Connecting our students: societies at Guildhall

African-Caribbean Society

Nikisha Reyes, one of Guildhall’s BA Performance and Creative Enterprise students, also runs the School’s African-Caribbean Society. She spoke to us about the direction she hopes to take the society in this coming year.

“The society was set up in 2018 by Scarlet Morgan, BMus Jazz student, as a diversity incentive to promote all-inclusive events which aimed to highlight and celebrate arts and artists from the African/Caribbean diaspora. I re-ignited the society in February 2020 in Scarlet’s absence, in order to continue the vision. I really enjoy being part of a community of shared experiences and feeling supported by the institution.

We aim to host events that celebrate the arts and artists across various communities from the African diaspora, as well as student-led activities, and to invite guest speakers to inspire and motivate our members. Off the top of my head, I’d say dream guest speaker would be Oprah…but Akala at the moment, we’d be happy with Akala!”

What are you hoping to achieve in the future?

“As the years progress, we hope to build and maintain a strong connection between society alumni and current students. And most importantly, we look forward to developing our relationship with the School’s new Equality and Diversity Officer as they re-evaluate diversity and inclusion initiatives across campus.”

Football Society

Adam Quilter is president of the Football Society, a third-year classical trombone performance student – and supporter of Chelsea F.C.

“The Football Society is Guildhall's official football team and has been running for around seven years. I joined in my first year at Guildhall as I love to play football and wanted to get involved as soon as I could.

We represent Guildhall in a London based league that includes all of the other conservatoires in London. We’re really active and meet every weekend to train (weather permitting) and play matches two or three times a term. The team is coming off a very successful season, having gone undefeated throughout the whole season until Coronavirus caused lockdown. To celebrate our win, we’ve invested in brand new jerseys for next year.

We currently have 32 members, but we’re still growing. This is an advantage for the society as members of the team are artists first, footballers second, meaning when someone has a gig or a prior engagement, there are enough members in order to fill in the gaps.”

Can anyone join the Football Society?

“We accept everyone in Guildhall to be a part of this society. We are hoping to organise some social events so getting to know everyone in the team will be easy. We're just one big family.”

Christian Union

Daisy Ou, classical piano and international student, has found a place of celebration and solace in Guildhall’s Christian Union. She spoke to us about the importance of community.

“The Christian Union became my family when I first moved to the UK from Australia to study at Guildhall. They connected me to a local church where I was able to grow and be challenged in my faith, deepening my love for Jesus and His people. After receiving such love from the CU, it only made sense to want to give back and be that same welcoming community for everyone at Guildhall! It is an honour to step up and lead the group.

As a Christian Union, we believe in sharing the good news of Jesus together. Our mission statement is ‘To give everyone at Guildhall a chance to hear and respond to the good news’. In previous years, we have held many events within and outside of Guildhall including:

• Christmas carols
• Free Lunch Bar Talks exploring topics such as ‘What is Christianity?’ and ‘More To Life Than Music?’
• Breakfast/brunch socials and game night socials
• HUB weekend getaways with other CUs at the Royal College of Music, Royal Academy of Music and Trinity Laban

Our main meeting is held weekly on a Tuesday evening and various external speakers come in. Our Friday prayer meetings are a great chance for Christians to pray together over anything. Currently, we have around fifteen members and we all come from different backgrounds, cultures, faculties and departments. These include the jazz, drama, classical, opera and musical production departments.”

What do you enjoy about being part of the Christian Union?

“The sense of community and placing Jesus first above all else is what breaks down any barriers of diversity. Yes, we love music and the arts, but we’re united through Christ. I know I can trust these people to support me through challenging times as well as enjoy fun moments with!”

Vegan Society

Josephine Lockwood (Classical Voice) runs one of Guildhall’s newest societies that celebrates all things vegan.

“VegSoc was founded in 2019 to create a space for those who are vegan or are interested in veganism to meet, talk and eat good food. Due to the circumstances of the year we were only able to hold a couple of events including an outing to a vegan burger bar and a film night. We hope next year to host a much wider range of events, including possibly collaborating with vegan societies at larger universities. 

We’d also like to provide more information to the student body about the benefits of veganism. We will aim to introduce a greater range of vegan food in the school cafes and connect with the vegan societies of larger London universities, who have the funds and facilities to get vegan speakers in. We also plan to continue having food outings so that everyone, vegan or not, can try some of the great vegan food around London.”

What are your top picks for vegan eats in London?

"What the Pitta - a vegan kebab shop that won the award 'Best Takeaway' at the British Kebab Awards.

Purezza - the UK's first vegan pizzeria, located in Camden.

Unity Diner - a non-profit vegan diner, with all profits going directly to Surge, an animal rights campaign group."