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Discover Guildhall

Music Tour

Explore our Music facilities with Guildhall students

Guildhall has a unique buzz and vibe to it…a great sense of community and friendliness

Rebecca Carson
BMus Flute

Rebecca Carson
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
The strong collaboration between departments has created a very special and supportive atmosphere

Meili Li
MMus Opera Studies

Meili Li
The teaching staff encourage the diversity that Guildhall is known for…there is something for everyone, regardless of style and influence

Oliver Leith
MMus Composition

Oliver Leith
Such incredible musicians and inspiring teachers and the opportunity to hear from world-class visiting artists has been invaluable

Vijay Prakash
MMus Jazz Trombone

Vijay Prakash
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’

Emily Baines
In my first year, I was given the opportunity to play with the Britten-Pears Orchestra. We performed a number of concerts and our CD, recorded at one of those concerts, went on to win the BBC Music Magazine Award for Best Opera Recording.

Andrew McCoy
BMus Tenor Trombone

Andrew McCoy
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
I feel that the people here really make the institution. I found Guildhall to be a really supportive environment that gave me room to explore, take risks, and mature as a mucisian, and as a human being.

Francesca Chiejina
MPerf Vocal Studies

Francesca Chiejina
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 > Historical Performance > Highlights, successes & alumni

Highlights, successes & alumni

Recent department highlights include:

  • Masterclasses with Richard Tognetti (Australian Chamber Orchestra and guest director of AAM), Richard Egarr on Mastering Auditions, Emma Kirkby, Edward Higginbottom, Jacob Heringman and Principals from the Academy of Ancient Music
  • A critically acclaimed Barbican performance of Vivaldi’s Juditha Triumphans (Magdalena Kožená in the title role) in November 2016 included the Guildhall Consort (‘the choral singing from the Guildhall Consort was exquisite. Staggering, all of it, from start to finish.’ The Guardian, 5 stars).
  • Residency with Aisslinn Nosky (Handel & Haydn Society, Boston) including masterclasses and chamber music performance side-by-side project
  • Faculty Artist Recitals by Mahan Esfahani and Mhairi Lawson
  • Joint research event in conjunction with ResearchWorks, Performing Topics in Mozart’s Chamber Music
  • ‘Gamba plus’ project with Masters-level composition students
  • Combattimento, The Masque of Time, and El Armonya de los tres mundos – music and drama entertainments devised by Andrew Lawrence-King
  • Victoria and Albert Museum – students joined viol professor Liam Byrne in performances during his museum residency
  • Cantata Projects performed in concert series at Hatchlands Park, Blackheath Concert Halls, St Martin-in-the-Fields, London Handel Festival, Tilford Bach Festival, including a semi-staged performance of John Blow’s Venus and Adonis
  • Performances with the Academy of Ancient Music as part of the Deal Festival in 2015, 16 and 17, including The Spirit of Venice involving the School’s cornetts, sackbuts, strings and recorders (with the choir of Canterbury Cathedral), and Bach Cantatas directed by John Butt
  • New instruments, including a harpsichord by Malcolm Rose, Klop chamber organ, new bows in collaboration with luthier Tim Richards and a baroque cello by Clive Morris

 

Recent Student Successes

Recent Department graduates have joined leading ensembles, including the Academy of Ancient Music, Gabrieli Consort, Dunedin Consort, The English Concert, Tenebrae, Armonico Consort, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (orchestra and chorus), La Serenissima, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and the Dufay Collective. Others have progressed to Doctoral study.

Three ensembles of current and former Guildhall School musicians were selected for Early Music Live!, part of the Brighton Early Music Festival. One of our students also recently won the Audience Prize at the York Early Music Competition, and another won the Royal Over-Seas League Annual Music Competition with the period instrument string quartet, Consone.

Our students and alumni are also well represented on the Handel House Talent Scheme with current students, fellows or recent alumni selected for the scheme every year since its inception.

Doctoral student Emily Baines was Musical Director for Shakespeare’s Globe’s production of Nell Gywnn (Shakespeare’s Globe, London’s West End and English Touring Theatre), while cellist and gambist Vladimir Waltham was selected by Dutch organisation Jumpstart Jr. for career development and the loan of instruments. Anna Gschwend graduated in 2017 and regularly performs worldwide as soloist with La Petite Bande under Sigiswald Kuijken (Belgium).

Alumni include

Christopher Suckling (Doctorate 2015), Principal Cello, Gabrieli Consort and Players
Adrian Horsewood (Historical Performance Voice 2008), current Editor of Early Music Today
Nadja Zwiener (Violin 2001), Leader of The English Concert
Eamonn Dougan (Voice 2000) Principal Conductor, Britten Sinfonia Voices
Marcus Barcham-Stevens (Violin 1997, Composition 2010), Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra
Rachel Podger (Violin 1993), international soloist
William Carter (Lute 1992), Academy of Ancient Music
Robert Hollingworth (Voice 1989), Director, I Fagioloini
Pavlo Beznosiuk (Violin 1982), Principal Violin, Academy of Ancient Music
Jane Booth (Clarinet 1988), Head of Historical Performance at the Guildhall School, Ensemble DeNOTE, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Tafelmusik (Canada)
Neal Peres da Costa (Keyboard 1988), Associate Professor and Chair of Historical Performance at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (Australia)

Find out more

You can find teaching staff, audition requirements, open days and how to apply.

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