2014 Guildhall School Guide 2014

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Content

Guildhall School Guide
for prospective students
Acting | Music | Technical Theatre
www.gsmd.ac.uk
Prepare for
Peak Performance...
2 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
This guide was published in May 2013 and is intended
to provide general information only concerning
the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Full and
up-to-date details on all programmes and services are
available on the School’s website: www.gsmd.ac.uk
The School aims to promote equality of opportunity
through educational provision so that no student or
prospective student receives less favourable treatment
than another on the grounds of age, gender, marital
status, colour, ethnic origin, sexual orientation,
disability, political or religious belief.
All programmes validated
by City University, London
3
Music p26
www.gsmd.ac.uk/music
Technical Theatre p64
www.gsmd.ac.uk/technical_theatre
Acting p10
www.gsmd.ac.uk/acting
4 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Distinctive excellence...
The modern Guildhall School is distinctive in being the only major European
conservatoire which is both a music school and a drama school, and one which is
pre-eminent in technical theatre, professional development and music therapy.
The reputation of the teaching, and increasingly the research, across all disciplines
in the School is unrivalled. Students experience working in a professional context to
professional standards with an exemplary pool of outstanding artists who work with
us as directors, conductors, coaches and tutors. The School’s alumni consistently
succeed at the highest levels of their chosen profession.
New or recently refurbished state-of-the-art facilities, including two concert halls,
three theatres, spacious practice, teaching and living spaces, support and enhance
the unique Guildhall experience.
For over 130 years, the Guildhall School has stood as a vibrant showcase of the
City of London’s commitment to education and the arts. Situated in the heart of
the City, the School moved to its present premises in the Barbican in 1977, solidifying
a unique link with both Europe’s largest arts and conference centre, including the
Barbican Hall and the Pit Theatre, and the world-class London Symphony Orchestra:
an alliance now recognised as a leading international centre for performance,
training and education in the performing and visual arts.
5 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
The Guildhall School’s
Campus is London
and beyond...
The Guildhall School enjoys a location
in the very heart of one of the most
exciting cities in the world. Make
the most of your training by taking
advantage of the wealth of opportunities
surrounding you.
Next door to the Silk Street building
is the Barbican Arts Centre with its
theatres, cinemas, concert hall, library
and art gallery, home to such institutions
as the London Symphony Orchestra
and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. The
Guildhall School is also within easy
distance of the West End theatres, the
Royal Festival Hall, National Theatre on
the South Bank, the Globe Theatre, Tate
Modern and all the major galleries.
There is an abundance of free
entertainment on offer in London and,
as a student, you are entitled to
concessions on virtually all entertainment
tickets, plus discounts in many shops and
restaurants as well as major exclusive
discounts on important items such as
Tube and bus travel.
You are a short train-ride or ﬂight away
from Europe and all the riches of those
continental cities.
The Guildhall School comprises
approximately 34,000 square metres
over four neighbouring buildings which
are continually updated and enhanced.
The School now boasts ﬁve major
public performance venues equipped to
showcase the work of its students.

6 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Exciting
new
facilities
The Silk Street building was purpose-built
in 1977 and is attached to the Barbican
Centre. Facilities in this venue include a
196-seat Music Hall, 80-seat Lecture Recital
Room, and a 308-seat Theatre, all of which
are open to the public. In addition, there is a
Studio Theatre, 41 teaching/practice rooms,
electronic music studios, recording and sound
studios, the Students’ Common Room and
IT facilities.
Milton Court, the School’s new
development, is virtually across the road from
the Silk Street building. It houses additional
world-class performance facilities: a 608-seat
concert hall, a 227-seat training theatre, a
studio theatre, 3 major rehearsal rooms, a TV
studio suite, and space for teaching, ofﬁce
and support services.
All the spaces in Milton Court have been
built to exceptionally high speciﬁcations and
utilise state-of-the-art, professional standard
technical facilities.
‘
The location of the School within
the City of London and being close to
London’s thriving theatre life (not least,
through our ties with the Barbican
Centre) is a great advantage, especially
as an international student looking
to begin my career in the UK.
’
Karin Singh, BA Technical Theatre Arts

7 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
8 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Life at the
Guildhall School
Student Affairs
The Student Affairs team is committed to the
general well-being of the students and in helping
them fulﬁl their potential during their time at the
School. It provides a supportive environment to assist
students in making the most of their student life and
offers a valued and comprehensive range of support
services designed to meet their academic and welfare
needs. Services include provision of counselling
support, health and welfare advice, physiotherapy,
disability support (including learning support for
dyslexic students), English for speakers of other
languages, ﬁnancial advice, accommodation and
international student support. The ofﬁce is situated in
the School’s hall of residence, Sundial Court.
Library
The Library aims to provide students with a comfortable,
supportive and welcoming environment. Its staff all
have a specialist knowledge of, and an interest in, music
or drama. Lending facilities include books on music,
theatre, drama criticism, stagecraft, costume, and
music therapy. There is also a comprehensive collection
of plays, poetry, scores, sets of chamber music parts,
and CD and DVDs. E-resources including New Grove
Online, RILM, RISM, RIPM, Music Index, the Performing
Arts Online, Credo Reference, JSTOR, the Encyclopedia
Britannica and the Catalogue of Printed Music are also
available for searching. The Guildhall School was the
ﬁrst conservatoire in the UK to offer its students and
staff access to both Naxos and Classical Music Library
web-streaming services, via state-of-the-art audio
terminals in the Library.
9 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
IT Facilities
The School’s Information Technology department’s
core purpose is to provide up-to-date and reliable
computing resources, empowering the Guildhall
School community to make effective use of
technologies. The main IT area in the Students’
Common Room provides a number of PCs and A3
colour printer-photocopiers for use by students, all of
which are linked to the School’s ﬁle and mail servers.
Additional facilities are also available throughout the
School. Wireless access points are situated around the
School and there is a wired network in the Sundial
Court hall of residence.
Studio Resources
The Guildhall School’s recording studio incorporates
an advanced industry standard Pro Tools recording
and production system, complemented by a
comprehensive microphone collection. The studio
itself houses a Steinway B piano recently refurbished
and specially voiced for the studio, and can
accommodate small to medium-sized chamber,
jazz and contemporary ensembles. It is used for
workshops, demo sessions, portfolio recordings, radio
drama work and CD production to fully professional
standards. There is also provision for producing
demo DVDs, both in the recording studio and in the
performance spaces.
Students’ Union
The Guildhall School Students’ Union actively
represents students throughout their time at the
School. Led by a full-time President, elected annually,
the Union acts as a channel of communication
between the student and staff bodies. In addition,
the Union acts as a point of contact between
students and relevant external bodies. From its
ofﬁce in the School, the Union offers advice on
a wide range of topics, and can provide useful
information on the Guildhall, its surrounding area,
and student life.
Accommodation
Sundial Court, the School’s hall of residence, is
located in Chiswell Street, just around the corner
from the main Silk Street building. Sundial Court
has 177 bedrooms in thirty-nine ﬂats, each with
either three, four, ﬁve or six bedrooms.
Local amenities, including supermarkets, bars,
restaurants and sports facilities are all within easy
walking distance. Two underground stations are
within minutes of the residence. Underneath the
accommodation is the Basement, which houses the
School Bar, a self-serve laundry, practice rooms and
a communal television room.
Security is provided 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.
With only 177 rooms, it is not possible to offer a
place at Sundial Court to every student. However,
every attempt is made to provide accommodation for
ﬁrst year undergraduate students. All those offered a
place at the Guildhall School are welcome to apply.
Further information on halls of residence, hostels
and external accommodation, including details of
private lodgings, rooms to rent in shared houses
and details of local letting agencies, may be obtained
from the Student Life Ofﬁcer.
Full details about Sundial Court and external
accommodation options will be sent out to
students once they have been offered a place at
the Guildhall School.
Sundial Court
10 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Acting
The Guildhall School is a lively, friendly community of actors, theatre technicians
and musicians; the Acting Department itself is intimate and supportive.
The training programmes are highly regarded in the
acting profession for the thoroughness of their
audition processes, the passion, quality and rigour
of the teaching, the emphasis on the integration of
craft training, the care and attention for the individual
development of each student, and the strong ensemble
ethic shared by staff and students.
The main programme is the BA Honours Degree
in Acting. This well-established programme has a
distinguished list of graduates, especially in recent
years (see page 20).
There is also a full-time three-year MA in Acting
programme, speciﬁcally designed for students who
already hold an undergraduate degree and wish to
have a full, professional training in acting. They work
alongside students on the BA in Acting programme,
with additional assignments appropriate to a Masters
programme.
In addition, the MA in Training Actors (Voice) or
(Movement) is available. This is a two-year, full-time
programme designed to train a small cohort
of voice and movement teachers to work in the
acting profession.
The School has excellent performance facilities.
Productions take place in its 308-seat Silk Street
Theatre, and two additional spaces in the School’s
new building Milton Court: a 227-seat proscenium
theatre and an intimate studio theatre. The Drama
Department also arranges performances at other
London theatres, including the Pit at the Barbican
Centre, the Soho Theatre, the Comedy Theatre, the
Swan (Stratford) and the Royal Court.
The Department also runs two Drama Summer
Schools: Acting in Shakespeare and Contemporary
Theatre, and Acting in Musical Theatre. Each course
is three weeks in duration.
The School is a partner in École des Écoles, a
confederation of all the major European drama
schools and is a co-organiser of Prima del Teatro, a
3-week international festival of acting workshops
which takes place in Italy every summer.
‘I had a great time
at Guildhall and my
training set me in
really good stead as
an actor.’
Ewan McGregor, Acting 1992
11 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
‘
The course is intense and
demanding but so exciting. The
teachers are absolutely world-class –
they have a wealth of experience and
skill to draw upon.
’
Paapa Essiedu, BA Acting

12 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
13 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
BA (Honours) Degree in Acting
MA in Acting
The acting programmes are for those who
intend to become professional actors. They offer
intensive vocational training in the practical
craft of acting and are different in structure and
approach from most university programmes in
Drama or Performing Arts.
Both programmes lay the foundation for a lifetime
development in the art and profession of acting. They
aim to produce actors who are ﬂexible and versatile,
able to move with conﬁdence between classical and
modern theatre, ﬁlm, television and radio.
There is a generous staff-student ratio, an enormous
number of contact hours and a very low drop-out rate.
During their training students are able to work with
many teachers and directors. Staff are chosen to
complement and contrast with each other; their
approaches may vary but they share a common
purpose. Together they help each actor and each
group to deﬁne, develop and use the processes which
are most useful to them.
All the teaching and directing staff have extensive
experience of professional theatre, ﬁlm, television or
radio, as directors, actors and teachers. They work
as a strongly committed team, while maintaining
regular contact with the profession. Some work in
the theatre, including the National Theatre, the Royal
Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare’s Globe and the
West End. Some work in ﬁlm, television and radio.
Many work internationally, and guest teachers from
abroad are sometimes invited to work here.
Biographies of some of the teachers are available on
the School’s website: www.gsmd.ac.uk/acting
Graduates from the programmes have an excellent
record of professional work (see pages 19 to 22).
Key Facts
• 3 years (full-time)
• 26 students in each year (78 students
across the programmes)
• 30 part-time and full-time staff, plus
visiting directors
• 2,300 applications/26 places
Applicants are advised to apply as early
as possible.
The programmes are constantly evolving, merging the
traditions of a classical training with the demands of the
profession in the twenty-ﬁrst century.
Good actors must have the means, the intelligence
and the need to communicate their understanding of
life to an audience. Through all areas of the training
we encourage our students to be enquiring artists
who can develop their own ideas and communicate
them through whatever material they are offered.
We have a strong belief in individual actors working to
strength within the context of an ensemble. We work
in a collaborative atmosphere and encourage actors
to connect emotion, intellect, spirituality and physical
skills in all that they do.
14 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
BA (Hons) in Acting
Years 1 and 2
The ﬁrst two years are training years, when you
concentrate on acquiring the skills you need as a
professional actor. The time is divided between
classwork and rehearsal projects when you work on
a play text, applying the skills learnt in class to a wide
variety of plays, as well as radio and TV work. Both
classwork and rehearsal projects focus on developing
and integrating four main areas of study: acting,
voice, movement and playtexts.
Acting studies include stagecraft, improvisation,
games and story-telling, mime, circus and physical
theatre. As the training progresses, classes in radio
and television work are added, using the School’s
own equipment and radio studio.
Voice studies cover voice and speech classes, poetry
and prose, singing, phonetics, dialects and a great
deal of work on language, including Shakespeare.
Movement studies cover pure movement, movement
improvisation (including animal studies and mask
work), period dance and 20th-century dance,
showdance, acrobatics and stage combat.
Theatre background introduces a wide range of plays
in their historical context.
Year 3
By the third year, you should be technically proﬁcient
vocally and physically, and have developed your
own working processes. Most of your time is
spent rehearsing and performing to the public and
to potential employers. You usually work on six
productions, playing a wide variety of roles in plays of
varying styles, working with several different directors.
There are also sessions to prepare you for the acting
profession, as well as audition showcases regularly
attended by agents, theatre and casting directors.
MA in Acting
This is a three-year full-time programme designed
for students who hold a university degree and wish
to have a full professional training in acting. The
MA students work in the same classes, rehearsals
and performances as the students on the three-year
BA in Acting with additional tutorials in support of
achieving the Masters level outcomes. Entrance is
by audition. At the point of audition, no distinction
is made between applicants to the BA and the MA.
Once a graduate applicant has received an offer, he
or she can opt to follow either the MA or the BA
programme. There are normally over 2,300 applicants
for a total of about 26 places on the combined
programmes.
MA students have the same practical training as
the BA students. They take additional modules
developing their critical and reﬂective skills and
are required to achieve more demanding learning
outcomes and a higher standard overall.
For a summary of these programmes, please see the website: www.gsmd.ac.uk/acting
‘
Right from the audition, the tutors
led me to trust that my craft and
creativity would be nurtured here. The
knowledge and techniques I have learnt
at Guildhall will allow me to tackle any
role with conviction and truth.
’
Kae Yukawa, BA Acting

