A brief history

The Guildhall School of Music first opened its doors on 27 September 1880, housed in a disused warehouse in the City. With 62 part-time students, it was the first municipal music college in Great Britain. The School quickly outgrew its first home, however, and in 1887 it moved to new premises in John Carpenter Street in a complex of educational buildings built by the Corporation of London to house it and the City's two public schools.

Initially, all tuition was on a part-time basis, but full-time courses were introduced by public request in 1920. Departments of Speech, Voice and Acting were added and by 1935 the School had added "and Drama" to its title.

The School moved to its present premises in the heart of the City of London's Barbican in 1977 and continues to be owned, funded and administered by the City of London.

In 1993 the Corporation of London leased a nearby courtyard of buildings that in the 18th century had been the centre of Samuel Whitbread's first brewery, and renovated and converted this to provide the School with its Hall of Residence, Sundial Court. About three minutes' walk from the School, Sundial Court offers self-catering single-room accommodation for 178 students.

In 2001 the Secretary of State, Baroness Blackstone, announced that the Barbican Centre, including the Guildhall School, was to be Grade II listed.

The School currently numbers over 800 students on its roll call, approximately 700 of whom are undergraduate and postgraduate music students. At the present time, 135 are studying on the Acting and Technical Theatre programmes. In any given year, about 40% of the students are from outside the UK typically representing over 40 nationalities.

The School is a member of the Federation of British Conservatoires, of the Conference of Drama Schools and of the European Association of Conservatoires. It is also a key partner in the Cityside initiative, launched in March 1999, which aims to emphasise and promote the wealth of cultural activity in the neighbourhood of the City of London.

In 2005 the School was awarded the Queen's Anniversary Prize for its unrivalled development and outreach programme, Guildhall Connect, and in 2007 it won a further Queen's Anniversary Prize in recognition of the work of the Opera Programme over the last two decades.

The most significant investment in the Guildhall School's future was recently announced with unveiling of the plans for the £90 million redevelopment of the neighbouring Milton Court site. The new building, due to open in 2012, will house three new performance spaces: a concert hall (610 seats), a theatre (225 seats) and a studio theatre (up to 128 seats) in addition to drama teaching and administration spaces.