Guildhall School of Music and Drama is an independent music and
dramatic arts schoolA drama school is a higher education college which specialises in the vocational teaching of drama . Students at such a college are normally awarded a Bachelor of Arts Degree at the end of their studies....
which was founded in 1880 in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Students can pursue courses in Music, Opera, Drama, Stage Management and Technical Theatre
History
The first Guildhall School was housed in an old warehouse in Aldermanbury, but these premises soon proved too small. A new purpose-built building in John Carpenter Street was designed by City
ArchitectAn architect is trained and licensed in planning and designing buildings, and participates in supervising the construction of a building. Etymologically, architect derives from the Latin architectus, itself derived from the Greek arkhitekton , i.e. chief builder...
Sir Horace Jones, built by
John Mowlem & CoMowlem was one of the largest construction and civil engineering companies in the United Kingdom. Carillion bought the firm in 2006.-History:...
and opened in December 1886. It is owned and funded by the Corporation of London and takes its name from the Corporation's historic headquarters at the
GuildhallThe Guildhall is a building in the City of London, off Gresham Street and Basinghall Street, in the wards of Bassishaw and Cheap. It has been used as a town hall for several hundred years, and is still the ceremonial and administrative centre of the City of London and its Corporation...
, though it was never based there. Before 1935 it was known as the
Guildhall School of Music. Since 1977 it has been next to the Barbican Arts Centre in the Barbican Complex built in the 1960s–70s.
Present day
The school has a Junior Department and its outreach activities won the
Queen's Anniversary PrizeThe Queen's Anniversary Prizes for Higher and Further Education is a biennially awarded series of prizes awarded to Universities and Colleges in the further and higher education sectors within the United Kingdom. Uniquely it forms part of the British honours system, to date rounds have occurred in...
in 2005. The school was awarded a consecutive
Queen's Anniversary PrizeThe Queen's Anniversary Prizes for Higher and Further Education is a biennially awarded series of prizes awarded to Universities and Colleges in the further and higher education sectors within the United Kingdom. Uniquely it forms part of the British honours system, to date rounds have occurred in...
in 2007 in recognition of the outstanding achievements and work of the Opera Programme.
The School's performance facilities include a 308-seat drama and opera theatre, concert hall, lecture / recital hall and a small studio theatre. In addition, students of the school regularly perform in other London theatres, including the
Barbican CentreBarbican Centre is the largest performing arts centre in Europe. Located in the north of the City of London, England, in the heart of the Barbican Estate, the Centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibitions. It also houses a library,...
, the Bridewell Theatre (off Fleet Street), the Soho Theatre, the Swan (Stratford) and the Royal Court.
Future
In 2008 work began to redevelop the Milton Court complex, which is near to the school's main building and part of which has been used by the school for several years. The new 48-floor building, funded by the
City of LondonThe City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
and built by Heron International, will house a 650-seat concert hall, a 220-seat theatre and a 90-seat studio theatre, as well as studios for television, radio, teaching, rehearsal, office and support services. The school’s extension is estimated to cost around £40million and the
City of LondonThe City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
hopes that the return from additional development on the site – a slim, residential tower above the school’s complex - should substantially contribute to this cost. The initial building costs for the entire scheme are estimated to be approximately £100m.
Notable staff
- John Holgate
- Daniel Roberts
- Rowland Hill
- Edmund Rubbra
Edmund Rubbra was a British composer. He composed both instrumental and vocal works for soloists, chamber groups and full choruses and orchestras. He was highly respected by fellow musicians and was at the peak of his public popularity in the mid-20th century. The most famous of his works are his...
composer
- Rex Walters
- Dorothy Dayas
- Ambrose Marriot
- Rhona Laurie
- Cimbro Martin
- Yfrah Neaman
Yfrah Neaman OBE was a violinist and an eminent pedagogue.He was born in Sidon,Lebanon to Jewish parents from Palestine...
- Max Rostal
Max Rostal was a violinist. He was Austrian-born, but later took British citizenship.He was born in Cieszyn and studied with Carl Flesch. From 1930-33 he taught at the Berlin Hochschule, from 1944 to 1958 at the Guildhall School of Music, and then at the Musikhochschule Köln and the Conservatory...
violinThe violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello....
violaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.The casual observer may mistake the viola for the violin because of their similarity in size, closeness in pitch range , and nearly identical playing position...
- Norman Del Mar
Norman Del Mar CBE was a British conductor and biographer.Born in Hampstead, London, he is best remembered for his recordings of British music, in particular Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Delius, and Britten...