15 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
16 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
17 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Recent drama productions
Summer 2013
• May ‘08 (a devised piece) dir. Richard Wilson
and Dinah Stabb
• Rags (musical) (music by Charles Strouse,
book by Joseph Stein, lyrics by Stephen Schwartz)
dir. Martin Connor
Spring 2013
• Twelfth Night (by William Shakespeare)
dir. Patsy Rodenburg
• A Respectable Wedding (by Bertolt Brecht,
translated by Rory Bremner) dir. Owen Lewis
• The Laramie Project (by Moisés Kaufman
and the members of Tectonic Theater Project)
dir. Wyn Jones
Autumn 2012
• Blood Wedding (by Federico Garcia Lorca in
a version by Ted Hughes) dir. Christian Burgess
• Toast (by Richard Bean) dir. Jo McInnes
• The Life & Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
Part Two (by David Edgar adapted from the
novel by Charles Dickens) dir. Joseph Blatchley
Summer 2012
• Lysistrata (by Aristophanes) dir. Owen Horsley
• Chaplin (musical) (music by Roger Anderson,
book by Ernest Kinoy, lyrics by Lee Goldsmith)
dir. Martin Connor
Spring 2012
• Les Liaisons Dangereuses (by Christopher
Hampton) dir. Nick Bagnall
• Jenufa (adapted from the play by Gabriela
Preissova) dir. Sue Lefton
• The Life & Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
Part One (by David Edgar adapted from the novel
by Charles Dickens) dir. Joseph Blatchley
Autumn 2011
• The Women (by Clare Boothe Luce) dir. Wyn Jones
• Aces & Jacks (short plays by David Mamet)
dir. Nadia Fall
• …think only this of me… (a devised
collaboration by Guildhall School actors and
musicians) dir. Christian Burgess
Summer 2011
• Kiss Me Kate (musical) (music & lyrics by Cole Porter,
book by Sam & Bella Spewak) dir. Martin Connor
• Richard III (by William Shakespeare)
dir. Patsy Rodenburg
Spring 2011
• The House of Atreus (adapted by Paul O’Mahony
and Richard Twyman) dir. Richard Twyman
• The Blue Room (freely adapted from Arthur
Schnitzler by David Hare) dir. Tom Daley
• Dear Brutus (by Sir James Barrie) dir. Wyn Jones
Autumn 2010
• Badenheim 1939 (adapted by Arnold Wesker
from the novel by Aharon Appelfeld)
dir. Christian Burgess
• DNA (by Dennis Kelly) dir. Owen Lewis
• Festen (by David Eldridge after the DOGME
ﬁlm by Thomas Vinterberg, Mogens Rukov
and Bohr Hansen) dir. Joseph Blatchley
Summer 2010
• Curtains (musical) (music by John Kander, lyrics
by Fred Ebb, book by Rupert Holmes, original book
and concept by Peter Stone) dir. Martin Connor
• Summerfolk (by Maxim Gorky/Nick Dear)
dir. Owen Lewis
Spring 2010
• Tonight at 8.30 (by Noël Coward) dir. Wyn Jones
• When Five Years Pass (by Federico Garcia Lorca)
dir. Roberto Romei
• Six Characters Looking for an Author
(by Luigi Pirandello/David Harrower) dir. Joseph
Blatchley
Autumn 2009
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream (by William
Shakespeare) dir. Douglas Rintoul
• Tipping the Velvet (by Amanda Whittington
based on the novel by Sarah Waters)
dir. Katharine Rogers
• Don Juan in Soho (by Patrick Marber, after
Molière) dir. Christian Burgess
18 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Joining the Acting Profession
Preparing for the
Profession
In your ﬁnal year you are given clear guidance on
starting in the acting profession. There are regular
talks, workshops and visits by regional theatre
directors, agents, casting directors, income tax
advisers and representatives from Equity (see below).
Actors and actresses currently working in the
profession are involved as tutors in your ﬁnal year,
advising you on preparation for the profession.
Audition showcases
During the ﬁnal year you prepare showcases of
modern and classical speeches and scenes, which
are attended by a large number of agents, directors
and casting directors.
Equity membership
Students who have the right to work in this country
are eligible to become student members of British
Actors’ Equity, the actors’ trade union, and will
automatically be granted full membership on
completion of their training.
After training
After graduating, some former students have
started their own theatre companies, others are
playing leading roles in the West End, at the Royal
Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre and
in regional theatres. Others feature in ﬁlms and
television dramas.
See the website for biographies of some of our
graduates.
Through its close contacts with the profession the
Drama Department is frequently able to recommend
former students for speciﬁc work, and staff members
are available to give advice.
19 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Recent graduates’ work
Company graduated July 2012
Jonathan Barnwell
Hobbs in Ripper Street
dir. Tom Shankland (BBC)
Emily Berrington
Jane Shore in
The White Queen
dir. James Kent (Company
Productions for the BBC)
Efﬁe Blechmann in
Children’s Children
dir. Jeremy Herrin
(Almeida Theatre)
Clare in The Look of Love
dir. Michael Winterbottom
(Revolution Films)
Simon Blackhall
Simone in L’Assenza
dir. Jonathan Romney
(First Born Films)
Christos in Utopia
dir. Alex Garcia & Wayne
Yip (Kudos Film & TV for
Channel 4)
Nathalie Buscombe
Judy in The Breadwinner
dir. Auriol Smith (Orange
Tree Theatre)
Kitty in The Man Who
Pays the Piper
dir. Helen Leblique
(Orange Tree Theatre)
Assistant in Red 2
dir. Dean Parisot (DC
Entertainment)
Sara Hockney in New Tricks
dir. Phil John (Wall to Wall/
BBC)
Lucrezia Borgia in
Courtly Love
dir. Jane Morgan (BBC
Radio 3)
Michaela Coel
Tracey Gordon in Chewing
Gum Dreams
dir. Che Walker (Bush
Theatre)
Kayla in Top Boy
dir. Jonathon Van Tulleken
(Channel 4/Cowboy Films)
Sion Alun Davies
Jake in Festopia
dir. Alice Malin
(Theatre 503)
Ivor Gurney in A Soldier
and a Maker
dir. Iain Burnside
(Barbican)
Sherman Singers (New
Writing Project) (Sherman
Cymru)
Steffan Donnelly
Artistic Director of
Invertigo Theatre
Company
Dickie Winslow in The
Winslow Boy (Clwyd
Theatr Cymru)
Llanc in Saer Doliau
dir. Aled Pedrick (Invertigo
Theatre at the Finborough
Theatre)
Chef in No Em Dic Manuel
dir. Gerard Iravedra
(Teatre Lliure, Barcelona)
Mercutio in Romeo
and Juliet
dir. Beckie Mills (Pendley
Shakespeare Festival)
Saudi Aramco Cultural
Program in Saudi Arabia,
National Youth Theatre
Paapa Essiedu
Roy in Utopia dir. Marc
Munden (Kudos Film & TV
for Channel 4)
Fenton in The Merry
Wives of Windsor
dir. Phillip Breen (Royal
Shakespeare Company)
Rat in The Mouse and
his Child
dir. Paul Hunter (Royal
Shakespeare Company)
Clay in Dutchman
dir. Polina Kalinina
(Orange Tree Theatre)
Jenny Fennessy
Dorothy in A Life
dir. Eleanor Rhode
(Finborough Theatre)
Gala Gordon
Irina in Three Sisters
dir. Benedict Andrews
(Young Vic Theatre)
Danielle Harrison
Jessica Wilton in Spite &
Malice dir. Duncan Ward
(Eyepluggin Media)
Verona in Before the
Night is Through
dir. Suzy Catliff/Chris
Whitehead (Lucky Stuff
Theatre Company)
Nicholas Kendrick
Sir Robert Chiltern in
An Ideal Husband
dir. Andrew Cullum (Blue
Orange Theatre)
U/S David Filde/Lord Gray
in The Haunting
dir. Hugh Wooldridge (Bill
Kenwright Limited)
Katherine Rose
Morley
Call Centre Girl in
30 and Counting
dir. Ben Taylor (Bwark)
Sharon in The Week
Before Christmas –
Little Cracker Series
dir. Sharon Horgan
(Bwark)
Liza in Khadija is 18
dir. Tim Stark (Finborough
Theatre)
Kevin Phelan
Tyler (Guest Lead) in
Casualty dir. Simon
Meyers (BBC)
Rose Reynolds
Tracey Bunson in
The World’s End
dir. Edgar Wright
(Working Title)
Baby Doll in Tiger Tail
dir. Patrick Sandford
(Nufﬁeld Theatre)
Helen Sorren
Pearl in XX dir. Alice Malin
(Theatre 503)
The Miser
dir. Nancy Meckler
(Watermill Theatre)
Cara Theobold
Ivy in Downton Abbey
dir. Andy Goddard, Jeremy
Webb, David Evans (ITV)
Miss Bufton in
London Wall
dir. Tricia Thorns
(Finborough Theatre)
Edwin Thomas
Irwin in The History Boys
dir. Michael Longhurst
(Shefﬁeld Crucible)
Edward in Restless
dir. Edward Hall (Endor
Productions)
Reuben Beatty in Lewis:
Down Among the Fearful
dir. Brian Kelly (ITV)
Captain Ager / Horatio
in A Fair Quarrel/The
Spanish Tragedy
dir. James Wallace
(Illuminations)
Beatrice Walker
Petra in Public Enemy
dir. Richard Jones (Young
Vic Theatre)

