Guildhall School of Music and Drama

The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz along with drama and technical theatre arts.[4] The school is a leading international conservatoire with students from over seventy countries.[5] It has one of the most prestigious performing arts programmes in the world, having been ranked the number one U.K. conservatoire in the 2019 Guardian league tables for music[6] and as the sixth university in the world for performing arts in the 2020 QS World University Rankings.[7]

Guildhall School of Music and Drama
TypeMusic conservatoire
Drama school
Established27 September 1880 (27 September 1880)
ChairmanVivienne Littlechild MBE JP [1]
PrincipalLynne Williams AM [2]
PatronThe Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London
Students1,085 (2018/19)[3]
Undergraduates685 (2018/19)[3]
Postgraduates400 (2018/19)[3]
Location
Silk Street, City of London, United Kingdom
CampusUrban
Affiliations
Websitegsmd.ac.uk

Based within the heart of the Barbican Centre in the City of London, the school currently numbers just over 1000 students, approximately 800 of whom are music students and 200 on the drama and technical theatre programmes. The school is a member of Conservatoires UK, the European Association of Conservatoires and the Federation of Drama Schools. It also has formed a creative alliance with its neighbours, the Barbican Centre and the London Symphony Orchestra. Notable alumni of the school include: Sir Bryn Terfel, Sir James Galway, Daniel Craig and Ewan McGregor.

History

1880–1977

The Guildhall School of Music first opened its doors on 27 September 1880, housed in a disused warehouse in the City of London. With 64 part-time students, it was the first municipal music college in Great Britain. The school quickly outgrew its first home, however, and in 1887 it moved to new premises in John Carpenter Street in a complex of educational buildings built by the Corporation of London to house it and the City's two state schools.

The new building was completed by 9 December 1886 and the Lord Mayor of London, Sir Reginald Hanson, attended the opening ceremony. Teaching continued under the first principal of the school, Thomas Henry Weist Hill, who eventually had some ninety teaching staff.

Guildhall's Silk Street building from inside the Barbican Estate

The new site, designed by the architect Sir Horace Jones, comprised a common room for professors and 45 studios, each surrounded by a one-foot thick layer of concrete to "deaden the sound". Each room contained both a grand piano and an upright piano. Additionally, there was an organ room and a "practice" room, in reality a small concert hall which was used for orchestral and choir rehearsals. The practice room was also the venue for the fortnightly school concerts

Initially, all tuition was on a part-time basis, but full-time courses were introduced to meet demand in 1920. Departments of speech, voice, and acting were added, and by 1935 the school had added "and Drama" to its title.

1977–2005

The school moved to its present premises in the heart of the City of London's Barbican Centre in 1977 and continues to be owned, funded and administered by the City of London.

In 1993 the Corporation of London leased a nearby courtyard of buildings that in the 18th century had been the centre of Samuel Whitbread's first brewery, and renovated and converted this to provide the school with its hall of residence, Sundial Court.[8] About three minutes' walk from the school, Sundial Court offers self-catering single-room accommodation for 178 students.

In 2001 the Secretary of State, Baroness Blackstone, announced that the Barbican Centre, including the Guildhall School, was to be Grade II listed.

2005-present
Guildhall's Milton Court building from outside

In 2005 the school was awarded the Queen's Anniversary Prize for its development and outreach programme, Guildhall Connect,[9] and in 2007 it won a further Queen's Anniversary Prize in recognition of the work of the opera programme over the last two decades. The school was rated No. 1 specialist institution in the UK in the Guardian University Guide 2013 and 2014.[10]

The most significant investment in the Guildhall School's future came to fruition via the £90 million redevelopment of the neighbouring Milton Court site. The new building, which opened in 2013, houses three new performance spaces: a concert hall (608 seats), a theatre (223 seats) and a studio theatre (up to 128 seats) in addition to drama teaching and administration spaces.[11]

The school offers both undergraduate and graduate degree programs[12] as well as the Junior Guildhall, a Saturday school serving students from 4 to 18 years of age.[13] The school was awarded a further Queen's Anniversary Prize in 2007 in recognition of the achievements and work of the Opera Programme.[14]

In August 2014, the Guildhall had a logo change to a more minimalist modern style. It was changed due to the school thinking that it needed something to reflect its types of teachings.

Programmes

The Guildhall School was awarded taught-degree awarding powers in 2014 by the Privy Council. Doctoral degrees are validated by City, University of London.

Music

The Guildhall offers a four-year undergraduate program for musicians along with the Guildhall Artist Masters in performance or composition and the highly advanced Artist Diploma programme. Students can specialise in classical or jazz performance (either as an instrumentalist or vocalist), composition, historical performance and electronic music. At master's level, vocal students are able to specialise in Opera Studies. In addition to this, the school offers postgraduate degrees in opera writing (in association with The Royal Opera) and in music therapy.[15]

Drama

Guildhall School offers a three-year BA Honours in Acting and the MA in Acting preparing students for the world of professional theatre. The School also delivers the BA Honours in Acting Studies in partnership with the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing. A full time, four-year programme with two years of training at each institution, the BA Honours in Acting Studies takes in a cohort of students every other year, exploring cross-cultural approaches acting.[16]

Production Arts

The School also offers a three-year vocational degree in production arts where students can specialise in either Stage Management, Costume, Theatre Technology or Design Realisation.

