year in 2001, the year he graduated from the Postgraduate Jazz course at Leeds College of Music. In 2002 Matthew was awarded the prize for Jazz Innovation at the BBC Radio Jazz Awards. In 2007 Matthew released a live album, The Molde Concert, and was named as bronze winner of the International Visual Communications Association (IVCA) Award for Music. 2008 saw the release of The Mill Sessions Volume 1: Dismantling the Waterfall, a collaboration with Wales-based pianist Dave Stapleton, and Lost Something, the debut release from his Bourne/Davis/Kane trio. In February 2009 the world premiére of Matthew Bourne’s Songs from a Lost Piano was at Leeds College of Music as part of the College’s Concert Season. After two years of thinking and three days of recording, Bourne’s debut solo album for The Leaf Label, Montauk Variations, was released in February 2012.

Trio VD
Comprising Leeds College of Music alumni Chris Sharkey and Chris Bussey, alongside band member Christophe de Bezenac, Trio VD celebrated their debut album being named as Mojo Magazine’s Jazz Album of the Year 2009. Signed to the Babel label, the trio has seen an increase in popularity not only locally, but nationally as well, due to their sensational live performances and recent 4 star reviews in Mojo and Jazzwise. Time Out magazine described Trio VD as "earth shattering, taking a sledgehammer to preconceived limitations of jazz". Chris Sharkey is also a member of Acoustic Ladyland.

Matt Anderson
Tenor-saxophonist Matt Anderson graduated in 2010 with First Class Honours and was awarded the Sam Hood Rosebowl for Outstanding Performance (Jazz). Since graduating, Matt has been busy as a professional freelance musician working across the UK, and was named ‘Young Musician of the Year’ in the Jazz Yorkshire Awards 2010. The same year Matt was a ‘Jazz Futures’ recipient, a Yorkshire-based scheme which provides two years mentoring and career development for three jazz musicians in the early part of their career.

Michael Spearman
Michael Spearman – drummer in award winning band Everything Everything – graduated from the BA Jazz Studies degree in 2007. Everything Everything’s debut album ‘Man Alive’ was released in August 2010 and debuted in the UK Album Chart Top 20. In 2011, the band won The Times Breakthrough Award at the South Bank Sky Arts Awards and performed at Glastonbury and Leeds Festival.

Eddie Hick
In December 2010, a few months after graduating, Eddie was named as one of Jazzwise’s musicians to look out for in 2011. Around the same time, he was hand-picked by Gilad Atzmon to join Aztmon’s Orient House Ensemble as their new drummer. While at College, Eddie performed with Tomorrows Warriors and featured on BBC1’s The One Show demonstrating his drum technique. Eddie also took part in The Louisville Student Exchange, a project allowing three Leeds College of Music students and one alumnus to participate in Jazz Fest 2009, USA.

Ruby Wood
A former recipient of the All-Party Parliamentary Jazz/Yamaha/Classic FM Jazz Scholarship, alumna Ruby Wood is fast becoming one of the UK’s most in-demand vocalists having recently toured with Bonobo. Submotion Orchestra, the band Ruby is vocalist for, is championed by DJ Gilles Peterson and featured on his Brownswood Bubbles compilation. The band released their debut album in June 2011 and will perform at a number of UK and International festivals this year, including Glastonbury.

Alan Barnes
Internationally renowned saxophonist Alan Barnes studied at the College from 1977 – 1980. Over the last 30 years Alan has featured in numerous jazz orchestras (including the BBC Big Band and the Humphrey Lyttleton Band), and performed/ recorded with artists as diverse as Björk, Stan Tracey and Van Morrison. Alan has won many prestigious jazz awards throughout his career – including the British Jazz Award for best alto saxophonist a record five times. The Guardian described Alan as “one of the UK’s key figures keeping the nonmetropolitan jazz scene alive, and in the work he does with regional youth bands, he’s a continuing inspiration to the next generation too”.