20 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Acting graduates include
Naveen Andrews 1990
Hayley Atwell 2005
Orlando Bloom 1999
Stephen Campbell Moore 1999
Daniel Craig 1991
Oliver Dimsdale 1999
Michelle Dockery 2004
Adrian Dunbar 1983
Daniel Evans 1994
Joseph Fiennes 1993
Mariah Gale 2003
Shirley Henderson 1986
Jocelyn Jee Esien 1997
Rhys Ifans 1989
Lennie James 1988
Natasha Little 1994
Scott Maslen 1998
Alistair McGowan 1989
Ewan McGregor 1992
Neil Morrissey 1983
Fay Ripley 1990
Clive Rowe 1987
Simon Russell Beale CBE 1983
Lesley Sharp 1982
Geraldine Somerville 1989
David Thewlis 1984
Dominic West 1995
Jodie Whittaker 2005
Recent awards
BAFTA Awards
Dominic West – winner of Best Leading Actor
for Appropriate Adult, 2012
Monica Dolan – winner of Best Supporting
Actress for Appropriate Adult, 2012
Alfred Molina – nominated for Best Supporting
Actor for An Education, 2009
Critics’ Circle Awards
Daniel Craig – nominated for British Actor of the
Year for Skyfall, 2013
Alfred Molina – nominated for Best Actor in a
Supporting Role for An Education, 2010
Emmy Awards
Damian Lewis – winner of Best Actor in a Drama
Series for Homeland, 2012
Michelle Dockery – nominated for Best Actress in a
Drama Series for Downton Abbey, 2012
Evening Standard Awards
Simon Russell Beale – winner of Best Actor
for Collaborators (NT), 2012
Charles Edwards – nominated for Best Actor for
The King’s Speech (Guildford/Wyndham’s) and
This House (NT), 2012
Eileen Atkins – nominated for Best Actress for
All That Fall, 2012
Ewan McGregor – nominated for Best Actor for
The Ghost, 2011
David Thewlis – nominated for the Peter Sellers
Comedy Award for his performance in London
Boulevard, 2011
Lesley Sharp – nominated for Best Actress for
Harper Regan (NT Cottesloe), 2008
Michelle Dockery – nominated for The Milton
Shulman Award for Outstanding Newcomer for
Pygmalion (Old Vic), 2008
Lex Shrapnel – nominated for The Milton Shulman
Award for Outstanding Newcomer for Henry IV Part I,
(RSC at the Roundhouse), 2008
21 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
‘ I knew I wanted to go to
Guildhall the minute I
walked down the corridor –
there was something about
the students, tutors and the
whole atmosphere. Getting in
was like winning the lottery.’
Michelle Dockery, Acting 2004
22 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
British Independent Film Awards
Hayley Atwell – nominated for Best Supporting
Actress for The Duchess, 2008
David Thewlis – winner of the Richard Harris Award
for Outstanding Contribution to British Film, 2008
Golden Globe Awards
Damian Lewis – winner of Best Actor in a Drama
for Homeland, 2013
Ewan McGregor – nominated for Best Actor (Musical
or Comedy) for Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, 2013
Michelle Dockery – nominated for Best Actress in
a Drama for Downton Abbey, 2013
Hayley Atwell – nominated for Best Performance
by an Actress in a Mini-series or Motion Picture Made
for Television for Pillars of the Earth, 2011
Ian Charleson Award
Natalie Dew – winner of 3rd prize for Celia in
As You Like It (Curve, Leicester), 2011
Mariah Gale – Special Commendation for Celia in
As You Like It (RSC, Courtyard, Stratford), 2011
Max Irons – nominated for Max Piccolomini in
Wallenstein (Minerva, Chichester), 2011
Henry Pettigrew – nominated for Marcellus/Second
Gravedigger in Hamlet (Donmar at Wyndham’s), 2011
Gwilym Lee – commendation for Oedipus (NT), 2009
Natalie Dew – nominated for Viola in Twelfth Night
(Regent’s Park), 2008
Olivier Awards
Marcia Warren – nominated for Best Actress for
The Ladykillers (Gielgud Theatre), 2012
Sarah Lancashire – nominated for Best Actress
in a Musical for Betty Blue Eyes (Novello Theatre), 2012
Andy Nyman – nominated for Best
Entertainment, co-writer Ghost Stories
(Duke of York’s Theatre), 2011
Andy Nyman – nominated for Best Entertainment
for Derren Brown: Enigma written by Derren Brown
and Andy Nyman (Adelphi Theatre), 2010
Alexander Hanson – nominated for Best
Performance in a Supporting Role for Marguerite
(Theatre Royal Haymarket), 2008
Clive Rowe – nominated for Outstanding Achievement
in an Afﬁliate Theatre for his performance in Mother
Goose (Hackney Empire), 2008
Tony Awards
Daniel Evans – nominated for Best Performance
by a Lead Actor in a Musical for Sunday in the Park
with George, 2008
Theatregoers’ Choice
(Whatsonstage.com) Awards
Andy Nyman – nominated for Best Supporting Actor
in a Play for Abigail’s Party (Wyndham’s), 2013
Owain Arthur – nominated for Best Takeover in
a Role for One Man, Two Guvnors (Theatre Royal
Haymarket), 2013
Joshua Miles – nominated for Newcomer of the
Year for Bully Boy (St James Theatre), 2013
Simon Russell Beale – nominated for Best Actor
in a Play for Deathtrap (Noël Coward) and London
Assurance (NT), 2011
Stephen Campbell Moore – nominated for
Best Supporting Actor in a Play for All My Sons
(Apollo), 2011
Lesley Sharp – nominated for Best Actress in
a Play for The Rise & Fall of Little Voice (Vaudeville),
2010
Dominic West – nominated for Best Actor in a Play
for Life is a Dream (Donmar Warehouse), 2010
Hayley Atwell – nominated for Best Supporting
Actress in a Play for A View from the Bridge (Duke of
York’s Theatre), 2010
Michelle Dockery – nominated for Best
Supporting Actress in a Play for Burnt by the Sun
(NT Lyttelton), 2010
Alexander Hanson – nominated for Best Actor in
a Musical for A Little Night Music (Menier Chocolate
Factory & Garrick), 2010
Alistair McGowan – nominated for The Waldorf
Best New Comedy (Writing) for Timing (King’s Head),
2010
Lesley Sharp – nominated for The Spotlight
Best Actress in a Play for Harper Regan
(NT Cottesloe), 2009
Alexander Hanson – nominated for Best Supporting
Actor in a Musical for Marguerite (Theatre Royal
Haymarket), 2009
23 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Applying for the Acting programmes
Students from a wide range of ages and
backgrounds are selected on merit by audition.
It is not necessary to have any previous acting
experience.
You should normally be at least 18 years old when
you begin your training. Most students are a few
years older. There is no upper age limit.
Please see www.gsmd.ac.uk/acting for details
of how to apply, and our audition process.
You are advised to apply as early as possible.
‘
Throughout
the audition
process I felt
excited, creatively
challenged
and ultimately
inspired; and so
far the course has
done all that and
more!
’
Nathalie Buscombe, MA
Acting
MA in Training Actors
(Voice) or (Movement)
This programme is designed to train voice and
movement teachers to work in the acting profession.
It is a two-year full-time course, led by Patsy
Rodenburg (Head of Voice) and Wendy Allnutt (Head
of Movement), in association with professional
theatre companies and leading drama schools.
Drawing on a long tradition of actor-training in the
UK and abroad, this programme aims to develop a
new generation of theatre craft teachers to work
with actors in training and in the profession. A
maximum of four students (two for Voice and two
for Movement) is enrolled, each able to develop their
knowledge and skills under close guidance. Students
enjoy close links with the Acting Programme and
with the professional theatre.
At the core of the programme is intensive observation
of actors in training. This is supported by seminars
and tutorials; research; development of the student’s
own knowledge and skills; placement in a major
theatre company and/or drama school. Students
specialise in either Voice or Movement throughout
the course. They follow an integrated modular
programme, with emphasis on their chosen discipline
within each module.
Please visit www.gsmd.ac.uk/acting for further
details of this programme, and how to apply.
‘
Guildhall offers
a course unlike any
other drama school
with one-to-one tuition,
support, and unique
training which enables
you to accomplish the
career that you dream
of achieving.
’
Charlie Morgan, MA in Training
Actors (Movement)
24 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Staff
Director of Drama
Christian Burgess AGSM FGS
Director of Acting
Wyn Jones FGS
Head of Acting Studies
Martin Connor FGS
Head of Voice
Patsy Rodenburg OBE FGS
Head of Movement
Wendy Allnutt DipCSSD FGS
Head of Academic Studies (Drama)
Eliot Shrimpton BA MA (Cantab)
Director of Creative Learning
Sean Gregory MPhil BA(Hons) FGS LGSM (PCS)
Core teaching staff:
Diana Devlin – Theatre Background
Kate Godfrey – Voice & Speech
Charmian Hoare – Voice & Speech
Danny McGrath – Movement
Kenneth Rea – Circus & Story-telling
Annemette Verspeak – Voice & Speech
Emma Woodvine – Voice & Speech
For a full list of teaching staff please visit the
website: www.gsmd.ac.uk/acting
25 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
26 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Music
As a music student at the Guildhall School you will be joining a community of
young artists at an institution which, for over 130 years, has been recognised for
its excellence and innovation in performance training and whose many graduates
occupy eminent roles within the profession.
You will work with some of the greatest international artists and renowned teachers in state-of-the-
art facilities situated at the heart of the world’s most culturally vibrant city. You will have unrivalled
opportunities to perform in world-class venues throughout London and beyond.
In addition to developing your own artistic excellence, you will be working within a culture committed
to enquiry and innovation, where time and space are given to experimentation, artistic communication
and the discovery of new ideas.
Your time at the Guildhall School will provide you with the know-how, discipline and energy level
required to achieve artistic excellence; you will be well grounded in both advanced techniques for new
music and historically-informed interpretation, and you will develop clear career objectives together
with the ambition, conﬁdence and drive to achieve them.
‘
Guildhall was the only
college I auditioned for.
With the help and
guidance given to me, I
was ready to embark on
a professional career.
’
Bryn Terfel, Opera 1989
27 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
28 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Studying Music at the Guildhall School
One-to-one principal study lies at the heart of the learning experience at the
Guildhall School.
Your individual tuition, underpinned by solo and
chamber coaching, are central to all Guildhall School
programmes. The weekly lesson combined with
chamber/small ensemble coaching sessions are
enhanced by workshops and masterclasses given
by many eminent visiting artists and ensembles.
Collaboration with our immediate neighbours,
the Barbican Centre and the London Symphony
Orchestra, will not only give you year-round access to
international artists, composers and conductors but
also the opportunity to perform in two of London’s
major performance spaces, the Barbican Hall and
LSO St Luke’s.
State-of-the-art venues in Milton Court including a
world-class 608-seat concert hall and two theatres
now add to the School’s wealth of dedicated facilities.
Undergraduate
A four-year programme leading to a Bachelor
of Music degree with Honours is offered in the
following principal study areas: Strings, Wind,
Brass & Percussion, Keyboard, Vocal Studies,
Composition, Electronic Music, and Jazz.
See page 51 for details.
Postgraduate
Postgraduate study options include three Masters
level programmes:
Guildhall Artist Masters programme (see page 53)
MA in Opera Making and Writing (see page 62)
MA in Music Therapy (see page 48)
There is also a broad, practice-based doctoral
research programme (see page 78) which includes a
new studentship as Composer-in-Residence with the
Royal Opera House.
The Guildhall Artist programme has three pathways,
Composition, Leadership and Performance, and
in the Performance pathway students can undertake
one of a number of specialisms:
Advanced Instrumental Studies
This specialism is intended for students showing
a high level of ability and musicianship with the
potential for a career as a soloist or in chamber
music. The expectation is that students who take this
pathway come with advanced instrumental ability
and musical understanding and also have a broad
understanding of repertoire for their instrument.
Orchestral Artistry
Orchestral Artistry, in association with the London
Symphony Orchestra, is a highly distinctive and
ground-breaking specialism, designed to attract the
very ﬁnest students from around the world to work
alongside LSO players, international artists/conductors
and Guildhall School professors in a context akin to a
professional environment (see page 60). The aim is to
produce fully rounded musicians who have acquired
the skills, knowledge and capability to become high
achieving 21st century musicians. Orchestral Artistry is
part of Centre for Orchestra, a unique collaboration
between the Guildhall School, the London Symphony
Orchestra and the Barbican Centre (see page 58).
Chamber Music
The Chamber Music specialism is aimed at a small
number of pre-existing groups who wish to hone their
skills and develop their proﬁle. Groups (with a minimum
of three players) receive weekly coachings with principal
study staff and also ﬁrst preference for coachings with
visiting ensembles and artists (see page 41).
Opera course
The Opera course has a very strong reputation and
in 2007 won the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for the
quality of its achievements and its innovative training
programme. It offers advanced training for both vocal
students and repetiteurs and aspires to work at a
professional level over two years full-time (see page 38).
Performance principal study specialisms are also
available in vocal studies, historical performance,
jazz and piano accompaniment.
29 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
30 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
‘
The Guildhall School is renowned for
having a high level of teaching and so it
seemed the best place for me to continue
my studies. London is a cosmopolitan
city, so I have the opportunity to
experience many different cultures which
help broaden my artistic horizons.
’
Ella Rundle, BMus Cello

31 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Principal Study
Strings
Violin • Viola • Cello • Double Bass •
Guitar • Harp • Lute • Viols
Individual lessons and masterclasses •
Chamber music • Orchestra • String Ensemble
Principal Study lessons delivered by our eminent
string professors are the central focus of study in the
String Department. This training is further enhanced
by a strong programme of chamber coaching and
orchestral training. There are many opportunities
to become involved in contemporary music and
historically informed performance as well as
innovative work in cross-arts performance.
Head of Department
Louise Hopkins FGS AGSM
Deputy Head
Evan Rothstein BM MM DocMus
Assistant Deputy Head
Krzysztof Smietana FGS
Eugène Ysaÿe International Chair of Violin
David Takeno FGS
Head of Chamber Music
Alasdair Tait BMus PPRNCM
Senior Tutor in Strings Chamber Music
Matthew Jones
Historical Performance Studies
See page 40.
Chamber Music Studies
See page 41.
Recent Department Highlights
• Masterclasses with Midori, Roman Simovic, Maria
Radicheva, Arni Egilsson, Tabea Zimmerman, Alban
Gerhardt, Graham Devine, Helga Storck, Isabelle
Perin, Zvi Zeitlin, Marisa Robles, Bryn Lewis, Sherban
Lupu, David Alberman, Miriam Fried, Gary Hoffman
and Sioned Williams
• Faculty Artist Series recitals by Louise Hopkins,
Pierre Doumenge, Krzysztof Smietana and
Alexander Baillie playing alongside senior students
• Performances by senior student string quartets in
Guildhall Artists at the Barbican, rush-hour
concerts preceding LSO concerts on the Barbican stage
• String players performing in Symphony, Chamber
and Baroque Orchestra concerts, operas, and
chamber music throughout the year.
Recent Student Successes
Geminiani Quartet Winner of 1st Prize at
the Alexander and Buono International String
Competition
Hikaru Mitsukawa (BMus Violin) Winner of 2nd
Prize at the Munetsugu Angel Violin Competition in
Nagoya, Japan
Hannah Stone (MMus Harp) Winner of 2nd Prize
in the Reinl Competition, Vienna
Alumni include
Jennifer Pike (Violin 2009), soloist
David Coucheron (Violin 2008), concertmaster
of Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
Maxim Rysanov (Viola 2005), recipient of Classic
FM/Gramophone Young Artist of the Year
Lawrence Power (Viola 1996), soloist
Tom Norris (Violin/Viola 1993), Co-Principal 2nd
Violin, London Symphony Orchestra
Stephanie Gonley (Violin 1987), Leader of the
English Chamber Orchestra
Tasmin Little (Violin 1986), soloist
Anthony Marwood (Violin 1986), soloist
Auditions, Open Days and
Contact Information:
www.gsmd.ac.uk/music
32 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Wind, Brass and
Percussion
Flute • Oboe • Clarinet • Bassoon •
Horn • Trumpet • Tenor & Bass
Trombone • Tuba • Timpani &
Percussion • Alto Saxophone •
Recorders
Individual lessons • Instrumental classes
and masterclasses with visiting musicians
• Chamber music • Orchestra • Orchestral
repertoire sessions • Wind Ensembles •
Brass ensembles • Contemporary Music •
Percussion ensemble • Samba Band • Sax
ensemble • Recorder consort
The Wind, Brass & Percussion department provides
top quality Principal Study coaching enhanced by
a wide variety of performance opportunities. The
emphasis is on the development of the student’s
creativity and professional skills.
‘
The School’s
reputation
of providing
world-class
tuition and
support for
every student
has proved to
be true – I have
been supported
every step of
the way.
’
Ben Gernon, BMus Tuba
33 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk

