My Trinity 2021

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Alumni in the spotlight Alisdair Kitchen, filmmaker

Paul Murdin’s star turn

Alisdair has been blessed with wonderful mentors over the years starting with teachers at Trinity including Andrew Truella and Neil Goble (with whom he had organ lessons), piano teacher Nigel Clayton, and Latin teacher Simon Marshall who had a penchant for German songs and introduced Alisdair to Schubert’s Harfenspieler.

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We were delighted to hear that 2010 leaver, Temi Ladega has accepted an invitation from the Headmaster to be our guest speaker at Prizegiving in July.

Astronomer, broadcaster and commentator for the BBC and CNN, Professor Paul Murdin OBE ‘Zoomed’ back to Trinity to give a talk on Black Holes to our Physics Society. Lower Sixth students Aman de Silva and Mahdeia Hidary recalled the virtual visit by our distinguished alumnus who left Trinity in 1960:

We were delighted to hear 2001 leaver, Alisdair, has been awarded a grant from the Genesis Foundation for a series of short films. The Foundation supports “outstanding freelance talent in the creative sector across the UK”, with over 30 leading figures from the Arts on its Advisory Council including Barbara Broccoli and Benedict Cumberbatch. Alisdair is currently working on a film version of Phaedra - “Getting opera singers used to being on camera is a challenge!” He also works with art galleries, is Director of Digital Programmes at the Rye Arts Festival, resident filmmaker at the National Opera Studio and offers high quality audition and publicity videography. His work has featured on Classic FM, OperaVision and The Arts Channel.

Temi Ladega for Prizegiving

Alisdair has fond memories of the great Jonathan Miller, who gave him support and inspiration until his death a couple of years ago. “The connection came through Professor Robert Winton at the Royal College of Music. I told him I would love to chat to Jonathan Miller and he gave me his address. I prepared a postcard and went to Miller’s house to deliver it personally. Jonathan was not in, but he telephoned a couple of weeks later and invited me over for a chat. We got on famously and, thereafter, I would arrive for a monthly visit.” You can read a full interview with Alisdair in the Resources section of My Trinity at www.mytrinity.org.uk. www.alisdairkitchen.com

alumni@trinity.croydon.sch.uk

“After telling us about his career, Professor Murdin plunged into the theory of gravity, with a special focus on black holes. The professor outlined his part in the discovery of the very first black hole, Cygnus X-1. His observations of a binary star system showed that one object was a blue supergiant star and the other a strong X-ray source. His team calculated that the large X-ray source was radiating from a very small point, confirming it to be a black hole. This discovery was the first major evidence of the existence of black holes and marked the beginning of physicists’ experimental observation of these cosmic beasts."

With thanks to Paul for a fascinating talk!

Temi is a Vice-President at J P Morgan having started his career there as an analyst in their Emerging Markets & Asia Pacific team. His current role as a sector specialist covers the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Consumer and Retail industry. Temi provides advice to institutional investors looking at the sector and facilitates IPOs and other corporate activities, as well as managing risk. Away from his desk, Temi supports JP Morgan’s

EMEA campus recruitment and Diversity and Inclusion efforts. Temi is currently studying for an MBA parttime and also finds time to mentor others through J P Morgan and other initiatives he has spearheaded. When we asked Temi what advice he would give his 18 year-old self, he said:

“Be passionate, be authentic, work hard, hold on to faith and don’t give in to fear.”

Henry Aldridge’s LA project Congratulations to 2017 leaver, Henry Aldridge, who came second in an architecture competition organised by the Los Angeles Mayor’s office to redevelop a site previously occupied by the house of film director Josef von Sternberg. The other winners of the competition were experienced architects and designers with most working in teams. Henry worked on his own! Henry attained a First Class Honours degree in Architecture from Cambridge and is currently gaining practical work experience with Cooke Fawcett Architects. He will then return to university for a two-year Master’s course (MArch) which is generally followed by a further year of practical training and a final qualifying exam.

Henry used 3D virtual reality technology in his ultimate presentation at university, prompting his lecturers at Cambridge to invite him back to teach students how to use Enscape3d softtware. You can see his final project and the 3D technology (best seen via a smartphone for the full experience) by searching for Henry Aldridge ‘Stables for the Interregnum’ – there is a QR code for use on a smartphone 13 minutes into the presentation.

alumni@trinity.croydon.sch.uk

www.mytrinity.org.uk

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