Doctoral Research | Guildhall School of Music & Drama

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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)

Doctoral Research: MPhil/DMus/PhD

This programme is validated by City, University of London.

Research degrees are awarded for an independent research project that contributes to existing knowledge in a given area. Guildhall School’s research programme has a distinctive focus on research in, through and for the performing arts. Our research students investigate a wide range of topics in music, theatre and related artistic and pedagogic practices, including composition, instrumental performance, historical performance, opera-making, theatre making, performing arts pedagogies, institutions and cultures. As a world-leading conservatoire, we are well equipped to support research projects that integrate creative practice with scholarly enquiry. Our DMus award is for world-leading music composers and performers whose own practice forms an integral part of their research. The PhD programme also encompasses research by creative practice as well as historical, ethnographic, musicological and other modes of enquiry.

Students across these disciplines and subject areas study together on our specialist research training programme which creates opportunities for fruitful exchange and mutual support. Our supervisors include leading researchers and practitioners across a range of disciplines. What also unites our doctoral research at the Guildhall School is a commitment to exploring the role of the performing arts practitioner in society, and the personal, social, ethical and political impact and implications of performing arts practices. We offer a number of studentships in collaboration with high-profile arts and research organisations.

A research degree can offer a substantial period of reflection and renewal for artists and pedagogues exploring their own practice in ways that reflect wider questions in creative practice and scholarship. It is also a preparation for a research career. It is a significant undertaking, demanding a high level of self-motivation, intellectual curiosity, resilience and commitment. A PhD or DMus is usually undertaken over 3-4 years (full time) or 6-7 years (part time) and an MPhil is 2 year (full time) or 4 year (part time). Minimum admission requirements include a masters degree or equivalent professional experience. Prospective candidates are encouraged to contact possible supervisors or the doctoral programme as far in advance of application as possible.

In 2021 we particularly welcome proposals in the following areas:

Creating performing arts in the twenty-first century through: the composition of new music (acoustic and electronic); song-production and musicking; theatre-making (especially devised, scenographic and/or digital forms); opera and other work that combines music and theatre; participatory and socially-engaged practices. Topics might include:

participation in the performing arts as a way of addressing social inequities and marginalisation; cross-cultural, post-colonial and de-hierarchised approaches to making work for performance

collaboration, authorship and interdisciplinarity in creative processes

temporality, materiality and/or embodiment in relation to sound, voice, technology and/or bodies

the relation between page and stage: notation, transcription, arrangement, scripts and texts

The performer’s perspective in the context of: concert and chamber music (especially piano and art song); jazz and other music of the black Atlantic; theatre and acting. Topics might include:

the performer as collaborative artist eg the role of the accompanist in art song or approaches to group improvisation in Cuban music

strategies for memorisation, interpretation, improvisation or rhythm and tempo in relation to specific music genres or repertoire

pedagogies for performers including piano pedagogy in 19th century Russia and its legacy; psychological implications of performance eg coping with performance anxiety; rethinking the role of the music conservatoire

historically-informed music performance and experimenting with standard repertoire

Our doctoral researchers are expected to complement their expertise in the performing arts, with methodological and theoretical skills perspectives drawn from arts, humanities and/or social science research as is pertinent to their project. For 2021, we especially encourage projects that engage with identity politics and social justice (including post-colonial theory; feminist and gender theory); post-Marxism, new materialism and posthumanism; critical theories and philosophies of music, sound, voice, embodiment, technology and aesthetics. The School is committed to diversifying its doctoral student population and welcomes applications for scholarship from under-represented groups.

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