Head of Department
Richard Benjaﬁeld GRNCM PPRNCM
Deputy Head of Department
Jo Hensel BSc GGSM
Head of Chamber Music
Alastair Tait BMus PPRNCM
Senior Tutor in Wind, Brass and
Percussion Chamber Music
Joy Farrall GGSM
Historical Performance Studies
See page 40.
Chamber Music Studies
See page 41.
Recent Department Highlights
• Visiting artists and masterclasses include
soloists of the Berlin Philharmonic: Gabor Tarkovi
(Trumpet), Stefan Schulz (Bass Trombone),
Jonathan Kelly (Oboe); principal players of
the London Symphony Orchestra: Rod Franks
(Trumpet), Rachel Gough (Bassoon), Andrew
Marriner (Clarinet); Mark Nuccio (Principal Clarinet,
New York Philharmonic), Stefan Hoskuldsson
(Principal Flute, New York Met Opera), Ron Barron
(ex-Principal Trombone, Boston Philharmonic),
Oystein Baaadsrik (Tuba)
• Audition masterclasses with LSO players for
Woodwind, Brass and Percussion as part of Centre
for Orchestra
• Guildhall Brass Ensemble recording of Gilson’s La
Fanfare Wagnerienne in a new performance edition
by Eric Crees was released in Easter 2013
• Concert series of performances by department
ensembles include Kings Place, pre-LSO Guildhall
Artists at the Barbican concerts in the Barbican
Hall, Saxophone Ensemble’s UK cathedral series,
performances in the BBC Symphony Orchestra
Total Immersion days
• The Geoffrey Gilbert Flute Room was opened in
May 2009 in memory of former professor Geoffrey
Gilbert who taught James Galway and William
Bennett. The room houses Gilbert’s personal
collection of music and scores.
Recent Student Successes
Sarah Brown (BMus Clarinet) and Mana Shibata
(MMus Oboe) Selected for LSO Wind Academy
Raymond Hearne (BMus Tuba) Winner of 1st Prize
at the Newark Brass Festival Competition
Liz O’Brien (BMus Bassoon) Winner of the
McCullough Cup and RTÉ Lyric FM Award
Joseph Ryan (BMus Horn) Winner of the Yamaha
Brass Prize and Royal Dublin Society Music Award
Alumni include
Philip Cobb (Trumpet 2009), London Symphony
Orchestra, joint Principal Trumpet
Clare Robson (Flute 2006), Northern Sinfonia,
Principal Flute
Angela Barnes (Horn 2005), London Symphony
Orchestra, 2nd Horn
Elspeth Dutch (Horn 2002), City of Birmingham
Symphony Orchestra, Principal Horn
Alison Balsom (Trumpet 2001), international
trumpet soloist and winner of Best Female Artist,
Classical Brit Awards
Joby Burgess (Percussion 2001), solo percussionist
Chris Richards (Clarinet 2001), London Symphony
Orchestra, Principal Clarinet
Cormac Henry (Flute 2000), Royal Liverpool
Philharmonic Orchestra, Principal Flute
Gareth Davies (Flute 1994), London Symphony
Orchestra, Principal Flute
Sarah Willis (Horn 1990), Berlin Philharmonic
Orchestra, 4th Horn
Auditions, Open Days and
Contact Information
www.gsmd.ac.uk/music
Keyboard
Piano • Fortepiano • Harpsichord
Individual lessons and masterclasses •
Keyboard skills • Performance and repertoire
studies • Duo performance • Chamber Music
This course is intended for keyboard players showing a
high level of ability and musicianship with the potential
for a career as a soloist or in chamber music. It includes
options for Chamber Music electives and dedicated
courses in Accompaniment and Repetiteur Training.
Historical Performance Studies
See page 40.
Chamber Music Studies
See page 41.
Head of Department
Ronan O’Hora FGS FRNCM
Deputy Head of Department
Pamela Lidiard MA FGS GGSM
Senior Professor
Joan Havill FGS ARCM LRSM
Senior Professor in Vocal Accompaniment
Graham Johnson FGS FRAM
International Chair in Piano Studies
Richard Goode HonFGS
Visiting Professors
Imogen Cooper FGS
Paul Lewis FGS
Head of Chamber Music
Alastair Tait BMus PPRNCM
Senior Tutor in Keyboard Chamber Music
Caroline Palmer BMus
Recent Department Highlights
Recent masterclasses by Lang Lang, András Schiff,
Richard Goode, Imogen Cooper, Simon Trpceski,
Christian Blackshaw, Paul Lewis, Ronald Brautigam, Leon
Fleisher, Aleksandar Madzar, Rolf Hind, Martin Katz
Faculty Artist Series recitals by Caroline Palmer,
Charles Owen, Iain Burnside and Noriko Ogawa
Senior pianists performing as soloists with
Chamber and Symphony Orchestras, and on the
Barbican stage preceding LSO concerts as part of
Guildhall Artists at the Barbican
Recent Student Successes
Anna Cardona Esteva (Piano Accompaniment
Fellow) Winner of the Kathleen Ferrier Piano
Accompanist Prize
Alexandra Dariescu (Piano Fellow) Winner of
the Verbier Festival CUBS Piano Prize; Romanian
Ambassador’s Award for Musical Achievement
Martyna Jatkauskaite (Piano Fellow) Winner of
1st Prize in the Giorgos Thymis International Piano
Competition
James Kreiling (Piano Fellow) Winner of 2nd Prize
in the British Contemporary Piano Competition
Jennifer Lee (DMA Piano) Winner of the Maurice
Ravel International Music Academy Prize
Mishka Rushdie Momen (BMus Piano) Winner of
1st Prize in the Piano Section of the Tunbridge Wells
International Young Artists Competition
Ben Schoeman (MMA/DMA Piano) Winner of
the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Music
South Africa
Alexander Soares (Piano Fellow) Winner of 2nd
Prize at the Beethoven Piano Society of Europe
Competition; winner of 2nd Prize at the Brant
International Piano Competition
Dinis Sousa (BMus Piano) Winner of 1st Prize in
the Santa Cecilia Piano Competition in Portugal
Grace Yeo (MMus Piano) Winner of 2nd Prize in
the Norah Sande Award
Alumni include
Tom Poster (Piano 2004), Sa Chen (Piano 2001),
Paul Lewis (Piano 1994), Lucy Parham (Piano 1989)
Auditions, Open Days and
Contact Information
www.gsmd.ac.uk/music
34 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
‘
I came to Guildhall because I wanted
to widen my experience in music in
London, the best city in the world
for musicians. I’ve had amazing
experiences of masterclasses with great
musicians such as Dominique Merlet,
Richard Goode and Paul Lewis.
’
Grace Yeo, MMus Piano
35 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
‘
I came to the Guildhall because
of the superb level of teaching.
The Vocal Department has a
world class staff, whose dedication and
passion inspire students to achieve
their utmost potential.
’
Anna Anandarajah, BMus Vocal Studies
36 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
37 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Vocal Studies
Individual lessons and masterclasses •
Languages (German, Italian, French) •
Song class • Light music/Music Theatre •
Movement, speech and drama •
Recitative • Oratorio • Opera Studies •
Performance Projects
As well as Principal Study and individual coaching,
the department provides training in French Mélodie,
German Lieder, Italian aria, Russian, Spanish and
English repertoire, movement, language and song.
Other opportunities within the course include Opera
Associates and Opera Ensemble.
Head of Department
Linnhe Robertson MA BMus BA
Deputy Head of Vocal Studies
Armin Zanner MA MPhil (Cantab) MMus
Vocal Performance Consultant
Sarah Walker CBE FRCM FGS
Senior Professor in Vocal Accompaniment
Graham Johnson FGS FRAM
Recent Department Highlights
Masterclasses: Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Christine
Brewer, Susan Bullock, Sally Burgess, Sarah Connolly,
Gerald Finley, Dame Emma Kirkby, Catherine
Wyn-Rogers, Paolo Olmi, Graham Johnson, Edith
Wiens, Anthony Legge, Graham Clark, Pamela Bullock,
Peter Robinson, Malcolm Martineau, Amy Jarman,
Susan Youens, Eugene Asti, Elijah Moshinsky, Martin
Katz, Susan McCulloch, Rudolf Piernay, Laura Sarti,
Susan Waters
Performances include: Verdi Requiem, Stravinsky
Les Noces (LSO St Luke’s & French tour), Walton’s
Belshazzar’s Feast, Mahler Symphony No. 2, Handel’s
Messiah (St Giles Cripplegate), Graham Johnson Lieder
lecture recitals, production of A Soldier and a Maker by
Iain Burnside, pre-LSO Guildhall Artists at the Barbican
concert series in the Barbican Hall, Opera Ensemble
performance series, City of London Festival & LSO St
Luke’s recitals, new vocal music (‘Voiceworks’) projects
at Wigmore Hall and The Forge, Henze Voices in the
Barbican Hall (part of BBC Symphony Orchestra Total
Immersion Day), Guildhall Consort performances,
many Vocal Studies song repertoire concerts.
Recent Student Successes
Kayleigh Anger (BMus Vocal Studies) Winner of the
North London Music Festival Singing Competition
Benjamin Appl (Postgraduate Vocal Studies)
Winner of the Public’s Choice Award at the Das Lied
Competition, Berlin
Barbara Barradas (Postgraduate Vocal Studies)
Winner of the Audience Prize, Concurso de Canto
Lirico Fundacao Rotaria Portuguesa
Keri Fuge (Postgraduate Vocal Studies) Winner
of the Michael Oliver Prize at the Handel Singing
Competition
Susana Gaspar (Vocal Studies Fellow) Semi-ﬁnalist,
BBC Radio 2 Kiri Prize; Winner of 1st Prize, Lieder
Prize and Portuguese Song Prize, Concurso
de Canto Lirico Fundacao Rotaria Portuguesa
Martin Hässler (BMus Vocal Studies) Winner of
1st Prize at the Bundeswettbewerb Gesang Berlin;
Winner of 2nd Prize at the Das Lied Competition, Berlin
Mae Heydorn (Postgraduate Vocal Studies) Winner
of the Schubert Competition
Szymon Komosa (Postgraduate Vocal Studies)
Selected to represent Poland in BBC Cardiff Singer of
the World 2011
Raphaela Papdakis (Postgraduate Vocal Studies)
Winner of the Courtney-Kenny Award from the
Association of English Singers and Speakers
Auditions, Open Days and
Contact Information
www.gsmd.ac.uk/music
‘
The quality of
teachers is second
to none. I am
thrilled with my
teacher; every
session conﬁrms the
decision to be here
studying with him.
I also love living
in London – it’s a
wonderful city!
’
Charlie Mellor, MMus
Opera Studies

Opera Studies
Opera Studies provides an intensive training for up
to 24 singers and 4 student repetiteurs at any one
time. It offers an advanced level of vocal training
and aspires to work at a professional level over two
years full-time.
The course provides singing lessons, individual
coaching in roles and repertoire, acting and stage
techniques – movement, dance, make-up and
drama language coaching, workshop productions
of scenes, fully staged public productions and
career guidance.
In addition to the vocal and dramatic training, the
department mounts, in full collaboration with the
Technical Theatre Department, three full public
productions each year and three programmes of
operatic excerpts in a workshop setting.
Repetiteur Training
This is for excellent pianists and accomplished sight-
readers, with experience of accompanying singers
and some knowledge of the operatic repertoire.
The course is run from within the Opera Department
and successful candidates will be fully committed to
the work of that Department.
The course comprises accompanying opera production
rehearsals, coaching singers on the Opera Course,
individual coaching, training in repetiteur techniques,
harpsichord tuition and experience of continuo
playing, piano lessons and language coaching.
Head of Department
Dominic Wheeler BA(Cantab) ARCM(PG)
ARCO Hon ARAM
Resident Producer
Martin Lloyd-Evans BSc (Hons) FGS
38 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
39 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Recent Performances
2012 – 2013
Massenet La navarraise,
Massenet Le portrait de Manon and
Martinu Comedy on the Bridge
Mozart Le nozze di Figaro
Britten Owen Wingrave
2011 – 2012
Nicolai Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor
Britten A Midsummer Night’s Dream and
Rorem Our Town (European premiere)
2010 – 2011
De Almeida Spinalba
Poulenc Dialogues des Carmélites
Donizetti Rita and Tchaikovsky Iolanta
2009 – 2010
Donizetti L’assedio di Calais
Massenet Chérubin
Britten Albert Herring
2008 – 2009
Gluck La rencontre imprévue
Sallinen The King Goes Forth to France
Martinu The Marriage (British stage premiere) and
Rossini La cambiale di matrimonio
2007 – 2008
Mozart Die Zauberﬂöte
Offenbach La vie parisienne
Gounod La colombe and Rossini L’occasione
fa il ladro
2006 – 2007
Hindemith The Long Christmas Dinner and
Berkeley A Dinner Engagement
Mozart Le nozze di Figaro
R. Strauss Capriccio
2005 – 2006
Mozart La ﬁnta semplice
Verdi Falstaff
Puccini Gianni Schicchi and Il tabarro
Recent Student Successes
Maire Flavin (Opera Course) Winner of the
Thelma King Award
Eva Ganizate (Opera Course) Winner of 1st Prize,
John Warner Memorial Award; Winner of the
Musique d’Ensemble Woodbrass Prize
Sky Ingram (Opera Course) Winner of the Lorna
Viol Memorial Prize and ROSL Trophy for the most
outstanding musician from overseas; Tait Memorial
Scholarship for an Australian Musician
Sophie Junker (Opera Course) Winner of the Handel
Singing Competition
Eleanor Laugharne (Opera Course) Winner of the
Maggie Teyte Prize and Miriam Licette Scholarship
Amy J Payne (Opera Course) Winner of 2nd Prize,
John Warner Memorial Award
Elena Sancho-Pereg (Opera Course) Winner of the
International Singing Competition of Lograno, Spain
Victor Sicard (Opera Course) Winner of 2nd Prize
at the Jackdaws Vocal Awards; Winner of the 2nd
prize at the Oxford Lieder Young Artist Platform
Koji Terada (Opera Course) Winner of the
Clonter Opera Prize and Audience Prize
Alumni include
Kate Royal (Opera 2003)
Sally Matthews (Opera 2000)
Mark Stone (Opera 1998)
Toby Spence (Opera 1995)
Roderick Williams (Opera 1995)
Bryn Terfel (Opera 1989)
Anne Soﬁe von Otter (Opera 1982)
Recent graduates won places at the highly-acclaimed
National Opera Studio, Opera Studio Young Artist
Programme at the Berlin Staatsoper, English National
Opera Young Artist Programme and the Jette Parker
Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House.
Others secured roles with Opera Holland Park,
Nuremberg Opera Studio, Clonter Opera, and Welsh
National Opera.
Auditions, Open Days and
Contact Information
www.gsmd.ac.uk/music
Historical Performance
Historically Informed Performance offers students
a solid basis for a sustained and rewarding career in
the music profession.
Study in Historical Performance is available across
Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral levels. There is a
BMus principal study pathway in Early Instruments,
and a Guildhall Artist Masters programme specialism
in Historical Performance. The opportunity to study
an historical instrument as a supporting study/elective
through the BMus programme is available where
appropriate. Many students ﬁnd that a knowledge of
traditions and techniques of the past can inform their
performances of the future.
Head of Historical Performance
Jane Booth BMus LRAM
Recent Department Highlights
Masterclasses: Emma Kirkby (Voice), Rachel Podger
(Violin), Jill Severs (Harpsichord), Peter Whelan (baroque
winds), Principal players from the OAE (ensembles)
Performances: Baroque Ensemble performance in
the London Handel Festival under the direction of
Adrian Butterﬁeld; Recorder Consort performances at
King’s Place, London; Guildhall Consort conducted by
Eamonn Dougan in programmes of Josquin, Victoria,
Grieg, Purcell, Palestrina, in the Barbican Foyer;
Monteverdi, Lotti and Gabrieli in St Martin-in-the-
Fields; Robert Ramsey, Schubert in the Guildhall School
Music Hall; devotional a cappella works by Giuseppe
Verdi, Igor Stravinsky and Tomas Luis da Victoria at St
Anne’s Lutheran Church; senior students performed
at Hatchlands Park using instruments from the Cobbe
Collection; performances by the Guildhall Baroque
Orchestra under the direction of Pavlo Beznosiuk,
including a collaboration with the Royal Academy of
Music’s Becket Ensemble.
Auditions, Open Days and
Contact Information
www.gsmd.ac.uk/music
40 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
41 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Chamber Music
Chamber Music Studies is aimed at a small number
of pre-existing groups who wish to hone their skills
and develop their proﬁle. Groups can consist of any
combination of three players or more with the group
receiving weekly coachings with Principal Study staff
and also ﬁrst preference for coachings with visiting
ensembles and artists. Any group interested in this
option should contact the Director of Music. This
course is offered at postgraduate level only.
Head of Chamber Music
Alasdair Tait BMus PPRNCM
Senior Tutor in Strings Chamber Music
Matthew Jones
Senior Tutor in Wind, Brass and
Percussion Chamber Music
Joy Farrall GGSM
Senior Tutor in Keyboard Chamber Music
Caroline Palmer BMus
Visiting Ensembles
International Chair in Quartet: Takács Quartet
Resident Quartet: Belcea Quartet
Visiting Quartet-in-Association: Endellion
Quartet
Recent Department Highlights
Masterclasses: Daniel Philips, Gary Hoffman,
Isabel Charisius, David Alberman, Andras Keller
Performances: Lunchtime chamber and song series
at the City of London Festival, regular performances
before LSO concerts as part of Guildhall Artists at the
Barbican, staff and student ensemble performances
in Faculty Artist Series.
Recent Student Successes
Geminiani Quartet: Winner of 1st Prize at the
Alexander and Buono International String Competition
Auditions, Open Days and Contact
Information
www.gsmd.ac.uk/music

