Composer, curator and music producer, Dominique has written music across a wide range of media: radio drama to art installations, via theatre, opera, music-theatre, chamber music, dance, film, television and sound poems.
How long have you worked in Haringey, and in which part of the borough do you live/work?
I lived briefly in Haringey in 1987, in Seven Sisters. Since March 2024, I’ve been working at the George Padmore Institute (GPI) on 76 Stroud Green Road, Finsbury Park.
As a creative and activist, how has Haringey influenced you?
My experience of sharing a house in Seven Sisters with friends, as we made our way through life in our 20s, was an important influence on taking my place as an artist/composer wherever I find myself. My flatmates were writers, publishers and social justice activists. From the late 1980s, I remember the legendary New Beacon bookshop on Stroud Green Road (which is still housed in the same building owned by the GPI) as a key hub of activity and meeting place to hear poetry readings and attend book launches, talks and events related to the Caribbean, Caribbean writers and all aspects of Black British activism.
Over the past year, as Artist in Residence at the GPI, my research into the work of the Caribbean Artists Movement (CAM), one of the major archive collections held at the Institute, has brought into focus the importance and wide reach of this movement. I discovered the determined intention and purpose of its co-founders, John La Rose, Edward Kamau Brathwaite and Andrew Salkey, as well as its impact that extended far beyond the UK. Their aim was simple. The impact was international and continues to resonate today. Many of us artists from the Caribbean diaspora in the UK walk in their wake.
Among my friends are writers, actors, directors of theatre, opera and film, musicians and composers, artists, photographers, educators, social workers, activists and thinkers who live and have lived in Haringey. Some are now national treasures and have achieved international recognition and acclaim. They have all, in some way, created an impact in their field simply by remaining committed to their beliefs and way of life.
What is your definition of a rebel?
A rebel is someone who can look at what is missing from the status quo; identify who or what is not being addressed; question why something is being left out; and address these gaps with thought and consideration. A rebel can bring other people on board to challenge the so-called ’norms’ if these lead to sections of society being left behind. The best rebels are the ones who quietly and consistently go about the work of bringing people round to acknowledge that something must change and usually or, ideally, for the better.
What’s the best careers advice you’ve received?
Twice, at key junctures of my life, I was advised that I should take inspiration from my Trinidadian, Caribbean culture and be true to who I am in my artistic expression. That advice continues to guide me, and I remain grateful to my guitar teacher, Ramon, and Elaine Padmore, former Artistic Director of the Royal Opera House, for those simple words of encouragement.
When and where do you feel at your most powerful?
When I’m at the heart of my creative process, whether that’s researching new work, writing up the research and the projects that flow from it, composing new music, rehearsing and collaborating with colleagues or planning new projects.
What would be a dream contribution to Haringey’s year as the London Borough of Culture?
A series of tributes that include:
- Guided walks through the borough to identify key sites where cultural activity took place and continues to exist.
- Readings, film screenings, exhibitions, talks, performances, concerts, theatre productions and readings of plays. Everything that attests to Haringey’s rich cultural activist heritage into the present day.
What’s the funniest thing you’ve heard or read about yourself that isn’t true?
A reviewer of a performance of my music by a chamber orchestra mentioned that my young son was singing along with the music. I don’t have children.
What is your favourite hidden Haringey gem?
Stroud Green Road. It’s full of gems I won’t name because they’ll get too popular!
Which other Haringey creative would you spotlight and why?
There are two creatives I would spotlight. Both are immensely gifted and have each, in their own ways, created an impact on everyone who has worked with them.
Irina Brown is a theatre and opera director, and educator. She directed my opera Bird of Night at the Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House in 2006. She brings profound insight and lasting visual impact to any dramatic work.
Martina Laird is a tremendous actor. Her training started early as a child in Trinidad, and that experience of being raised and trained in an environment where your identity is safe and equal to others, informs her work.
For further information on the work of Dominique Le Gendre, please visit the website of her publisher, Hennessey Brown Music.
The George Padmore Institute, based in Haringey, is an archive, educational research and information centre housing materials and documents relating mainly to black communities of Caribbean, African and Asian descent in post-war Britain and continental Europe. Find out more on their website.
Want to get regular content like this straight to your inbox? Sign up for our London Borough of Culture newsletter for updates on cultural happenings right across our Rebel Borough, and information on how you can get involved as we gear up for our London Borough of Culture year.