James Hamilton
Alumnus James Hamilton was named as BASCA British Composer of the Year (Contemporary Jazz) 2010 for his composition The Causeway Suite. The album of the same name was recorded by his Jazz Orchestra at Leeds College of Music and features many acclaimed players from the Leeds scene. At the 2011 Jazz Yorkshire Awards, James was named as Composer/Arranger of the Year and his Jazz Orchestra was awarded Big Band of the Year. 2011 will see James undertaking an Arts Council funded project exploring the relationships between social media and jazz!

Pete Wareham
Saxophonist and composer Pete Wareham graduated from Leeds College of Music in the early 90s. His band Acoustic Ladyland have been described as “a high energy punk jazz hybrid” (Time Out) and “genre-bending jazz musicians” (Music Week). The bands sophomore album Last Chance Disco was released in 2005 and named as Jazzwise’s album of the year; its follow-up, Skinny Grin, was released in 2006. The band’s most recent album (and subsequently last in their current formation) was released in 2009. Pete is also a member of Mercury Music Prize nominated band Polar Bear.

Jim Corry
Saxophonist Jim Corry has recorded, toured and performed with some of the world’s most high profile musicians. He has undertaken three world tours (Corinne Bailey Rae, 2006/07; Mark Ronson 2008; Jamiroquai 2011) and is credited on a number of Grammy and Brit-nominated albums. Jim has performed at festivals including Glastonbury, Live Earth and Sonar; and appeared on TV shows ranging from David Letterman and Oprah to TOTP and Later with Jools Holland. Closer to home, Jim is a member of The Haggis Horns.

Snake Davis
Snake Davis is one of the UK’s leading saxophonists. He has recorded and worked with some of the biggest names on the popular music scene, including Sir Paul McCartney, Ray Charles, Lionel Richie, Kylie, Amy Winehouse, M-People, Primal Scream and Tina Turner. Snake is a multi-talented musician, playing various saxophones, flutes and whistles, as well as singing, writing, producing and directing his own music.

Becki Biggins
Grammy-nominated alumna Becki Biggins’ collaboration with musician Paul Hardcastle, Hardcastle 5, was a US Smooth Jazz Chart number one for eight weeks and she was named Billboard’s Best Smooth Jazz Artist
2009 and Best Newcomer 2008 at the Marlborough International Jazz Festival. She was nominated for a Best Contemporary Jazz Album Grammy in 2009. Becki has recently combined her talents with that of the legendary musical director Laurie Holloway and pianist/ arranger Malcolm Edmonstone for her second album The +Ve.


Popular Music Alumni

Ellen and the Escapades
Regulars on the UK alt-folk scene, Ellen and the Escapades is BA Popular Music graduates Chris Quick, Jeff Schneider and James Warrender, alongside former Leeds College of Music students Ellen Smith and Andy Calder. After impressing judges at the Glastonbury Emerging Talent Competition the band won the highly coveted prize of playing Glastonbury Festival 2010. The band performed on five stages over the course of the festival and was named by Q as one of the highlights of the weekend. The band performed at Glastonbury again this year, invited back by festival organiser Emily Eavis to open The Park Stage. The band will spend most of the summer touring UK and international festivals, including Green Man and Bestival.

Emily Lynn
Popular Music alumna Emily Lynn is currently touring the world with The Australian Pink Floyd. Having sold over three million tickets in concerts that have taken place in 35 countries, The Australian Pink Floyd Show is rightfully hailed as one of the most in demand touring entities currently operating. Having joined the tour in early 2011, Emily has already performed at some of the world’s largest venues and is due to tour the US for six weeks in October/November. Emily has worked with recording artists, choirs, gospel groups and orchestras, often specialising in a capella vocal techniques.