Centre for Classical
Improvisation and
Creative Performance
The centre offers research, training, open workshops
and performances related to classical improvisation
and a creative approach to interpretation. Students
study traditions of extemporisation such as improvised
cadenzas, repeats and fantasias, while striving to
enhance spontaneity and risk-taking in interpretation and
performance. The head of the centre is David Dolan.
Composition
Individual lessons and masterclasses •
Workshops • Techniques of Composition •
Orchestration • Electronic Music •
Analysis • Aesthetics
Undergraduate
The guiding principle which underpins this course
is that composers should develop in collaboration
with technically proﬁcient and sympathetic
instrumentalists, under the expert guidance of
experienced practitioners. At the heart of the course is
the workshop process, and we make a commitment to
workshop every piece that students write.
Postgraduate
The Guildhall Artist Masters programme is
primarily practical and project-based work, supported
by weekly analytical and theoretical seminars. In
addition to compositional activity, students participate
in compulsory modules in electronic music and
writing for ﬁlm and television. Composers can pursue
these areas further within the elective programme
which also offers a wide range of supporting
studies from performance, jazz and improvisation to
analytical or historical research.
The MA in Opera Making and Writing in
association with the Royal Opera House is a one-year
Masters programme due to launch in September
2014 (subject to validation). It will allow composers
to focus on how new opera is created, developed and
performed and combines an invaluable opportunity
to acquire ﬁrst-hand experience of the day-to-day
workings of the Royal Opera House with individually
tailored one-to-one tuition from a member of the
School’s composition department (see page 62).
Doctoral Study in Composition
See Research Degrees (page 78).
Visiting composers include George Benjamin,
Alexander Goehr, James MacMillan, Jonathan
Harvey, Judith Weir and Richard Ayres, while
prominent publishers, copyists and administrators
offer practical insights into the music business.
42 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
‘
It’s amazing to be
learning from some of
the leading ﬁgures in
the contemporary music
scene, teachers who
constantly inspire and
who truly wish you to
succeed.
’
Sylvia Lim, BMus Composition
43 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Electronic Music
Individual lessons and masterclasses •
Ensemble • Technical Seminars • Composition
The Electronic Music Principal Study course embraces all areas of music technology whilst, at the same time,
allowing students the freedom to pursue their studies from a compositional, production or performance bias.
The course is offered at undergraduate level only.
Composition and Electronic Music
Head of Composition
Julian Philips MA (Cantab) FGS
Composer-in-Residence and
Professor of Composition
Julian Anderson BMus (RCM) MPhil (Cantab)
AM (Harvard)
Head of Electronic Music and
Music Technology
Mike Roberts MA
Recent Department Highlights
The School’s New Music Ensemble annually
performs in the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s Total
Immersion composer days, recently: Arvo Pärt,
Jonathan Harvey, Brett Dean, Oliver Knussen,
Brian Ferneyhough, Unsuk Chin and Peter Eotvos.
Guildhall composition students are often invited to
write ensemble pieces for the day, later broadcast
on BBC Radio 3.
Voiceworks – AHRC Funded Research Project
with the Contemporary Poetics Research Centre,
Birkbeck College, resulting in annual performances
at the Wigmore Hall, streamed live on
www.voiceworks.org.uk.
London Contemporary Dance School
collaborations: each year postgraduate composers
collaborate with dance school choreographers to
produce new works featured in a series of public
performances at The Place.
Orchestral premieres by Guildhall composers Edmund
Finnis, Ed Nesbitt and Francisco Coll featured in
Guildhall Symphony concerts at the Barbican Hall.
Recent Student Successes
Francisco Coll (MMus Composition) Represented
Spain in the UNESCO International Rostrum of
Composers with Piedras; appointed Composer in
Residence with the Jove Orquestra de la Generalitat
Valenciana
Raymond Yiu (DMus Composition) Winner of
the British Composer Award for Chamber Work
Northwest Wind
Alumni include
Mica Levi (Composition 2009), Raisa Khan,
Marc Pell (Electronic Music 2009) aka Micachu
and the Shapes
Tansy Davies (Composition 1998), composer
and recipient of Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award
Dario Marianelli (Composition 1994),
Oscar-winning ﬁlm composer
Thomas Adès (Composition 1989), composer,
conductor and pianist
Debbie Wiseman MBE FGS (Composition 1984),
ﬁlm and television composer
Auditions, Open Days and
Contact Information
www.gsmd.ac.uk/music
To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
‘
Out of all the music colleges, Guildhall
prepares you to be versatile and equips
you with skills to work in a variety
of different contexts – I’m grabbing
opportunities and perfecting my craft.
’
Lewis Daniel, BMus Jazz

44 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
45 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Jazz
Saxophone • Trumpet • Trombone •
Tuba • Piano • Guitar • Bass Guitar •
Double Bass • Drums • Voice
(other instruments by negotiation)
Undergraduate
Principal Study Jazz students beneﬁt from a
broad range of music study with a specialist
focus on jazz. Whilst working within the framework
of the four year BMus programme, this unique course
develops skills within a wide range of musical ﬁelds.
Postgraduate
This is an intensive course for a group of 15-20
instrumentalists and singers who have already
reached a high level of performance and are
preparing to enter the ﬁeld as professionals.
The course is designed to train the whole musician
through an aural approach and a broad curriculum
to give students a solid foundation in performance,
harmony, rhythm, improvisation, composition,
arranging and studio recording.
Head of Jazz
Martin Hathaway GGSM LGSM
Recent Department Highlights
Annual performances in the London Jazz Festival
and the Guildhall Jazz Festival with major visiting artists
Masterclasses with John Scoﬁeld, Mark Turner,
Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra
Regular small band performances at the
Vortex Jazz Club
Annual collaboration with the Duke Ellington
Society UK
Alumni include
Natalie Williams (Jazz Voice 2001)
Stacey Kent (Jazz Voice 1991)
Jason Rebello (Jazz Piano 1989)
Cleveland Watkiss (Jazz Voice 1988)
Auditions, Open Days and
Contact Information
www.gsmd.ac.uk/music
‘
What I most enjoy about the Leadership
course is that it offers a real-life
experience close to that of a contemporary
musician. It has the right balance of work
and freedom, enabling you to explore
your own personality as an artist.
’
Cris Van Beuren, MMus Leadership
46 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
47 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Leadership
The Leadership pathway provides a unique
opportunity for professional artists to extend the
boundaries of performance practice and to explore
different creative processes and ways of learning
in a practical research environment. Students are
encouraged to identify a personal pathway of
professional development in artistic leadership,
composition, performance and/or as a practising
artist in a variety of artistic, cultural, community and
educational settings.
The course includes work on improvisation, voice,
body and percussion skills, exploration of non-
European and folk-based approaches to arts practice,
introduction to cross-arts collaboration, group
composition, creative and repertoire-linked projects,
performance and workshop-leading for different
contexts.
Exceptional students on Part One of the Leadership
pathway will also be given the opportunity to
continue their studies into Part Two (Leadership
Portfolio). Students undertake a portfolio of
three substantial performance events as a Leader,
Performer and Creator/Collaborator that are
designed to strengthen their own artistic
development in these three areas.
Director of Creative Learning
Sean Gregory MPhil BA (Hons) FGS LGSM (PCS)
Course Leaders
Sigrun Saevarsdottir-Grifﬁths PGCert (PCS)
Nell Catchpole BA (Hons) PGCert (PCS)
Recent Department Highlights
MAP-making (Music, Art and Performance), an
ongoing collaborative project with the Royal College
of Art: participating students collaborated over six
months to produce a new work incorporating music,
live electronics, moving image and live art, which was
performed at the Barbican’s Pit Theatre.
Leadership students have worked for the education
department of the London Philharmonic Orchestra
at the Southbank Centre, running a series of family
workshops based on the repertoire that the orchestra
subsequently performs in a family concert.
Several Leadership students recently travelled to
Argentina for an intensive cross-cultural musical
exchange.
Alumni include
Detta Danford (Leadership 2008) has led projects
in Singapore, Japan and The Netherlands and has
worked with professional ensembles from the
Gambia and Israel. UK work includes leading projects
for Barbican/Guildhall School Creative Learning
Division, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and
the Barbican Arts Centre. She currently co-leads a
Creative Learning ensemble called Future Band. Made
up of 30 young instrumentalists, the members of
Future Band work on creating original pieces with
strong international inﬂuences.
Auditions, Open Days and
Contact Information
www.gsmd.ac.uk/music
‘
The course is
stimulating and
inspiring and the
Guildhall’s access
to a wide variety
of placements
is providing me
with invaluable
experience and
insight into
different client
groups.
’
Lucinda Gallant,
MA Music Therapy
Music Therapy
This course leads to the MA in Music Therapy
validated by City University, London, and approved by
the Health Professions Council (HPC).
This two-year programme aims to realise the full
potential of students’ individual musicianship and
equip them with the clinical therapeutic knowledge
and skills to qualify and work as registered music
therapists. Students gain clinical experience with
adults and children in a variety of settings including
psychiatry, special education, learning disability and
communication disorders.
It prepares students for employment in health,
education, social and community service and the
voluntary sector. Graduates from the programme are
eligible for HPC Registration and full membership of
the professional association (APMT).
Head of Department
Ann Sloboda BMus (Hons) (Oxon) PGDipMT
Auditions, Entrance Requirements,
Open Days and Contact Information
www.gsmd.ac.uk/music
48 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
49 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
50 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
51 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Programmes of Study
Undergraduate
Key Facts
Bachelor of Music Honours Degree
• 4 years (full-time)
• 395 students/250 staff
• 750 applicants/94 places
The programme centres around one-to-one tuition with
tutorial support. At least two-thirds of the programme
is directly connected with Principal Study development,
with a degree of ﬂexibility in the remainder for students
to create individual pathways via tutorial support
and electives offered by Academic Studies and other
modules offered by Creative Learning. The programme
recognises the importance of individual practice, study
and reﬂection.
Academic Studies
Each student develops essential general knowledge
and skills, and has the opportunity to choose
individual areas of interest. The emphasis is on
promoting the integration of practical and theoretical
aspects of music-making, and on supporting an
incremental development in areas of particular
individual interest and strength (Second Study,
Conducting, Analysis, Jazz for non-jazz specialists,
Electronic Music and others).
All students study Aural and Harmony up to a
required level, and then have a choice of Analysis,
Collaborative Skills, Composition, Electronic Music,
History, Jazz, Keyboard Musicianship, and Second
Study. Students are further supported through
Tutorial Groups, meeting regularly with their
individually assigned tutor both in groups and for
one-to-ones.
Year 3 and 4 choices include Advanced Keyboard
Musicianship, Analysis, Arranging, Body Matters,
Conducting, Counterpoint, History, Interpretation
through Improvisation, Introduction to Music Therapy,
Music Administration, Orchestration, Research
Project, and others.
Students in Years 3 and 4 who achieve high results
in Principal Study can also do Advanced Principal
Study and Advanced Ensemble.
Head of Music Programmes and
Academic Studies
Alessandro Timossi FGS Diploma con Lode di
Pianoforte Diploma di Merito Accademia Chigiana di
Siena Diploma con Lode di Composizione
Deputy Head of Department (Undergraduate)
Claire Taylor-Jay BA(Hons) (Oxon) MMus PhD
Deputy Head of Department (Postgraduate)
Kate Romano MPhil (Cantab) PhD
Senior Postgraduate Tutor
Laura Roberts GGSM
Professional Development
As part of the BMus programme, the Creative
Learning Division works with students to increase
their awareness of the professional world and equip
them to be successful professional practitioners.
Students develop the full range of skills required
to be a 21st-century musician. Work in this area is
led by a department involving staff from both the
Guildhall School and the Barbican. This link enables
students to meet and work ﬁrst hand with leading
arts practitioners in a variety of contexts.
Performance Matters (Year 1 BMus)
This module explores the broader skills needed by
professional musicians. Areas investigated include health
and well-being, performance psychology, improvisation,
collaboration and communication skills.
Professional Studies (Year 4 BMus)
Preparing students for their professional lives this
module considers entrepreneurial skills, career
planning, teaching skills, biography presentation,
website development and other publicity materials.
The promotion of an external event is a compulsory
part of the Year 4 Professional Studies module.
Collaborative Skills/Workshop Skills
(Optional Electives)
These modules seek to develop the wider musical
and collaborative skills that many musicians draw
upon during their professional careers. Students have
opportunities to undertake inter-disciplinary and
cross-sector projects, using their musical skills in a
wide variety of contexts.
Director of Creative Learning
Sean Gregory MPhil BA(Hons) FGS LGSM (PCS)
Head of Creative and Professional Practice
Gabby Vautier BA(Hons)
52 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
53 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Postgraduate
The Guildhall School offers one of the world’s
most innovative packages of postgraduate
study. Qualiﬁcations available include:
Guildhall Artist Masters programme
• Performance (MMus, MPerf)*
• Composition (MMus, MComp)*
• Leadership (MMus, MLead)*
MA in Opera Making and Writing
MA in Music Therapy
MPhil/DMus
MPhil/PhD
*PGDip available on completion of speciﬁed modules.
Guildhall Artist Masters programme
The Guildhall Artist Masters programme is offered in
the three pathways of Performance, Composition and
Leadership and is in two parts: Part One is available
in full-time (one year) or part-time (two years) modes
except for Leadership which is full-time only. Part Two
is available only in full-time mode (one year).
Part One: Successful completion of Part One meets
all the criteria for a Masters level (level 7) award and
a student may conclude their studies at this point and
be awarded a Master of Music (or a Postgraduate
Diploma, according to the modules taken). The
programme builds on the student’s intense activities
in Principal Study, offering in addition contextual
studies and a wide range of elective opportunities
including those offered by Academic Studies and
Creative Learning.
Students who decide to concentrate entirely on their
Principal Study without taking the elective options,
can be awarded the Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) at
successful completion of the year.
Part Two: Available to students who pass Part One
in full (with electives) and obtain the required level of
achievement in Principal Study. Students successfully
completing Part Two will be awarded a Master of
Performance (Guildhall Artist), Master of Composition
(Guildhall Artist), or Master of Leadership (Guildhall
Artist).
Part Two is very strongly focused on further developing
Principal Study technical and artistic abilities, breadth of
repertoire, creative output and professional experience.
Performances are supported by a series of seminars
both of an inductive nature, and on specialist topics.
Guildhall Artist: Performance
Pathway
The Performance Pathway offers the following
Professional Specialisms:
Strings,the course Wind, Brass and Percussion
Players: Advanced Instrumental Studies, Chamber
Music and Orchestral Artistry (see page 60)
Keyboard Players: Advanced Instrumental Studies,
Chamber Music and courses for Accompanists and
Repetiteurs
Singers: Vocal Studies and Opera
Historical Performance and Jazz musicians:
speciﬁc courses tailored to each area of specialist need
Guildhall Artist: Composition
Pathway
See page 42.
Guildhall Artist: Leadership Pathway
See page 47.
MA in Opera Making and Writing
See page 62.
MA in Music Therapy
See page 48.
Doctoral programmes
See Research details on page 78.

