Guildhall Young Artists Appeal

Join the chorus and make Guildhall Young Artists bigger than ever by supporting our Autumn Appeal. Every gift donated by December will grow our bursary and tuition provision, with the first £5,000 of gifts being doubled by our generous match donor. 

Young musician smiling and playing the harp

Support our appeal

Donate now

Copy 2

Guildhall Young Artists Appeal video

Today, we launch our Guildhall Young Artists Appeal to help talented young people like Ore, a Jazz Trumpet student at Junior Guildhall, to discover the transformative power of the performing arts. Hear Ore's reflections on his time at Junior Guildhall in the above video and read on to discover what we want to achieve at Guildhall Young Artists, and why we need your help. 

Over the past decade, performing arts opportunities for UK state school children have drastically declined. The effect of this is evident in the alarming decrease in GCSE entries in England, with Music decreasing by 27% and Drama by 35% from 2010-2022. Young people across the country are at risk of missing out on experiencing the transformative power of the performing arts.

As the UK’s leading conservatoire (Complete University Guide 2024), it is our responsibility to ensure that performing arts training is accessible to as many young people as possible, regardless of their finances, geography or any other barriers that might hold them back.

Guildhall School is one of the UK’s largest providers of under-18s performing arts training. Guildhall Young Artists comprises six centres located in London, nationwide and online. We are investing heavily in our young people’s programme, with two of these centres, Guildhall Young Artists King’s Cross and Guildhall Young Artists Online, opening in the past year.

If you share our passion for ensuring that children from all backgrounds have access to performing arts education and you want to help young people to enjoy the gift of music and the arts, please support our Guildhall Young Artists Appeal.

Guildhall Young Artists King’s Cross has helped me become more confident and capable as an actor. My skills improve with every week that goes by and I can connect with people who share the same passions and ambitions as me. There is never a dull moment because you are taught so much about the thing you love the most with the people you love the most.

– Talitha, 15, Drama at Guildhall Young Artists King’s Cross

What could my gift do?

Ten gifts of £25 would support a term’s Music or Drama Discovery course for an aspiring young artist.

£50 would go towards a 1:1 instrumental lesson and ensemble music course.

£120 (£10 per month) would provide one month of cross-country travel every Saturday for a bursary student to attend Junior Guildhall.

Every gift we receive will help us to realise our ambitious goal of providing access to arts training to as many young people as possible.

Thank you to everyone who donated to help us use our £5,000 match funding pot, doubling the support you gave!

You can still make a huge difference to the talented young people studying with us by donating to the Guildhall Young Artists Appeal.

I received free music lessons at my state comprehensive school and, without these, I would not be leading Guildhall School today. With limited support for the arts in the national curriculum, it is critical that we do what we can to help young people from all backgrounds to engage with music, drama and production arts.

– Professor Jonathan Vaughan FGS, Principal of Guildhall School of Music & Drama

Make a one-off gift

Donate now

Set up a Direct Debit

Donate now

Copy 3

You can also donate by sending a cheque payable to the Guildhall School Trust at the below address, marked as 'Guildhall Young Artists Appeal':

DARO
Guildhall School of Music & Drama
Silk Street
Barbican
London

EC2Y 8DT

If you would like to discuss the appeal in more detail or would like to donate via an alternative method, please contact Hannah Dixon at hannah.dixon@gsmd.ac.uk / 020 4582 2415.