Sketches
Leeds-based band Sketches – comprising BA Popular Music Studies graduates Matt Hutt, John Arkell and Luke Rodgers alongside BA Music Production graduate James McBrien – formed while students at Leeds College of Music. Since graduating, the band has been extensively touring the UK in support of the likes of Manchester Orchestra, Captain, Blue Roses and The Thermals. In February 2011, the band released the BBC 6Music-playlisted single My Father’s Son, which was produced by Richard Formby, whose credits include Wild Beasts’ Mercury Prize nominated album Two Dancers.

Chantel McGregor
Once described as a “prodigy” by a major label A&R head, blues guitarist Chantel achieved a number of prizes from LCoM, including the Leeds College of Music Prize for Outstanding Musicianship. Chantel gained a First Class Honours degree in Popular Music in July 2009 and has gone on to develop a successful career on the UK and International blues music scene. She is now performing both solo and with her band, including a number of festivals
throughout Europe. Her debut album, Like No Other was released this year and tracks have received airplay on a number of BBC Radio 2 specialist music shows.

Dan McDougall
Since graduating in 2010, Dan has performed with the California-based band Crown Jewel Defense. The band supported All Time Low during UK and European dates at the start of February and headlined their own UK tour during July 2011, with a number of gigs at O2 Academies. Dan regularly plays with a number of other bands including Kid Cosmic – support act for OK GO in early 2011 – and Young Ideas, one of the bands featured on Leeds College of Music ‘Music Happens Here’ album.

Paul Thomas Saunders
Popular Music graduate Paul Thomas Saunders has supported Joan As Policewoman and Blue Roses on tour, performing at some of the UK’s most iconic music venues. Paul headlined one of the stages at the 2011 Live at Leeds music festival, alongside other headliners including Pulled Apart by Horses, Aloe Blac and Ana Calvi. Paul’s single Lilac & Wisteria was released on limited edition CD as well as download through iTunes. This will be followed by the release of Paul's third EP entitled, The Lunar Veterans Guide to Re-entry, later in the year.


Music Production Alumni

Christopher Mercer aka Rusko
Rusko, who is signed to Diplo’s Mad Decent record label, released his debut album O.M.G. in 2010, the same year he co-produced the third album from Grammynominated artist M.I.A. Rusko was also involved in the early stages of Britney Spears’ 2011 album Femme Fetale and has collaborated with Rihanna, TI and Cyprus Hill. As a songwriter, he has written forthcoming material for UK chart star Pixie Lott. Rusko has headlined over 50 shows in North America this year alone, and is due to co-headline a number of dates with Big Boi from OutKast.

Benjamin Gordon aka Benji Boko
DJ, producer and performer Benji Boko, a 2008 graduate from the Production programme, signed to Nightmares on Wax’s Wax On record label in 2007 while still a student. His first single The Jungle VIP reached iTunes’ Top 20 Electronic music chart and was featured on the best selling 2009 Wax On compilation CD. Benji released his debut album Beats, Treats and All Things Unique on Tru Thoughts Records in June 2011. The first single to be lifted from the LP is Where My Heart Is, featuring Maxi Jazz (Faithless).

Katriona Gilmore and Jamie Roberts
Multi-instrumentalists Katriona Gilmore and Jamie Roberts graduated from the Production degree in 2007 and have been performing together on the folk scene since 2006. Having been recognised with several accolades, including winning Bright Young Things and the New Roots Award in 2007, the duo released their self-penned debut album Shadows & Half Light in November 2008. Katriona and Jamie were nominated for a BBC Radio 2 Folk Music Award in 2010, a year that also saw the duo complete a nationwide tour, land the coveted opening slot on Fairport Convention's 2011 tour, and release their much-anticipated second album, Up from the Deep.

