The Culture Collective and Street Genius

Hi everyone,

We would like to give a warm welcome to new members joining the Culture Collective and Street Genius, and also introduce everyone in the group as well as past members. Amah, Nicole, Nabeel and Timo are joining us in the London Sinfonietta's 40th Birthday! Here is everyone's portraits... enjoy!

Amah is a new member of the Street Genius and is currently studying at City and Islington College for her A Levels in Philosophy, English Literature and Media Studies. Amah is a keen photographer and will be documenting the process and exhibiting her photography at the event in Dec.

Emrul Hassan is a member of the Street Genius and worked on the Marketing for ‘The Buildings are Alive’ . Emrul is currently studying in his foundation year at Goldsmiths University in Computer Science and is working on the advertising and marketing for the event in dec.

Nabeel Hassan is a new member to the Street Genius and is currently studying for his A Levels at Southbank College, in Media Studies, Sociology and ICT (information, communication technology). Nabeel is working on the publicity and marketing for the event in dec.

Antoine Francoise is a member of the Culture Collective and is currently studying for his MMUS in Piano and Composition at Royal College of Music. He is principle pianist with NEC, New Contemporary Music Ensemble in Switzerland and works in London with his group Mercury Quartet, for Chamber music. Antoine plays piano and Saxophone.


Jordan Hunt is a member of the Culture Collective and is a composer, violinist and performer. Jordan < performs with The Irrepressibles and has recently had his compositions performed at Royal Academy of Art and The Frieze Art Fair. He has also recorded his work with NMC label.

Katie Keeble is a member of the Culture Collective and is a freelance contemporary dancer and choreographer. She has recently danced with Ascendance Rep Company and Birch and O’Shea, visual arts and dance collaboration. Katie is a graduate of London Contemporary Dance School, and studied dance and film studies in an exchange program at Cal Arts, USA.

Nicole Robson is a new member to the Culture Collective, she is a cellist and currently playing with four bands, The Irrepressibles, The Monroe Transfer, Charly Blue and the Colours, and her band 16 wires String Quartet. Nicole is a graduate of Kings College London in Music.

Rachel Essien is a member of the Culture Collective and a freelance pod caster and production assistant, and currently working with Folded Wing Pod Cast and Marketing Company. She is a graduate from Ravensbourne University in Sound design.

Timo is a new member to the Culture Collective and is currently studying his MMUS masters in Composition and Improvisation at Brunnel University. Timo plays the guitar, laptop and percussion.

Will Crook is a member of the Culture Collective and a freelance animator. Will is currently working with a group of seven animators, designers and graphic designers in a company they have created called ‘Treat’. Will is a graduate from Kingston University in Animation Illustration.

The London Sinfonietta:

Anna Rice has been Participation and Learning Manager at the London Sinfonietta for three years, building links with partners across London and the UK to explore contemporary classical music in new ways and reach a diverse audience. Anna graduated from Goldsmiths University in 2002 with a BAMus, going on to work at the New London Orchestra to administer a large community vocal project in Gospel Oak. Following this she worked at the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for two years as Education and Community Co-ordinator before coming to the London Sinfonietta, where she started the Culture Collective and Street Genius programme.

Jamie has been involved in the Culture Collective and Street Genius programme since its inception earlier in the year. His role has been to support the group in developing idea’s, curating the events and working with the London Sinfonietta. Jamie is currently Managing Director of All About the Arts and works as a consultant with London Sinfonietta, SOWF and other arts organisations in London. Jamie is a proud father of his beautiful son.

Past members:

Alika Jeffs aka AJ worked with the Street Genius for The Buildings are Alive... event in the summer, working with Emrul in the publicity and marketing to the event. He also created a word piece to go with animation, based on the thoughts and feelings of the Culture Collective and Street Genius seeing the Psycho Buildings exhibition at the Hayward Gallery.

Benji Fox worked with the Culture Collective for The Buildings are Alive…event in the summer. Benji designed and created the pre-repaired piano (cic.) as part of the interactive instillation piece and composed a piece with Antoine Francoise for animation. Benji is a graduate of London College of Communication in Sound Design.

Tom-Olaf Urb worked with Culture Collective for The Buildings are Alive… event in the summer, composing a piece with animation and as technical support on the day of the event.

We wish AJ, Benji and Tom all the best with their future work.

Our next posts for the Culture Collective and Street genius will be the creative sessions for the upcoming event of London Sinfonietta's 40th Birthday at the Royal Festival Hall, Spirit Level on the 13th Dec 2008!