54 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Performance Opportunities
Preparing you to be a professional performer is
the key focus of training at the School. You will
be encouraged to take advantage of the many
performance opportunities that exist both formally
and informally within the School and outside.
The Gold Medal
The Guildhall School’s premier music prize was founded
and endowed by Sir H. Dixon Kimber in 1915 and
since the 1950s it has been open to singers and
instrumentalists in alternate years. The ﬁnal traditionally
takes place in May each year in a sold-out Barbican Hall.
Previous winners include Jacqueline du Pré (1960),
Tasmin Little (1986), and Bryn Terfel (1989).
In recent years, the Gold Medal has launched the
careers of:
Ashley Fripp (piano, 2012), Natalya Romaniw
(soprano, 2011), Martyna Jatkauskaite (piano,
2010), Gary Grifﬁths (baritone, 2009), Sasha
Grynyuk (piano, 2008), Katherine Broderick
(soprano, 2007) and Anna-Liisa Bezrodny (violin,
2006).
In the School
Performance spaces include a 608-seat concert hall
(the largest concert hall of the London conservatoires),
a 196-seat Music Hall, three theatres, a smaller
Lecture Recital Room and a performance space in
the basement of the nearby Hall of Residence,
Sundial Court.
The termly opera production takes place in the Silk Street
Theatre, which offers particularly ﬁne technical facilities.
The School is equipped with a large number of solo
practice studios, medium size ensemble rooms,
larger performance spaces and recording facilities.
Most rooms are equipped with pianos (grands where
possible) as well as being fully ﬁtted out with the latest
audio visual equipment.
In addition to opera and drama productions, there is a
full programme of student concerts and recitals within
the School. These events, which number over 100
every term, are generally open to the public. See
www.gsmd.ac.uk/events for the current season listing.
In London
The School’s large ensembles give regular concerts in
the Barbican Hall and LSO St Luke’s. There is also regular
use of the Barbican’s Church of St Giles Cripplegate as a
concert venue. Other performances are given in venues
such as Kings Place, Bishopsgate Institute, St John’s
Smith Square and St Martin-in-the-Fields.
Outside Engagements
One of the most valuable opportunities for performance
experience is the School’s extensive programme of
Outside Engagements. The engagements range from
background music at company and corporate functions,
music for wedding services, receptions and family
occasions, to full recitals and concerto performances for
music clubs and societies.
Music Ensembles
There is a vast array of Guildhall School ensembles
from full symphony and chorus (including opera) to
chamber and small ensemble. There are dedicated
ensembles for jazz, historical performance and new
music. In addition, students are encouraged to form
their own ensembles.
Visiting Ensembles and Artists
International Chair in Quartet: Takács Quartet
Resident Quartet: Belcea Quartet
Visiting Quartet-in-Association: Endellion Quartet
55 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Architect’s image of
the new concert hall
in Milton Court
56 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Collaborative Programmes
The Guildhall School has ongoing relationships and
programmes with its many partners. They include:
London Symphony Orchestra
Philharmonia Orchestra
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Barbican Centre
Aldeburgh
London Contemporary Dance School
Royal Academy of Music
Royal College of Art
Royal Opera House
City of London Festival
British Council
ECCO International
Wigmore Hall
Kings Place
Bishopsgate Institute
Cross-arts Collaborations
One of the unique aspects of the School is the
opportunity provided for cross-discipline collaboration
with fellow students on the Acting and Technical
Theatre programmes. All ﬁrst year undergraduates from
all art forms work together on a workshop project and
all students right across the School are encouraged to
work collaboratively across art forms to enrich their
learning through the experience of other disciplines.
An annual Guildhall Festival brings together
students from all disciplines and offers an informal
showcase for the creative talents of students
throughout the School.
European Exchange
The School participates in the European ERASMUS
Exchange Programme in association with the British
Council. It is an internationally renowned programme
for exchange of staff and students between European
conservatoires.
Please see the Erasmus page on our website, email
[email protected], visit www.doremifasocrates.org
or visit www.britishcouncil.org/erasmus for more
information.
International Exchange
The School also collaborates with Grifﬁth University,
Australia, the Banff Centre in Canada and the
Peabody Institute enabling a small number
of students to study abroad and experience
different methods of teaching and learning, and
a different culture.
‘With its connection to one of
the world’s most important and
vibrant arts centres, the Guildhall
School provides a uniquely
stimulating and rewarding
environment in which musicians
can develop and widen their
musical experience.
’
Paul Lewis, Piano 1994
Senior Staff
Director of Music
Jonathan Vaughan DipRCM(Perf) DipRCM(Teach)
Head of Advanced Performance Studies
Ronan O’Hora FGS FRNCM
Head of Strings
Louise Hopkins FGS AGSM
Head of Wind, Brass and Percussion
Richard Benjaﬁeld GRNCM PPRNCM
Head of Keyboard Studies
Ronan O’Hora FGS FRNCM
Head of Vocal Studies
Linnhe Robertson MA BMus BA
Head of Opera
Dominic Wheeler BA(Cantab) ARCM(PG)
ARCO Hon ARAM
Director of Creative Learning
Sean Gregory MPhil BA(Hons) FGS LGSM (PCS)
Head of Chamber Music
Alasdair Tait BMus PPRNCM
Head of Music Programmes
Alessandro Timossi FGS Diploma con Lode di Pianoforte
Diploma di Merito Accademia Chigiana di Siena Diploma con
Lode di Composizione
Head of Composition
Julian Philips MA(Cantab) FGS
Head of Electronic Music and Music
Technology
Mike Roberts MA
Head of Historical Performance
Jane Booth BMus LRAM
Head of Jazz
Martin Hathaway GGSM LGSM
Head of Music Therapy
Ann Sloboda BMus(Hons) (Oxon) PGDipMT
For a full list of teaching staff please visit the
website: www.gsmd.ac.uk/music
57 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
58 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Centre for Orchestra
Ensemble training is a key element within the musical
life of the Guildhall School. Centre for Orchestra,
launched in 2009, is a unique collaboration
between the London Symphony Orchestra, Guildhall
School and Barbican creating a forum in London
for orchestral development in the 21st century.
Boulez described the Orchestra as an ‘ensemble of
possibilities’, providing not only the opportunity to
play core and new repertoire but the opportunity to
challenge perceptions, challenge yourself and create
new experiences.
Centre for Orchestra offers Guildhall School musicians
unparalleled access to a world-class orchestra and
international arts centre. The programme focuses on
orchestral training, education and early career support in
order to create the great orchestral musicians of the future.
Centre for Orchestra staff
Gordan Nikolitch (LSO Leader)
Roman Simovic (LSO Leader)
David Alberman (LSO Principal Second Violin)
Tim Hugh (LSO Principal Cello)
Rinat Ibragimov (LSO Principal Double Bass)
Gareth Davies (LSO Principal Flute)
Emanuel Abbühl (LSO Principal Oboe)
Christine Pendrill (LSO Principal Cor Anglais)
Andrew Marriner (LSO Principal Clarinet)
Rachel Gough (LSO Principal Bassoon)
David Pyatt (LSO Principal Horn)
Patrick Harrild (LSO Principal Tuba)
Centre for Orchestra focuses on the
following core components:
Orchestral work: players in the Guildhall Symphony
Orchestra receive individual and group sectionals
plus full ensemble coaching from LSO players in the
lead-up to a performance at the Barbican. There is
also a dedicated postgraduate specialism focusing on
Orchestral Artistry (see page 60).
Solo work: Masterclasses and workshops with LSO
Principals, international soloists, composers and
conductors are offered to develop performance
technique and presentation.
Entering the profession: prepares students, their
repertoire, and presentation for auditions and public
performances. Students may attend LSO rehearsals,
LSO concerts and an Orchestra Fair in order to get to
know the inner workings of a professional orchestra.
The wider profession: orchestral musicians have to
work in a range of contexts. This programme offers
students the opportunity to experience new areas.
Chamber music: students have the opportunity to
develop their chamber music performance through
shadowing LSO performances and performing on
stage at the Barbican in advance of LSO concerts.
Digital links: digital platforms link the School with
other musical organisations across the globe allowing
students to take part in debates with visiting soloists
and conductors.
Other art forms: opportunities to explore and
experiment with dance, spoken word, theatre and
visual art at the Barbican Centre, and allow it to
inspire new directions in your musical performance.
Research projects: what does it take to achieve and
sustain a career as an orchestral musician? What new
possibilities are there for orchestral musicians in the
contemporary world?
For further information, or to request a Centre for
Orchestra brochure, contact: [email protected]
Supported by
59 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
‘ This is what the musical
world has been needing.’
The late Sir Colin Davis, LSO Principal Conductor
1995–2006, LSO President 2007–2013
60 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Orchestral Artistry
In association with the London Symphony Orchestra
As part of the Guildhall Artist Masters programme,
an exciting new professional specialism is now
available for instrumentalists seeking a career in
orchestral playing: Orchestral Artistry in association
with the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO).
Orchestral Artistry is open to string, wind, brass
and percussion students.
Widely regarded as one of the world’s leading
orchestras, the London Symphony Orchestra is
Resident Orchestra at the Barbican, situated next
door to the Guildhall School. It attracts outstanding
players from all over the world, and has a roster of
soloists and conductors second to none.
The Guildhall School’s highly distinctive and
ground-breaking specialism in Orchestral Artistry
places students alongside LSO players, international
artists/conductors and Guildhall School professors
in a context akin to a professional environment.
The course is focused on excellence in:
• Performance
• Core musicianship
• Leadership and communication
It explores the diverse skills required to become a
fully rounded musician and a versatile professional
ensemble player of the highest level.
The course
The course is a two year full-time specialism,
delivered by world-class musicians, leading to
an MMus (completion of Part 1 after one year)
or MPerf (completion of Part 2 after two years)
qualiﬁcation (see page 53 for further details). As
an Orchestral Artistry student, you will receive:
• One to one tuition from Guildhall professors or
LSO players who are Guildhall professors
• Coaching and mentoring from LSO players
• Masterclasses from LSO players and LSO
international soloists
• Mock audition panels with LSO players
• Classes and sectionals delivered by Guildhall
professors and LSO players
• Side by side rehearsals with LSO players
• Principal training, including group conducting
lessons
• Education and outreach delivery training
(instrumental coaching or workshop leadership)
with LSO Discovery and Creative Learning
• The opportunity to play in LSO schools and
family concerts
The student numbers for this course are designed
so that a large chamber orchestra can be formed.
A fundamental cornerstone of the specialism
is chamber music. Students will spend time in
undirected small ensembles as well as conducted
large ensembles.
Full symphony work is supplemented by students
from other postgraduate programmes and senior
undergraduate players. As a Guildhall School
student, you will be encouraged to take advantage
of the many performance opportunities that exist
both formally and informally within the School
and outside.
International orchestras
As part of the City of London’s cultural quarter,
the Guildhall School also enjoys close ties with the
Barbican’s International Associates. Masterclasses
with members of these international orchestras are
set up each year and will beneﬁt many Orchestral
Artistry students. This adds an international
element to the training which explores the
differences in playing styles and sound worlds of
orchestras from across the globe. These include:
• Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam
• Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
• Los Angeles Philharmonic
• New York Philharmonic Orchestra
61 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Studying at the Guildhall School
Orchestral Artistry students have access to an
unrivalled range of performance, teaching and
rehearsal venues in the heart of the City of London.
The School’s new facilities at Milton Court include
a state-of-the-art 608-seat concert hall with the
highest quality fully-adjustable acoustics and the
largest audience capacity of any of the London
conservatoire concert halls. Next door to the School
is the 2000-seat Barbican Hall and nearby is LSO St
Luke’s, an 18th-century Grade I listed Hawksmoor
church, home to the LSO’s community and music
education programme LSO Discovery, and host of
LSO rehearsals and performances.
Students who have previously studied orchestral
instruments at the School have gone on to have
careers in orchestras around the UK and across the
world, including:
• BBC Symphony Orchestra
• BBC National Orchestra of Wales
• BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
• Berlin Philharmonic
• City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
• Hong Kong Philharmonic
• London Philharmonic Orchestra
• London Symphony Orchestra
• National Centre for the Performing Arts
Symphony Orchestra Beijing
• Philharmonia Orchestra
• Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
• Vienna Philharmonic
62 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
MA in Opera Making and Writing
In association with Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Subject to validation
This new one-year Masters programme, due to
launch in September 2014 (subject to validation),
will allow composers and writers to focus on how
new opera is created, developed and performed.
Part of an exciting new partnership between the
Guildhall School and the Royal Opera House, the
programme will be led by Julian Philips, Head of
Composition, in close collaboration with the School’s
award-winning Opera department, its Technical
Theatre department and the Associate Director of
Opera at the Royal Opera House. The programme
combines an invaluable opportunity to acquire
ﬁrst-hand experience of the day-to-day workings
of the Royal Opera House with individually tailored
one-to-one tuition from the School’s Writer-in-
Residence or from a member of the School’s world-
class composition department. Through mentoring
and observation, students will gain valuable insight
and knowledge into how to work successfully in
opera with conductors and directors, singers and
instrumentalists, designers and stage managers.
The programme
Speciﬁcally focusing on operatic composition and
the theatre, the core programme activity will support
writers and composers to work collaboratively on
the creation of a new chamber operatic work
(20-25 minutes in duration) which will be rehearsed,
produced and premiered by the Opera course (see
page 38) in the School’s new Milton Court Studio
Theatre. Additional projects will allow writers to
focus more speciﬁcally on their own creative practice
– whether poetry, prose or dramatic script – and
composers to develop their craft in writing for the
operatic voice. For both writers and composers,
this programme offers valuable performance
opportunities for new work across the Guildhall
School’s Music, Drama and Technical Theatre
departments in addition to professional development
experience in Royal Opera House contexts.
The programme will also feature:
• One-to-one principal study tuition for both
writers and composers
• Observation of contemporary opera in rehearsal
and production at the Royal Opera House
• Performance opportunities for smaller-scale
project work through the School’s Vocal Studies
and Drama departments
• A new professorial post of Writer-in-Residence
appointed to support, supervise and mentor
writing students on the programme
• Weekly production seminars
• Regular mentoring sessions for the
composer-writer creative teams
• Electives including Electronic Music, Aesthetics,
Research and Cross-Arts Collaboration
Further information at
www.gsmd.ac.uk/operamaking
63 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
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64 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Technical Theatre
The Technical Theatre programme at the Guildhall School has long been recognised
as providing some of the most innovative vocational theatre training in the UK and
beyond. With the opening of the Milton Court development, the School boasts the best
resources in the country, and amongst the best in the world. The teaching is practical
and production based; you will work on public productions with professional directors,
designers and conductors participating in the creation of acclaimed dramas, musicals
and operas.
The Guildhall School has ﬁve professionally equipped
performance venues, state-of-the-art equipment
and professional production values. These allow the
programme to keep completely in line with current
practice and new theatre technology. You will use the
School’s on-site theatres, rehearsal rooms, workshops
and costume department to collaborate in the
production of 15 major dramas and operas each year
together with a range of smaller projects and events.
The syllabus has been designed to involve you
completely in the complex art of theatre; bringing
together writers, designers, actors, musicians,
composers, choreographers, technicians and
administrators to create a production. Your training
will provide you with a ﬁrm practical knowledge of
theatre crafts and managerial skills and prepare you
for a professional life in the theatre. This programme
has delivered an excellent record of graduate success
in theatre, ﬁlm, television and related industries.
Key Facts
BA Honours Degree in Technical Theatre Arts
• 3 years (full-time)
• 108 students across the programme
• 24 full-time staff
• 130 applications/36 places
Visit www.gsmd.ac.uk/technical_theatre for details
of open days and how to apply. Please note that
places are offered throughout the year so early
applications are advised.
This programme is accredited by Drama UK
(previously the National Council for Drama Training).
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65 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
‘
What I enjoy the most about
studying at the Guildhall School is the
excellent yet approachable teachers.
I am constantly told by industry
professionals what a good reputation
the Guildhall School holds which makes
me feel truly privileged to study here.
’
Lena Slettemo Carlsson, BA Technical Theatre Arts
66 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
67 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Programme Description
We strongly believe that your training should suit
your own career aims. For this reason students
select one of three Pathways, each with a different
emphasis:
• Stage & Costume Management
• Theatre Technology (Lighting, Sound,
Video and Automation)
• Design Realisation (Scenic Art,
Scenic Construction and Prop Making)
Within each Pathway it is possible to study elements
of the other two, so for example if you want to learn
about props and scenery construction, but retain an
interest in lighting you can choose accordingly, or if
you are interested in stage management, but still want
to gain some experience in sound, that’s ﬁne too.
Of course, if you prefer to dedicate the bulk of
your study to a particular area you can do that. The
course is ﬂexible enough to allow for a wide range of
interests or a more specialised approach.
Year 1
The ﬁrst year of the programme brings all students to
the same threshold of knowledge. In addition to your
chosen Pathway classes, you will study a broad range
of core subjects including: Theatre History, Period
Style, Contemporary Theatre, Health & Safety, and
Stagecraft & Production Process. Classes are usually
project based and wherever possible have a hands-
on, practical approach. For example, when studying
trends in contemporary theatre we’ll take you to
see a wide range of shows, many of them leading
international productions at the world-famous
Barbican Centre, with whom we maintain a close
working relationship. When we’re looking at period
styles we’ll take you to galleries and museums to look
at examples.
In this year you will also take a core module called
Associated Studies, which allows you to take three
short courses in areas of technical theatre from one
of the other two Pathways.
Year 2
From the second year onwards students are totally
immersed in the Guildhall’s extraordinary productions,
working alongside professional directors and
designers on a full-time basis.
Year 3
The ﬁnal year provides you with true exposure to
professional theatre and the opportunity to make
contacts that will be essential to your future career.
All students undertake leading roles in their chosen
ﬁelds and may have the opportunity to lead the
whole team by taking on a Production Management
role. Students also complete a Graduation Project
presented either as a portfolio or a written paper,
and a period of outside work experience through
a secondment to a professional company or
practitioner.
Throughout the programme students are
encouraged to engage with actors, singers and
musicians from other programmes to generate their
own projects. Key areas of development throughout
the programme which are essential for employment
include:
• Learning to be part of the team of technicians,
actors, singers and musicians working alongside
professional directors, designers and conductors
and participating in the creation and public
performance of acclaimed dramas, musicals and
operas.
• Using Information Technology in planning,
managing and achieving productions. You will
develop transferable skills in the latest ofﬁce
software as well as using specialist packages in
many departments.
• Detailed knowledge of current developments in
the theatre industry.
68 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Stage and Costume Management Pathway
Stage Management • Costume Management
Stage Managers are gregarious, outgoing and
thoroughly organised people. As a Stage Manager
your ‘people skills’ are essential as you need to
understand and work with actors, directors, designers
and all the technical departments in the theatre.
In this pathway you will learn about organising
rehearsals and performances to a completely
professional standard. Interestingly these are exactly
the skills you will need in the closely related area of
Costume Management. In each year you will develop
your skills across both areas, and by the ﬁnal year you
will be able to negotiate just how much you want to
specialise.
Design Realisation Pathway
Scenic Art • Scenic Construction • Prop Making
Design Realisation is about making and painting the
scenery and props that have been designed by the
set designer. Students following this pathway have
good creative and practical skills with strong problem
solving abilities. In each year you will develop your
skills across prop making, scenery construction
and scenic art; by the ﬁnal year you will be able to
negotiate just how much you want to specialise.
Theatre Technology Pathway
Lighting • Sound • Video • Automation
In the Theatre Technology Pathway you will learn
about lighting, sound, projection and stage
technology. In each year you will develop these skills
and by the ﬁnal year you will be able to negotiate
just how much you want to specialise as you
take a leading role in productions to a completely
professional standard.
‘ The training on the
Technical Theatre course
is unrivalled in London…I
value the opportunity I had
to train there enormously.’
Neil Constable, Chief Executive, Shakespeare’s
Globe, Stage Management 1985
69 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
70 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Architect’s image of the new
theatre in Milton Court
71 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Programme facilities
You will train in our well-equipped, ﬂexible theatre
spaces. The Silk Street Theatre seats up to 308 in
formats such as proscenium, promenade, thrust and
in the round. It has counterweight ﬂying, a large
orchestra pit and easy access to the workshops. It
is particularly well equipped for lighting and sound
and provides a dramatic and adaptable environment
which is stimulating and exciting at the same time as
being practical, safe and ideal for learning.
The new development at Milton Court provides us
with additional facilities to house both Technical
Theatre and Acting training. It includes new rehearsal
rooms, a TV studio, costume department and
teaching rooms. Perhaps most importantly it boasts
a new 608-seat concert hall, a fully automated
proscenium theatre seating 227 and a new studio
theatre with a tensioned wire grid and ﬂexible seating
with a capacity of 128. This means that the School
offers more performance venues than any other
school in the UK.
In addition the School regularly stages productions
in the Barbican Centre’s theatres.
Other School facilities that you will use are the scenic
workshop, paintshop, prop making department,
sound and video editing studio, the new lighting
and theatre technology laboratory, stage electrics
workshop, wardrobe, production and stage
management ofﬁces.
All departments are equipped with networked
computers with access to the internet. There is
a well-equipped computer room exclusively for
Technical Theatre use. You will be given an email
address and secure storage for your own ﬁles as
well as having access to production and programme
related information on shared drives and on the
School’s intranet.
Transferable skills
As well as equipping you with the skills and
knowledge to enter the theatre and entertainment
industries, the Technical Theatre Arts programme will
also provide you with a range of transferable skills
which are valuable to any employer. These include:
• Verbal and written communication skills
• Problem solving skills
• Time management skills
• IT skills
• Research skills
• Management skills
Preparing for work
On successful completion of the programme you will
be fully equipped with the professional standards,
skills, knowledge, experience and contacts to enter
the theatre industry. This can be as a permanent
employee of a theatre or company, or initially on a
freelance basis. You will receive lectures and advice on
what being freelance means, and how to go about
getting work. Our graduates have had a near 100%
employment rate.
Students who have a right to work in the UK are
eligible to become student members of British
Actors’ Equity and will automatically be granted full
membership on completion of their training.
Finding out more about the
profession
If you want to ﬁnd out more about possible
careers backstage there are a number of good
websites to explore; try these three as a start:
getintotheatre www.getintotheatre.org
CDS www.drama.ac.uk
RSC (search for “think theatre” section)
www.rsc.org.uk
72 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
‘
On coming to the Open Day
I knew this was the college for
me – not only were the facilities
amazing but the people and the
atmosphere were unbeatable.
’
James Brittle, BA Technical Theatre Arts

