About us | Guildhall School of Music & Drama

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Walk the School with Guildhall students

During my time here, I organised an international conference based around my subject involving delegates from 4 continents

Emily Baines
DMus, ‘Mechanical Musical Instruments as a Source for Historical Performance’

The research community at Guildhall is a really interesting place to be

Stefania Donini
PhD

I found it very beneficial to take a break from a busy teaching career to think and reflect on my teaching value, principle and strategies

Yushan Li
PGCert Performance Teaching

Studying at Guildhall is really cool because you are in a setting where the arts are valued by an entire community

Natasha Mbwana
BA Performance & Creative Enterprise

The projects we work on are real - we are in effect constantly getting work experience

Laurie Lumley
BA Video Design for Live Performance

Guildhall is an institution that knows it has to be connected to the outside world - that's the key thing. It's not a bubble. It has roots in the city and in the world.

Jonathan Ferrucci
Artist Diploma Piano

One minute you could be playing in the Guildhall Studio Orchestra with jazz musicians, the next you could be playing in the opera pit, then the next minute you'll be with actors doing the musical and then playing a symphony in the orchestra.

Millie Ashton
BMus Violin

I had access to people I would never have been able to meet as a young composer starting out.

Na'ama Zisser
Doctoral Composer in Residence

I knew about the fantastic tutoring and resources, but the friendly and stimulating environment clinched it for me.

Eden Lonsdale
BMus Composition

I had the opportunity to play percussion with the Guildhall Studio Orchestra which gave me the chance to learn from, and play alongside, amazing senior players, as well as to perform with the incredible Liane Carroll.

Dave Adsett
BMus Jazz Drums

At Guildhall, they don't hold your hand, but they're going to push you to become the actor that you want to be.

Daniel Adeosun
BA Acting

It's the scale of productions that really makes Guildhall stand out. It gets to the point where you think, wow, this is massive. In other places, you just wouldn't have that opportunity to learn on the job.

Sian Clare
BA Technical Theatre Arts (Costume)

About Guildhall School

Guildhall School is a vibrant, international community of young musicians, actors and production artists in the heart of the City of London.

Ranked as one of the top ten performing arts institutions in the world (QS World University Rankings 2020), and third in the Arts, Drama and Music Complete University Guide League Table 2021, the School is a global leader of creative and professional practice which promotes innovation, experiment and research.

At Guildhall School, we lead students through the transformative journey of training in music, acting and production arts. If you join us on that journey, it will be a demanding, intense and committed process. But in return, the craft, creativity and learning that you receive will empower you to develop your unique potential – and to put your talent to work at the forefront of cultural change.

Our training will equip you to make your mark as an accomplished performing artist, composer, theatre maker, production professional, creative entrepreneur or teacher. Guildhall graduates consistently succeed at the highest levels of their profession. Some become household names; others work behind the scenes to bring state-of-the-art performance to stage and screen.

As a Guildhall School student, you are challenged to work to professional standards in a world-class context. You will draw on the insight and skills of internationally-renowned artists and practitioners, working with you as directors, designers, conductors, coaches and tutors.

Of the 1000 students across our programmes, 35 per cent come from outside Britain, representing more than 40 countries and bringing a truly global outlook and relevance to what we do. We welcome diversity, and encourage applications from anyone with talent, regardless of background; our scholarship fund provides over £2 million to support students each year.

The School is also the UK’s leading provider of specialist music training at the under-18 level with nearly 2,500 students in Junior Guildhall and the Centre for Young Musicians, as well as a joint Creative Learning outreach division with the Barbican which seeks to create inspiring arts experiences for all.

Our diversity extends to the art forms that we cover. We are one of the few major European conservatoires to combine schools of music, drama and production arts. Working across disciplines frees us to break down boundaries across traditional art forms, to nurture invention, and to cross-fertilise ideas and methods.

Founded in 1880, our historic roots go deep, but the way that we teach and learn has always tested conventions. We value innovation and experiment, and will encourage you to explore the big questions that affect you as an artist today, and that will impact us all in the 21st century.

We benefit from, and contribute to, the incredibly exciting cultural life of London as a global city. We are situated right next to the Barbican Centre in the City of London, with easy access to the city’s major cultural institutions and to London’s lively East End.

We enjoy some of the best facilities for training in performance arts and production anywhere in the world. The completion of our Milton Court site adds a world-class concert hall, two theatres, studios and large rehearsal rooms to our facilities at Silk Street, within the Barbican complex.

Collaboration is central to what we do. Our partnerships – between departments and with external organisations – create outstanding opportunities to learn from the leading edge of creative practice. Our professional partners include the Barbican Centre, the London Symphony Orchestra, the the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Opera House and the Academy of Ancient Music.

Active engagement with diverse communities keeps us constantly alive to the unique potential of performing arts to provide pathways to self-expression and positive social change. Our Creative Learning programme trains students to work in communities across East London and beyond to offer inspiring arts experiences for everyone. We also run a vibrant programme of youth and adult learning, harnessing creativity and the desire to learn among children and young people, business leaders and professionals.

Above all, at Guildhall School of Music & Drama, we believe in the power of performing arts to transform people’s lives, and to radically enrich the world around us. We invite you to join us in transforming your own life, and to serving the wider world as we embark, together, on the challenge and change of the 21st century.

The reputation of the teaching and increasingly the research across all the disciplines in the School is unrivalled.