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Music Tour

Explore our Music facilities with Guildhall students

Guildhall has prepared me for a career in music therapy from searching for jobs to having brilliant work experience from the placements they chose for me

Emma Barber
MA Music Therapy

Emma Barber
Guildhall had a crucial role in my success. The very high quality orchestral projects and masterclasses prepared me for professional life

Joao Seara
BMus Double Bass

Joao Seara
Studying at the Guildhall School has been a life-changing and unforgettable adventure

Rebekah Carpio
MMus Clarinet (Orchestral Artistry)

Rebekah Carpio
Working in pairs during the MA has helped me developer a deeper understanding of how opera composers work and how to spark their imaginations with a libretto.

Zoe Palmer (writer)
MA Opera Making and Writing

Zoe Palmer (writer)
The relationship between the Barbican, BBC, and Guildhall is absolutely invaluable as it provides opportunities for students that cannot be found elsewhere.

Emiko Edwards
MPerf Piano

Emiko Edwards
Writing music for theatre has been a highlight of my time at Guildhall, as it has allowed me to explore an art form in which I have a great amount of interest and to work towards a professional finished product.

Alexander Hall
BMus Composition

Alexander Hall
Barbican is a key partner of Guildhall, and we can often get artists who perform there to do a masterclass or project with us, and we often do performances at Barbican events.

Ieva Vaitiekunaite
BMus Electronic Music

Ieva Vaitiekunaite
Whether it is in sit-in rehearsals, side-by-side projects or chamber orchestra sessions, the LSO players offer invaluable guidance and provide a glimpse of the exceptional standards we aspire towards.

Rees Webster
MPerf Oboe (Orchestral Artistry)

Rees Webster
I was excited to cover a role in the UK premiere of Andrew Norman's 'A Trip to the Moon' in the Barbican, have a solo recital at LSO St Luke's and also to sing on the stage of Wigmore Hall.

Mirjam Mesak
MPerf Vocal Studies

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

Eden Lonsdale
BMus Composition

Eden Lonsdale
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

Dave Adsett
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

Jonathan Ferrucci
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 b e with actors doing the musical and then playing a symphony in the orchestra.

Millie Ashton
BMus Violin

Millie Ashton
The departmental philosophy of returning opera back to something that is essentially produced as part of a company is a really great thing.

Klara Kofen (writer)
MA Opera Making and Writing

Klara Kofen (writer)
The quality of teaching is amazingly high. With the guidance and help that I've been given, I feel my work has got dramatically better over a short space of time.

Lucy Armstrong (composer)
MA Opera Making and Writing

Lucy Armstrong (composer)
I set up a piano trio when I arrived, and we have weekly coaching with members of the Endellion Quartet and the faculty. It has been very rewarding.

Leo Popplewell
MMus Cello

Leo Popplewell
It seemed like this was a place to go and experience a complete world of art and performance and see what happened - a place that really encouraged you to make things that you want to make.

Vittorio Angelone
BMus Percussion

Vittorio Angelone
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Home > Music > Principal study
Principal Study options at the Guildhall School

Principal Study

At the heart of your training will be intensive, one-to-one and small ensemble sessions with Guildhall’s core staff of over 400 practitioner teachers. We offer study in the following areas (some courses, including Chamber Music, Music Therapy and Opera, are available at postgraduate level only):

  • Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass 
  • Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Saxophone, Recorders 
  • Horn, Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba 
  • Timpani & Percussion 
  • Guitar, Harp, Lute, Viols
  • Singing (Vocal Studies and Opera Studies)
  • Piano, Fortepiano, Harpsichord
  • Historical Performance
  • Chamber Music
  • Composition (including MA Opera Making & Writing for composers and librettists)
  • Electronic Music
  • Jazz: Voice, Composition & Arranging, Clarinet, Double Bass, Drums, Electric Bass, Flute, Guitar, Percussion, Piano, Saxophone, Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba, Violin. Other instruments by negotiation. 
  • Music Therapy

Training principles

There are two central principles which will be fundamental to your training:

  • Achieving your potential as an outstanding music-maker: developing as a fully-fledged creative artist, whose craft and skill is expressed through a mature, authoritative artistic voice.
  • Working as an artist in society: becoming an artist whose work is curious, vibrant and relevant to 21st century life. With an evergrowing awareness of your social and political impact, you will harness your knowledge to define and build your own career and bring transformational change to others.

As an artist who can bring these two elements together, you will have the greatest freedom to determine your own future, to forge your own career path, curate your own concerts, events and festivals and act as an agent for change in the wider world.

You benefit from our partnerships

You will also work with some of the world’s finest international visiting artists and ensembles. Our partnerships with five key organisations – the Barbican Centre, the London Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Opera House and the Academy of Ancient Music – ensure that you will benefit from links with the profession before you graduate. 

Undergraduates

A four-year programme leading to a Bachelor of Music degree with Honours, where at least two-thirds of the credit of each year is focused on Principal Study. You will have at least 30 individual lessons a year, and performance is central to the programme for everyone. Read more about the undergraduate BMus programme.

Postgraduates

We offer one of the world's most innovative packages of postgraduate study. Qualifications available include Guildhall Artist in Performance (including Orchestral Artistry) and Composition, Artist Diploma, DMus/PhD, MA in Music Therapy and MA in Opera Making and Writing in association with the Royal Opera House. Read more about our postgraduate programmes.

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Tel +44 (0) 20 7628 2571
Fax +44 (0) 20 7256 9438

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