73 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Professional secondment
Students from the programme have recently been on secondment to:
The National Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Shakespeare Company
Shakespeare’s Globe
Royal Opera House Covent Garden
Opera North
Welsh National Opera
Almeida Theatre
Stage Technologies
Barbican Centre
English National Opera
Mamma Mia!
Rick Fisher – Lighting Designer
Paule Constable – Lighting Designer
Les Misérables
Autograph Sound
Imagination Events
White Light
Royal Albert Hall
Donmar Warehouse
Glyndebourne
Old Vic Theatre
The School is currently developing an exchange and
work programme within the Erasmus scheme which
will further enhance the professional secondment
offering to Technical Theatre students.
74 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
75 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Employment
Students from the Guildhall School Technical Theatre
programme have a very good record of employment
and former students can be found in a wide variety
of theatre and opera occupations. Examples of recent
graduate successes include:
Stage Management positions: West End,
national and international tours
National Theatre Production Ofﬁce
ASM, Cheek by Jowl
ASM, Royal Opera House
Electrician, Royal Court Theatre
Hire Manager, White Light Group
Sound Technician on War Horse
Lighting Technician, UK tour Sound of Music
Wardrobe department, Royal Opera House
Covent Garden
ASM, Royal Shakespeare Company
Stage Manager, Rogeland Theatre Norway
Asst Sound Designer, Manchester Library Theatre
ASM, Scottish Ballet
ASM, Oliver!
Electrician, world tour of Swan Lake on Ice
Asst Prop Maker, English National Opera
Career Progress
Previous Guildhall graduates have progressed to
senior positions:
Company Manager, Les Misérables
Stage Manager, Royal Shakespeare Company
Sound Designer, Autograph
Senior Technical Show Manager, Royal Albert Hall
Chief Electrician, Donmar Warehouse
Senior Production Manager, Imagination
Freelance Lighting Designer
Freelance Sound Designer
Theatre Designer
Enhanced Career Opportunities
Students may go on to work in related industries
such as ﬁlm, television, events, conference and also
in work away from the entertainment industries.
For example:
Assistant Director in the ﬁlm industry
TV Researcher
TV Location Manager
Theatre Agent
TV Presenters’ Agent
Theatre Producer
Theatre Promoter
Theatre Marketing
Executive Director, Almeida Theatre
Documentary Film Maker
Director of UK Admin, Jim Henson Company
Head of Projects, Tussauds Group
Sound Engineer, Pop Videos
TV Sound Supervisor
Chief Executive, Shakespeare’s Globe
76 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Staff
Director of Drama
Christian Burgess AGSM FGS
Director of Technical Theatre
Ben Sumner MBA
Head of Design Realisation
Vanessa Cass BA(Hons) PGCert
Head of Stage & Costume
Management
Jonathan Woolf CSMGSM PGCert
Head of Theatre Technology
Steve Huttly FGS BA(Hons) PGCert
Head of Production
Stuart Calder CSMGSM
For a full list of teaching staff
please visit the website:
www.gsmd.ac.uk/technical_theatre
77 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Who will teach you
There are 24 full-time members of staff in the
Technical Theatre department. All have had extensive
and varied careers in professional theatre. The
department maintains constant industry contacts
via incoming directors, designers, and through
professional colleagues and ex-students working
with all the major UK theatre and opera companies,
productions and suppliers.
Designers and Lighting Designers who have worked
at the School recently include: Peter Mumford,
Isabella Bywater, Susannah Henry, Mark Jonathan,
John Owens, Tom Rogers, Dora Schweitzer, Johanna
Town, Hugh Vanstone and John Leonard.
The particularly high staff/student ratio is one of
the strengths of the programme. As you move
through the programme, staff input changes from
formal teaching to empowering and supporting
your production work. This allows you freedom to
demonstrate and develop your professional
standards and skills.
A member of the teaching staff will also be your
personal tutor and will follow your progress and
act as a mentor for your personal development.
On productions, all students, whichever year they
are in, work together. Peer learning is therefore
important with senior students in organising roles
and more junior students being able to observe how
skills and knowledge are acquired and used.
Application and selection
Everybody who applies will be required to come to
London to attend an interview day at the School.
Interviews will be held from November until May with
applications being accepted up until the end of this
period. However, it is in your interest to apply
early as places are offered throughout the year.
Visit www.gsmd.ac.uk/technical_theatre for details
of our interview day and Open Day.
‘Guildhall’s training
and resources are
unrivalled and therefore
their students are highly
sought after.’
Neil Austin, Stage Management 1992
78 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Research & Knowledge Exchange
The Guildhall School provides a dynamic environment
to explore fundamental questions that inform artistic
practice in the 21st century. Research increasingly
underpins collaboration across the campus. There
is therefore a unique opportunity to engage in
enquiry, experiment and reﬂection in the context of
an arts complex at the cutting edge of performance,
artistic production and innovation. There are diverse
opportunities for students across all programmes.
Current areas of research focus include:
• The Creative Stage (including new opera)
• Words Becoming Music
• Understanding Audiences
• Contemporary and historical performance practices
• The art and science of artistry
Much existing work is inter-disciplinary and
collaborative, and all of it, led by eminent ﬁgures
from the music and drama professions, informs
teaching and the programmes of study, from
undergraduate to doctoral level.
Research Environment & Knowledge
Exchange
The international conference, the Reﬂective
Conservatoire, is an established feature of
the events calendar and a world leader in the
Conservatoire sector. The most recent conference,
Performing at the Heart of Knowledge (Feb
2012), brought together researchers, performers
and teachers in music and drama to address key
contemporary issues. Keynote speakers included
Sir Nicholas Kenyon and Professor Richard Sennett.
Guildhall ResearchWorks provides an annual
series of presentations, performances, workshops,
debates and roundtables. These are open to all
students, staff and in many cases to the public.
Guests of international standing include Helmut
Lachenmann, Professor Carl Schachter and Jonathan
Dove. Alongside them, students and staff have the
opportunity to present their work.
Research Degree – MPhil/DMus and
MPhil/PhD
The Research Degree programme focuses on practice-
based research in the creative and performing
arts, and a particular strength lies in the ﬁeld of
composition. The majority of projects result in
a combination of performance/creative outputs
and written work. In a few cases, where research
may best be expressed through the written word
alone, the output is a single thesis. An individual
research proposal is supported by a strong research
environment, a personalised development plan,
opportunities to draw on the artistic resources of
the School and a supervisory team combining artistic
and academic expertise.
As part of the Research Degree
programme, an innovative new doctoral
studentship in association with the Royal
Opera House is available. This studentship,
a unique collaboration between a
prestigious opera company and a conservatoire,
appoints one doctoral student on a biannual basis to
be Composer-in-Residence at the Royal Opera House,
culminating in the completion of a new chamber
opera to be staged at the Royal Opera House’s
Linbury Studio Theatre in Year 3 of study.
Assistant Principal (Research & Academic
Development)
Dr Helena Gaunt PhD LGMS(PCS)
Head of Doctoral Programme
Dr Kate Romano MPhil (Cantab) PhD
Visit www.gsmd.ac.uk/research for more
information.
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80 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
The world of work
Training at the Guildhall School is entirely focused
on equipping you for the career of your choice. As a
key aspect of this, all of our programmes are closely
engaged with the professions, whether through
talks and workshops from visiting industry ﬁgures,
work placements, mentoring, masterclasses, or
performance collaborations. Most of our teaching
staff continue to work on or offstage in their industry
and are perfectly placed to provide insight, advice
and useful contacts within their profession.
As you move through your programme, your links
with the relevant industry will grow. You will receive
careers advice with dedicated modules in many
programmes, as well as one-to-one advice from
teaching staff and mentors. Opportunities include:
• Actors take a career preparation module which
includes advice on auditions and casting sessions,
agents, unions, tax and accounting, CVs, and
setting up a professional company.
• Technical Theatre students take a professional
development module which includes help with CVs
and job applications, interview technique, taxation,
and unions. They also undertake a 4-6 week
professional secondment.
• Undergraduate musicians take modules which
include advice on business and marketing
skills, and professional portfolios. Postgraduate
musicians are required to plan external events
and there are also opportunities for placements
and artistic programming in certain programmes.
All musicians can attend masterclasses, and
in addition, the Centre for Orchestra initiative
offers mock auditions, a side-by-side scheme and
mentoring from LSO players.
After you graduate
All new graduates are automatically registered
as part of the Guildhall Alumni community. The
School’s Alumni Ofﬁce promotes networking, social
opportunities, and active involvement in the future
development of the Guildhall School. The Alumni
Ofﬁce offers a range of beneﬁts (free of charge),
including regular magazines, programmes of events
and information about careers opportunities, such as
job vacancies, subsidised courses, competitions and
placements. The School also provides a secure area
on its website, the Alumni Common Room, where
alumni can update their contact details and search
for other alumni in the directory.
The Alumni Ofﬁce has a speciﬁc presence on social
networking sites including Facebook, LinkedIn and
Friends Reunited, facilitating connections between
fellow alumni and the School.
All graduates, former staff and former students
who studied at the School for at least twelve
months are considered to be members of the
Guildhall’s alumni community. For further
information go to www.gsmd.ac.uk/alumni or
email [email protected].
Alumni
The School has an impressive record of alumni
success and achievement. Many of our former
students return to give talks, masterclasses or to
take part in performances, enabling them to stay
connected to the School and share their knowledge
and experience with current students.
Some of the School’s alumni include:
Dame Eileen Atkins, Naveen Andrews, Neil Austin,
Alison Balsom, Claire Bloom, Orlando Bloom,
Guy Chambers, Susan Chilcott, Daniel Craig,
Judy Craymer, Dido, Joseph Fiennes,
Sir James Galway, Dave Holland, Sarah Lancashire,
Paul Lewis, Tasmin Little, Sir George Martin,
Alistair McGowan, Ewan McGregor, Julia McKenzie,
Marian McPartland, Omar, Anne Soﬁe von Otter,
Rachel Podger, Rebecca de Pont Davies,
Jacqueline du Pré, William Primrose,
Patricia Rozario, Clive Rowe, Simon Russell Beale,
Claire Rutter, Bryn Terfel, Marcia Warren, and
Janice Watson.
To read biographies of some of our former
students, visit www.gsmd.ac.uk/alumni.
81 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Fees & Funding

