GSA graduate wins coveted Olivier Award
Congratulations to Guildford School of Acting (GSA) graduate Kobna Holdbrook- Smith, who has won an Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his West End role as Ike Turner in Tina – The Tina Turner Musical.
Kobna studied acting and graduated in 2000. Since then, he has accumulated an impressive array of high-profile theatre credits, most recently playing Laertes in Hamlet alongside Benedict Cumberbatch at the Barbican.
His many theatre credits include: NT50: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead,
Edward II, and the King’s Horseman for the National Theatre and Love’s Labour’s Lost for Shakespeare’s Globe. His film work includes Paddington 2, Justice League, Doctor Strange and Mary Poppins Returns.
Head of GSA, Sean McNamara, said:
“An Olivier Award is the most sought-after and highly regarded accolade in British theatre and we are absolutely thrilled to see Kobna recognised as one of the profession’s very best performers.”
A passage to India
Ten students are off to the Himalayas this summer as part of a volunteering opportunity organised by one of our alumni to teach children aged between three and 16. Uday Kanwar, who graduated in aerospace engineering in 2013, valued his own exchange programme so highly that he wanted to offer current students a similar opportunity.
Uday, Managing Director for Operations at the La Montessori chain of schools in Himachel Pradesh, said: “My exchange in Singapore was such an enriching experience that I wanted to give students a similar opportunity to travel – it is a great experience and one of the best forms of learning.”
Top hotel award
From rock to doc
Renowned drummer and co-founder of progressive rock band Yes, Dr Bill Bruford is also an alumnus of the University having gained his PhD in Music in 2016 after retiring from public performance in 2009.
Never one to rest on his laurels, Bill has published a new book with the University of Michigan Press, Uncharted: Creativity and the Expert Drummer, which analyses the creative processes of drumming, using his own – and other famous musicians’ – expertise and insights.
He said: “It’s been a privilege to be able to put down the sticks, step back and examine drummers’ motivations, intentions and behaviours from a calmer perspective.”
Image: Peter Hodgson
One of our graduates credits the education she received at Surrey for her professional success in the hotel industry – with her boutique hotel on the Aegean island of Mykonos named Top Greek Hotel 2019.
Kallirroi (Roy) Kalfopoulou, who graduated with an MSc in International Hotel Management in 2012, is the owner of the 21-room Rocabella Hotel Resort and Spa. She said: “My postgraduate degree provided me with all the knowledge I needed to succeed in my professional career. The hotel industry has always been my passion and I have focused very hard on achieving my goals.”
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