Faculty: Accompanist

Accompanist

Anthony Pappano BA Hons, Mphil PGCE  Head of Accompanist Department, Academic Tutor

Anthony studied piano and voice at Trinity College of Music. After his training at Trinity he became involved in many recording projects, producing, composing and working as a session musician in the club/dance/jazz music scene. One of the most successful projects was on the first two albums produced the UK group Down To The Bone, that had success in the UK and also in the USA. Alongside this, Anthony continued to develop as a pianist, accompanist and in teaching, and became the organist at St. Peter’s Church in Holborn, London. In 2000, he returned to higher education and was later awarded an MPhil from Brunel University in solo jazz piano. He became a member of staff at Bird College in 2002, and accompanies classes for ballet, tap and singing, and also teaches music theory. As an accompanist, he works regularly at the English National Ballet for class and rehearsals (Strictly Gershwin, Manon) and performs regularly in concerts with vocalists in both the classical and popular genres. Anthony is also a solo piano recitalist in jazz and Latin inspired music.

Tim Roberts   Accompanist

Tim Roberts graduated in music at Cambridge University and was awarded a Certificate in Advanced Musical Performance by the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He has worked as a pianist at Bird College since 2016, having come to dance accompaniment later in life after an international career playing harpsichord, organ and other keyboard instruments of the 17th and 18th centuries, both solo and in ensembles ranging from Welsh National Opera and the Philharmonia to the BBC Singers and the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge. Tim has also worked as a recording engineer and editor, and since the first Covid lockdown has made many reverse paintings on glass, in both abstract and traditional styles. In 2022 Toccata Classics released a CD of his compositions and improvisations.

Karen Newby   Accompanist

Karen is an accomplished pianist and vocalist, having performed in various 5-star venues in the UK and abroad. Karen is classically trained but is equally at home playing jazz standards, show tunes and chart hits.

Tatyana Angelova PGCE, MMus  Accompanist

Tatyana has been teaching Piano, Singing and Music Theory for over 15 years, both privately and academically. She is a qualified teacher and has a BA (Hons) in Music and MA in Musicology.

David Grubb MA  Accompanist

David is a conductor, pianist, cellist and examiner. He gained his MA at Cambridge.

Jenny Charlton   Accompanist

Jenny has been an accompanist at the college for the past few years.

Jayson Wong BA (Hons). MA.   Accompanist

Jayson studied Popular Music and Music Technology at the University of Derby, focusing his time on performance and developing his interest in film scoring. He continued his education at Leeds College of Music, studying a MA in composition and specialising in music for the moving image. After graduating with a distinction, he ventured to London for an internship with a film composer, where he observed the creative process in the studio and assisted on various film and video game projects which took him to the world famous Abbey Road Studios.

Following this, he pursued music composition as a career and started out writing production/stock music – used by the BBC (TV and Radio), Channel 5, SKY and various media worldwide. He has written for commercials in Southeast Asia, arranged and programmed music for TV (BBC, Channel 4 and Netflix) and has scored projects with brands such as Toyota, Jaguar, Vodafone and Neutrogena.

Jayson joined Bird College in 2017 as a ballet accompanist and continues to compose, most recently earning his first film credit on Fighting With My Family (2019) and composing music for the Channel 4 television factual series, The Dog House (2019).

David Foster   Accompanist

David has been an accompanist at the college for the past few years.

(Echo) Chenxuan Zou BA Hons MMus   Accompanist

Chenxuan began studying the piano at the age of 5. She was awarded a double first class honours degree from Northeast Normal University, China in music and music education (Chinese equivalent of a P.G.C.E). After graduation she completed her MMus at Goldsmiths, University of London studying under Professor Alexander Ivashkin and Andrew Zolinsky. On completion of her master’s degree Chenxuan was awarded a place at Trinity Laban Conservatoire on the Artist Diploma Course studying under Hillary Coates. She is currently furthering her studies with Professor Ian Jones (RCM).

Chenxuan is an active concert pianist and has performed at many venues in China and the UK including Steinway Hall London, The Foundling Museum and Deptford Town Hall. In 2011 she won first prize in the Lola Perrin Piano Competition. As an educator Chenxuan has extensively taught piano both in China and the UK teaching students from beginner to advanced level. Chenxuan continues to enhance her teaching practice by regularly attending training and seminars at home and abroad. As an accompanist Chenxuan collaborates regularly with instrumental soloists, singers and dance acts in the classical genre.

Simon Ashford   Accompanist

Simon has been an accompanist for ballet at Bird College since November 2021. An accomplished improviser & sight reader, his playing encompasses a broad range of repertoire from big bands, functions, examination accompanying to orchestral work.

As well as accompanist at Bird, Simon is also one of the resident pianists at theatre restaurant Joe Allen and The Royal Garden Hotel, both in London, along with Brown’s restaurant in Cambridge.  For many years, he was also resident at the exclusive Stoke Park Club west of London.

Erin Sawicka MMus Bmus(Hons) ATCL MISM  Accompanist

Erin is an accomplished, London based pianist and piano teacher, who joined the staff of Bird College as an accompanist in 2017. Erin obtained a BMus(Hons) in music from Birmingham University in 2006, where she specialised in performance and composition and studied under David Quigley. Alongside her academic studies, Erin performed regularly both as a soloist and accompanist, including accompanying the Birmingham University Chamber Choir and Guild Musical Theatre Society. She continued her music studies at Trinity College of Music in London and was awarded a Masters in piano performance, studying under Hilary Coates. Other accomplishments include an ATCL diploma in piano solo performance at the age of only 17 and winning “Vale of Glamorgan Young Musician of the Year” in 2005. She also has Grade 8 in singing, flute and music theory.

Since moving to London, Erin has performed regularly as a wedding and function pianist, playing at a variety of venues, including The Berkeley Hotel in Knightsbridge, Selfridges Department store, the French Ambassador’s Residence, Wilton’s Music Hall, The Landsdowne Club in Mayfair and Eltham Palace. She currently divides her time between performing, accompanying and teaching. Recent work has included regular engagements with the Maidstone Amateur Operatic Society as both rehearsal and show pianist with productions including Witches of Eastwick, Oliver and Sweet Charity. Her collaborative work is focussed primarily, but not exclusively, on accompanying dancers for ballet classes, workshops, summer schools and ISTD exams for which she is often in high demand. Through her work as an accompanist, she has enjoyed opportunities to work with some of the biggest names in ballet, including Edward Watson, Zenaida Yanowsky, Anita Young and Ricardo Cervera.