Youth Learning

Guildhall School offers a Saturday school for advanced young musicians under the age of 18. In addition to this, the school the UK's largest provider of music education to under 18s by incorporating the Centre for Young Musicians (CYM) and creating new music "hubs" in Norfolk and Somerset; the school achieved recognition for Guildhall's music outreach and opera programmes through two Queen's Anniversary Prizes (2005 and 2007).

Admission

Admission to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama is by a highly competitive audition. The School holds auditions for their music programmes in London, New York, Hong Kong, Seoul, Taipei and Tokyo and from 2021 drama auditions will be held in cities across the UK (including London, Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Leeds and Nottingham) along with international auditions in New York.[17]

In the year 2018/19, the school had 2610 applications and awarded offers to only 10% of the applicants,[18] giving it one of the lowest acceptance rates for any U.K. higher education institution. Unlike other UK conservatoires, Guildhall operates a separate applications procedure and applications are made directly to the school, as opposed to through UCAS Conservatoires.

Facilities
Inside Milton Court Concert Hall

The Guildhall School is equipped with state of the art performance facilities. The Milton Court Concert Hall is a 608 seat professional concert venue, with the largest audience capacity of any of the London conservatoires.[19] The school works in association with the Barbican Centre to stage public performances from world-renowned ensembles, such as the Academy of Ancient Music and Britten Sinfonia within Milton Court. In addition to Guildhall's flagship concert hall, the Milton Court building also contains a 223 seat proscenium arch theatre, a flexible 128 seat studio theatre and several rehearsal rooms. The school's Grade II listed Silk Street building houses a 308 seat drama and opera theatre, along with a second smaller concert hall, a recital room, theatrical workshops and labs, electronic music studios, recording and sound studios, and over 40 teaching and practice rooms. The school also own the John Hosier Annexe: a nearby building with a further 44 teaching and practice rooms. The Guildhall School library (located within the Silk Street building) houses one of the most extensive specialised collections of music and drama print in Europe.[20]

Furthermore, the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra and Chorus perform regularly in the neighbouring 1,943 seat Barbican Hall, whilst chamber musicians give recitals there as part of the acclaimed LSO Platforms: Guildhall Artists series.

Alumni

Music

Some distinguished alumni of Guildhall School's music department include:

Singers

Instrumentalists

Composers

Conductors

Jazz Musicians

Musicologists


Gold Medal of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama; list of winners of the Gold Medal

Drama

Some notable alumni of Guildhall School's drama department include:

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References
  1. https://www.gsmd.ac.uk/about_the_school/staff/senior_staff
  2. "Guildhall School of Music & Drama - Lynne Williams". www.gsmd.ac.uk. Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Archived from the original on 18 April 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  3. "Where do HE students study?". Higher Education Statistics Agency. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  4. "Technical Theatre Arts". GUILDHALL SCHOOL. Archived from the original on 21 September 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  5. https://www.gsmd.ac.uk/about_the_school
  6. https://www.theguardian.com/education/ng-interactive/2018/may/29/university-league-tables-2019
  7. https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/university-subject-rankings/2020/performing-arts
  8. "Sundial Court Summer Lettings". GUILDHALL SCHOOL. Archived from the original on 21 September 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  9. Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK Branch). 2018-06-30. URL:http://civicroleartsinquiry.gulbenkian.org.uk/panel/sean-gregory. Accessed: 2018-06-30. (Archived by WebCite® at https://www.webcitation.org/70ZTJlpMk)
  10. "University guide 2014: Specialist institutions league table". The Guardian. 3 June 2013. Archived from the original on 21 September 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  11. "Guildhall School of Music & Drama - History". Archived from the original on 2015-01-13.
  12. Guildhall School of Music & Drama: Prospectus 2010 Archived 2009-11-28 at the Wayback Machine
  13. "Junior Guildhall Prospectus 2010" Archived 2011-06-01 at the Wayback Machine. Guildhall School of Music & Drama. 2010. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
  14. Guildhall School of Music & Drama: Guildhall School Opera Programme wins the Queen's Anniversary Prize 2007
  15. Guildhall School of Music & Drama: Prospectus 2010
  16. https://www.gsmd.ac.uk/drama/programmes
  17. https://www.gsmd.ac.uk/about_the_school/news/view/article/guildhall_school_of_music_drama_announces_overhaul_of_auditions_for_acting_programmes/
  18. https://www.gsmd.ac.uk/about_the_school/about_us/corporate_documentation
  19. https://www.gsmd.ac.uk/about_the_school/milton_court/performance_venues/concert_hall
  20. https://www.gsmd.ac.uk/about_the_school/shared_left_nav/life_at_the_school/
  21. "'Downton' in Midtown: A Cup of Tea With 'Downton Abbey' Star Lesley Nicol - Playbill". Playbill. Archived from the original on 2017-01-08.

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