- William Pleeth
William Pleeth was a British cellist and an eminent teacher of the cello. He is probably best known as the teacher of Jacqueline du Pré....
celloThe cello is a bowed string instrument. The word derives from the Italian violoncello. A person who plays a cello is called a cellist. The cello is used as a solo instrument, in chamber music, and as a member of the string section of an orchestra...
- Leonard Stehn cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument. The word derives from the Italian violoncello. A person who plays a cello is called a cellist. The cello is used as a solo instrument, in chamber music, and as a member of the string section of an orchestra...
- John Hosier
John Hosier CBE, was a musical educator. He was born with stunted fingers so was unable to play a musical instrument himself, but nonetheless he devoted his life to music and music education...
(Principal 1978-89)
- Thea King
Dame Thea King DBE FRCM FGSM was a British clarinettist.Thea King was born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. She was the daughter of Henry Walter Mayer King, the manager of a family engineering business, George. W. King Ltd., which was based in Hitchin then Stevenage, Hertfordshire, and his wife, Dorothea...
clarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet...
- Vilém Tauský
Vilém Tauský CBE was a Czech conductor and composer. His family was musical: his Viennese mother had sung Mozart at the Vienna State Opera under Gustav Mahler, and his uncle was the operetta composer Leo Fall.Tauský studied with Leoš Janáček and later became a repetiteur at the Brno Opera...
conductorConductor or conduction may refer to:* Conductor , a traditional name for a downspout* Conductor , a senior Warrant Officer appointment in the Royal Logistic Corps and its predecessors...
- Richard Baker
Richard Baker is a British composer and conductor, known equally for his own highly charged and distinctive music and for his performances of contemporary music, especially the music of his contemporaries in the UK.-Life:...
- Jeffery Wilson (Composer)
- Paul Newland
Paul Newland is a British composer of contemporary classical music. He has won numerous prizes, including the RPS Composition Prize 1990, a Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award in 1993, and in 1995 he was awarded the Royal Academy of Music's Josiah Parker Prize by György Ligeti...
- Neil Black
Neil Black OBE is an internationally known oboist and a professor at London's Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Starting on the oboe at age 11, Black did not initially consider music as a career. He attended Oxford University and earned a degree in History. Three years after finishing at Oxford,...
oboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois", "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
- Nelly Ben-Or
Nelly Nechama Ben-Or, also known as Nelly Ben-Or Clynes, was born in 1933 in Lwow in Poland. She is an international concert pianist and a Professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where she has taught the piano and the Alexander Technique since 1975. She is also a Holocaust...
- Tony Church
- Don Rendell
Donald Percy 'Don' Rendell is an English jazz musician and arranger, specialising on tenor saxophone, but also playing soprano saxophone, flute, and clarinet....
- Patsy Rodenburg
- Graham Johnson
Graham Johnson is a Rhodesian born, British based pianist and Lieder accompanist.His achievements include accompanying a wide array of singers in a complete recorded edition of Franz Schubert's Lieder, recorded for Hyperion Records, called The Hyperion Schubert Edition...
- Sarah Walker
- Yvonne Kenny
Yvonne Kenny is an Australian soprano, particularly associated with Handel and Mozart roles.Born in Sydney, New South Wales, she first studied at the...
opera singer
- Harry Gregson-Williams
Harry Gregson-Williams is a Golden Globe- and Grammy-nominated British film score composer, orchestrator, conductor, and music producer.-Biography:...
- Harry Danks viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.The casual observer may mistake the viola for the violin because of their similarity in size, closeness in pitch range , and nearly identical playing position...
- Nannie Jamieson viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.The casual observer may mistake the viola for the violin because of their similarity in size, closeness in pitch range , and nearly identical playing position...
- Harold Harriott viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.The casual observer may mistake the viola for the violin because of their similarity in size, closeness in pitch range , and nearly identical playing position...
- Jack Glickman violin
The violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello....
violaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.The casual observer may mistake the viola for the violin because of their similarity in size, closeness in pitch range , and nearly identical playing position...
- Eli Goren violin
The violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello....
- David Takeno violin
The violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello....
violaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.The casual observer may mistake the viola for the violin because of their similarity in size, closeness in pitch range , and nearly identical playing position...
Trinity Guildhall
In 2004, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama's external examinations department merged with the performing arts examinations division of
Trinity College LondonTrinity College London is an external examinations board for English language learners and teachers, music, drama, Arts Award and KeyStage 2. Trinity College London offers qualifications across a range of disciplines in the performing arts and arts education and English language learning and...
to form
Trinity Guildhall Examinations. Today, Trinity Guildhall offers qualifications in performing and teaching in areas such as music, speech and drama, and
danceDance is a sport and art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
to external students.
External links