Guildhall School of Music & Drama announces Making It Festival 2026
Making It Festival returns from 8–26 June 2026: a three-week celebration of new, original work made by Guildhall School’s vibrant and multi-skilled community.
Guildhall School of Music & Drama’s Making It Festival asks what it means to “make it” as an artist in the 21st century. As traditions evolve and power shifts, artists with the skills to create their own work become the trailblazers of our culture.
This three-week celebration of new, original work made by Guildhall School’s vibrant and multi-skilled community of artists will feature an eclectic line up of performances, installations and talks.
Highlights include:
- The return of GradEx – the annual exhibition of works by final-year artists on Guildhall School’s BA (Hons) programmes in Production Arts and Digital Design & Production
- Birdmother – A Nest-in-Progress explores the world of motherhood from the view of a great tit, presented by Dr Susannah Henry, scenographer and programme leader of BA Performance Design
- Electronic & Produced Music students celebrate the legacy of John Barry in an evening of new cinematic songs, inspired by the pioneering British film composer
- Self-led performance works for stage and screen by final-year actors – The Making of Us – created and performed entirely on their own terms
- Making It Work – A series of bespoke conversations connected to the Festival’s events, bringing together panels of students, alumni and academics
- New works written by composers and librettists on Guildhall’s MA in Opera Making & Writing in this year’s Opera Makers
Most of the Festival events are free of charge and tickets for other events start at just £5, making this an accessible way to celebrate the next generation of ground-breaking artists and experience inspiring new work this summer.
Festival Line Up:
Monday 8 – Thursday 18 June, Silk Street Theatre
GradEx 2026 is a free exhibition celebrating the work of final-year students from Guildhall School’s BA (Hons) programmes in Production Arts and Digital Design & Production. Inviting audiences to step behind the scenes to explore the creativity and craftsmanship that shape Guildhall’s public productions, from set and costume to lighting, sound, and video design. Showcasing portfolios, independent projects and production work, GradEx offers a chance to discover the next generation of theatre-makers as they prepare to enter the creative industries. Tuesday 9 June will see a guided tour of the exhibition, creating a unique opportunity to hear from the artists themselves on creating and making the exhibits, as well as their career plans and aspirations.
Admission free, no ticket required
Wednesday 10 June, 7.30–8pm, Silk St Theatre
The birds have been singing us warnings for centuries; we're just too stupid to understand them.
Fortunately, the ghost of a garden bird is making herself heard, via an unlikely translation device. All it took was a Commodore 64, a tired new mother and crochet, and now SHE is here. Part seance, part research paper, part supernatural visitation. Now, tell us what you really think, Birdmother...Dr Susannah Henry, scenographer and programme leader of the BA (Hons) in Performance Design at Guildhall, presents an ecofeminist performance which considers what we can learn about mothering and being in the world from a great tit. This performance is in development ahead of the Prague Quadrennial Festival of Performance Design and Space in summer 2027.
Admission free, no ticket required
Friday 12 June, 6pm, Milton Court Theatre
A celebration of original songs by Electronic & Produced Music students, inspired by the legacy of John Barry. The pioneering work of this British composer as both a songwriter and film composer transformed the musical landscape and continues to resonate today.
Admission free, booking required (from Thu 7 May, 12pm)
Tuesday 16 – Friday 19 June, 2, 4 & 7pm, Silk St Theatre
Guildhall’s dynamic final-year actors create, write and perform in a series of original performance works spanning stage, film and audio. Showcasing bold new voices and personal storytelling, The Making of Us offers a compelling glimpse of artists on the cusp of their professional careers.
These works include dark comedies, documentary theatre, lyrical duets, short films and physical performance pieces exploring love, grief, identity and belonging. From a provocative response to the Windrush scandal in Weh yuh haf to go now?, to the mysterious physical theatre of Dreamer, each piece offers a distinctive perspective and original voice. Audiences will encounter stories of loss, ambition, memory, environmental anxiety, family conflict and self-discovery, brought to life through stage and screen by Guildhall’s graduating actors.