Studying at the Guildhall School is affordable and the School is committed to ensuring
that the cost of tuition should not deter you from applying. There are a number of
measures in place to help you meet the cost:
• If you are a Home/EU undergraduate student eligible for a UK government tuition fee loan, there are no
upfront tuition fees.
• You will only have to repay the loan once you have left university and are earning over £21,000 per year.
• For all other students, tuition fees for a given academic year are advertised well in advance to help you plan
your ﬁnances, and you can pay your fees in three installments plus deposit.
• The School offers a wide range of scholarships to all students through its own Scholarships Fund, as well
as 33 scholarships via the National Scholarships Programme (see below).
Home/EU Undergraduate students
A tuition fee loan is available to undergraduate
students* from the following countries classiﬁed as
European Union for fee purposes (subject to
residency requirements):
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, [Croatia
accession expected 1 July 2013], Czech Republic,
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany,
Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania,
Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands,
United Kingdom. Some British and EU territories
are also included.
You will only have to repay the loan once you have
left university and are earning over £21,000 per year.
For home students (England, Scotland, Wales or
Northern Ireland) other support is available in the
form of a living cost maintenance loan or grant
(actual amounts dependent upon household income).
82 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
83 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Funding support and guidance
The School has a dedicated Student Funding Offer who
can help you identify sources of funding to support your
studies. As well as trusts and charities, these sources
include the National Scholarship Programme and the
School’s generous scholarship scheme.
The School offers a wide range of scholarships to all
students each year through its own Scholarships
Fund. These awards are supported by a variety of
external donors including City Livery Companies,
grant-making trusts and foundations, businesses and
individuals. Tuition fee and maintenance awards are
offered on the basis of each applicant’s talent, their
potential and their personal ﬁnancial need. These
elements are assessed through audition and interview
on the basis of a comprehensive application form.
The National Scholarship Programme (NSP) is open
to new undergraduate entrants from the EU (excluding
Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland) who meet the
national and School eligibility criteria. The School has
been provisionally allocated 16 scholarships for 2014/15
which it will match fund with a further 17 scholarships.
Each of the 33 NSP award holders will be given a £3K
fee waiver in year one of their studies, and a further
£1K fee waiver in each subsequent undergraduate year.
Full details of the National Scholarship Programme and
the School’s Scholarships Fund, and how to apply, can
be found at www.gsmd.ac.uk/funding. In addition,
the Student Funding Ofﬁcer is available to assist with
any funding queries you may have; please contact
studentfundingofﬁ[email protected].
Additional funding support
If you experience an unforeseen change of
circumstances while you are enrolled at the School
you may qualify for an award from the School’s
Hardship Fund to help you overcome your
immediate ﬁnancial difﬁculties.
Full and part-time UK undergraduate and
postgraduate students with low incomes who need
extra ﬁnancial support to access and remain in
Higher Education may be eligible for an award from
the UK Government’s Access to Learning Fund
administered by the School.
Fee assessment
All successful applicants will be asked to complete a Fee
Assessment Form before commencing their studies at the
Guildhall School to establish if their tuition fees will be at
the ‘home/EU’, ‘ELQ’* or ‘overseas’ rate.
*If you already have a degree or diploma at or above
the level of the programme you wish to study at the
Guildhall School and would usually pay home/EU fees
you will be classiﬁed as an ELQ student and will be liable
to pay the equivalent of the overseas fee.
Student visa requirements
For students requiring a visa to study in the UK, the UK
Border Agency requires, as part of the visa application
process, that students demonstrate that they have the
means to pay for their tuition for their ﬁrst year of study
and the means to support themselves. For further details
see www.ukba.homeofﬁce.gov.uk/visas-immigration/
studying.
For the full tuition fee schedule and further
guidance on funding please see our website
www.gsmd.ac.uk/funding. Non-UK applicants
may additionally ﬁnd the UKCISA website of
interest: www.ukcisa.org.uk
84 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Apply and Audition
The Guildhall School values its diversity of cultures and
welcomes applications from across the globe.
Please take a virtual tour of the School on our website
www.gsmd.ac.uk, or come and attend one of the
hundreds of concerts, plays, operas or masterclasses
that are open to everyone.
Book a place on one of our Open Days to visit the
School and experience the buzz for yourself.
Applications and any enquiries about attending the
Guildhall School are made directly to the School and
not via any outside intermediary or agency.
Full information concerning entry criteria and
audition requirements, deadlines and fees and
the online application form are available at
www.gsmd.ac.uk/apply
www.gsmd.ac.uk
The Guildhall School website is designed to
have everything you need for details about
life at the School, including:
• online applications
• Open Day dates and bookings
• in-depth information on our programmes
of study, our facilities and support services,
and partnerships and collaborations
• interactive video tour featuring over 40 mini
ﬁlms of rehearsals, performances, guided
tours and interviews with students and staff
• alumni, student and staff profles
• news stories tailored to every area of study
• events calendar with details of our large
programme of public performances
throughout the year
• dedicated area for our new facilities at
Milton Court
• links to our social networking sites and
our podcasts on iTunes.
The Guildhall School
founded in 1880 by the City of London Corporation
David Graves
Chairman of the Board of Governors
Senior Staff at the Guildhall School
Principal
Professor Barry Ife CBE FKC HonFRAM
Director of Music
Jonathan Vaughan DipRCM (Perf) DipRCM (Teach)
Director of Drama
Christian Burgess AGSM FGS
Director of Acting
Wyn Jones FGS
Director of Technical Theatre
Ben Sumner MBA
Director of Creative Learning
Sean Gregory MPhil BA(Hons) FGS LGSM (PCS)
Head of Junior Guildhall
Derek N Rodgers LTCL GTCL PGCE
Director of Corporate and Student Affairs
TBA
Chief Operating and Financial Ofﬁcer
Sandeep Dwesar BA(Hons) ACA
Assistant Principal (Research and Academic
Development)
Helena Gaunt PhD LGSM (PCS)
85 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
‘ The Guildhall is a place of
constant innovation, energy
and open-mindedness. I
became friends with and
got inspired by some of the
most talented artists and
teachers in the world. ’
Alison Balsom, Trumpet 2001
86 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
How to ﬁnd us
Guildhall School of Music & Drama
Silk Street
Barbican
London EC2Y 8DT
Tel: +44 (0)20 7628 2571
Web: www.gsmd.ac.uk
By Underground/Train
Barbican, Moorgate, Liverpool Street,
St Paul’s and Bank stations are all nearby.
By Bus
Bus numbers 4, 43, 55, 76, 100 and 153 stop nearby.
By Road
The Guildhall School of Music & Drama falls within
the congestion charge zone, 7am-6pm Mon to Fri
excluding bank holidays.
Tel: 0845 900 1234
Web: www.cclondon.com
Photo credits
Clive Barda • Nobby Clark • Stephen Cummiskey •
Greg Funnell • Katie Henfrey • Nick James •
Nina Large • Kevin Leighton • Alastair Muir •
Alexander Newton • Clive Totman
Design and print, www.fullcycle.co
87 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
Guildhall School of
Music & Drama
Silk Street
Barbican
London EC2Y 8DT
Tel: +44 (0)20 7628 2571
Fax: +44 (0)20 7256 9438
www.gsmd.ac.uk
Accommodation
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0)20 7382 6132
Acting Department
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0)20 7382 2323
Applications
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0)20 7382 7183
Exchange programmes
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0)20 7382 7183
Finance
Email: ﬁ[email protected]
Tel: +44 (0)20 7382 7208
Music Department
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0)20 7382 7144
Registry
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0)20 7382 7181
Research
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0)20 7382 5283
Student Affairs
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0)20 7382 7219
Students’ Union
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0)20 7382 7961
Technical Theatre
Department
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0)20 7382 2323
88 To ﬁnd out more visit www.gsmd.ac.uk
The Guildhall School is provided
by the City of London as part of its
contribution to the cultural life of
London and the nation

2014 Guildhall School Guide 2014

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