Tom Bramley
Recent Production graduate Tom Bramley secured a prestigious six-month internship at the world famous Skyline Studios in New York, USA. The studio has worked with some of the biggest names in music including David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Madonna, Miles Davis and Mariah Carey to name a few. Tom has been working under studio owner Jonathan Mover, a producer/drummer/composer whose credits range from Aretha Franklin, Shakira, Alice Cooper and GTR to Joe Satriani, Fuel and Everlast. One of Tom’s first jobs at Skyline Studios was working with acclaimed musician Chick Corea.

Chris Mayes-Wright
Alumnus Chris Mayes-Wright was appointed Artist and Media Relations Manager for Focusrite Audio Engineering in 2009. Prior to this, Chris was the News Editor at Sound On Sound Magazine, the world's premier music recording technology magazine.

Gavin Miller and Thomas Ragsdale
Alumni Gavin Miller and Thomas Ragsdale are at the cutting edge of the UK electronic music scene. As worriedaboutsatan, the duo released the single Heart Monitor in 2010, the follow-up to the band’s critically acclaimed debut album, Arrivals. Arrivals made a number of ‘End of Year’ charts including The Silent Ballet’s albums of 2009 and the top 10 Drowned in Sound Poll. More recently the duo has become Ghosting Season, a new project concentrating on a different approach to electronic music. Ghosting Season’s debut video premiered on the NME website, a few months after the duo was named by DiS as one of the bands ‘to watch’ in 2011.

Ben McAvoy
Production graduate Ben McAvoy started his company WMP in 2007 to create music composition and sound design for advertising, broadcast and moving image projects, and clients have included the Post Office, Imperial College London, Toshiba and Leeds College of Music. Ben also composed the music for short film CGIBrows, winner of the People’s Choice Award at the Virgin Media Shorts Competition 2009. Ben, who has been mentored by Rick Armstrong (ex Saatchi Dubai), represented Leeds College of Music at the VentureFest University Showcase in February 2010.

Ed Spear
BA Music Production graduate Ed Spear is currently working with some of biggest stars in Blues. Ed relocated to Nashville Tennessee, interning at the House of Blues Studio where he has worked with Grammy Award winning producers Mitch Dane and Vance Powell (The Raconteurs, Buddy Guy, Built Blackbird Studios) on projects for The White Stripes, Blooddrunk Shenanigans and Matthew Perryman-Jones. Ed is also credited on the album from JJ Heller, US iTunes’ No.1 singer songwriter of 2010, and is currently mixing her forthcoming releases. With Vance Powell, Ed also tracked and assisted on Humming House’s album and even starred in their video.

Foundation Degree in Music Production Alumni

Amy Felton
Amy Felton graduated from the Foundation Degree in 2006 and went on to gain work experience with several film and postproduction studios based in London, including Twickenham Film Studios and Goldcrest Post Production Facilities, where she assisted during ADR recording sessions for the 2007 Colin Firth film The Last  Legion. Now working freelance in the UK film industry, Amy has sound production credits on three films in the Harry Potter series and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

Jonathan McLeod
Jonathan McLeod, a FD/BA graduate, was announced winner of the 2008 Neville Street Light and Sound Project, a Yorkshire competition aimed at showcasing new sound works by emergent artists. Jonathan, a sonic artist, sound designer and composer, launched his winning sound installation in Leeds in October 2008. In September 2009, Jonathan presented a mixed media sound and sculpture installation as part of Expo Leeds festival. Jonathan has since been involved in theatre projects as a musical director and sound designer and has also showcased two sonic art installations, most notably as part of the ‘Klanging Banging’ project in Leeds.

Joe Thwaites
Foundation Degree graduate Joe Thwaites was named winner of the 2010 GDC Game Audio Network Guild ‘Composer’s Challenge’. As a finalist Joe was invited to talk at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, in March 2010. Joe spoke about the music design process in games, focusing on how to compose ‘on your feet’ whilst addressing important game design dilemmas. The GDC is the world’s largest professionals-only game industry event attracting over 17,000 attendees. Joe is a founder of Freak Audio alongside fellow graduate Benjamin Ziapour.