Tickets: £5 booking required (from Thu 7 May, 12pm)
Wednesday 17 June, 8.35pm, Silk Street Theatre
Part of the Making It Work series, this post-show panel conversation brings together students, alumni and academics to explore the artistic development process behind new projects, and the transition from conservatoire study into professional life in the industry.
Free to ticket holders for 17 June performance of ‘The Making of Us’.
Wednesday 17 June, 5.30–7pm, Seminar Room, Level 5 of Milton Court
Nell Catchpole and Sophie Hope from the De-centre for Socially Engaged Practice and Research lead a participatory discussion drawing on themes emerging from the recent Social Art Seminar Series at Guildhall School. Exploring the meanings and experiences of socially engaged arts practices and teaching across disciplines, this event will also feature the launch of the new De-Centre collection of books on socially engaged practice and research in the Guildhall School of Music & Drama Library.
Admission free, booking required (from Thu 7 May, 12pm)
Friday 19 – Tuesday 23 June, 7pm, Milton Court Studio Theatre
Performed by singers and repetiteurs from Guildhall's Opera Studies department, Opera Makers features new works written by composers and librettists on Guildhall’s MA in Opera Making & Writing in association with the Royal Ballet and Opera.
Featuring this year are:
- A Bone to Pick, composed by Eluned Davies with libretto by Bess Still
- Elara Catching Sky, composed by Yotham Ben Yami with libretto by Ariella Stoian
- The Vanishing Act, composed by Diego Jimenez with libretto by Stuart Lee
Tickets: £15 (£8 concessions) (from Thu 7 May, 12pm)
Friday 19 June, 8.50pm, Milton Court Studio Theatre
Part of the Making It Work series, this post-show panel discussion brings together the student composers and librettists of Opera Makers and the director, to explore the development of new operatic work and the transition from conservatoire study to professional practice in the industry. The event is chaired by Head of Composition, Professor Julian Philips.
Free to ticket holders for 19 June performance of ‘Opera Makers’
Monday 22 June, 7–8.30pm, Silk Street Theatre
An evening celebrating the work of artists supported through the Making It Fund. Through short presentations and panel conversation, you will gain an insight into the artists’ work-in-progress, their creative processes and the journeys behind them, and their reflections on developing new ideas with the support of the fund. The event will conclude the opportunity for audience Q&A.
Admission free, booking required (from Thu 7 May, 12pm)
Tuesday 23 June, Silk Street Theatre
Second and third-year students present a distinctive immersive performance event integrating lighting, live sound and live video as equal, interdependent elements. Developed through collaborative, cross-disciplinary practice, the work explores the dynamics of creating and operating technical systems in real time within a live performance environment.
Admission free, booking required (from Thu 7 May, 12pm)
Wednesday 24 June, Milton Court Theatre
The 2026 MA Collaborative Performance Making cohort brings together early-career theatre practitioners to develop new theatre and performance work. Written, produced and performed by MA in Collaborative Performance Making students, their final production at Guildhall School is out of this world.
Admission free, no booking required
Wednesday 24 June, Milton Court Theatre
Part of the Making It Work series, this post-show panel conversation brings together students, alumni and academics to explore collaborative approaches to performance-making. The discussion considers how projects are developed in training and how emerging artists navigate the transition from conservatoire study into professional practice.
Admission free, no booking required
Wednesday 24 – Friday 26 June, 6pm, Milton Court Concert Hall
Three exciting evenings of new music by Guildhall’s postgraduate Electronic & Produced Music artists. Showcasing work across a wide range of specialist disciplines — from experimental sonic art to mainstream film scoring — these concerts highlight emerging composers and producers working at the forefront of contemporary music practice.
Admission free, no booking required
Thursday 25 June, 8.35pm, Milton Court Concert Hall
Part of the Making It Work series, this post-show panel conversation brings together students, alumni and academics from Guildhall’s Electronic & Produced Music department to explore the creative development of new work and the transition from study into professional practice within the music and sound industries.
Admission free, no booking required
Visit gsmd.ac.uk/making-it-festival-2026 for more information
General booking opens on Thursday 7 May, 12pm