guildhall school news spring/summer 2014

Michelle DockeryOn Guildhall, Downton and making the right decision

newsGUILDHALL SCHOOL

Spring/Summer 2014

p4 Silk Street makeover

p19 Guildhall Creative Entrepreneurs

p6 New Masters programmes in opera and theatre making

2 GUILDHALL SCHOOL NEWS • SPRING / SUMMER 2014

Summer events highlights at the Guildhall School include…• The Opera Course makes its Milton Court debut in a double bill of

Arne’s The Cooper and San Giovanni Battista by Stradella

• Final year actors appear in productions of Napoli Milionaria and Grand Hotel – the end of year musical

• The Gold Medal – the School’s most prestigious prize for musicians, this year featuring instrumentalists Rose Hsien, Max Mausen and Michael Petrov

• Alumni Recital Series: Toby Spence and Julian Milford take to the stage of Milton Court Concert Hall in support of the School’s Scholarships Fund

• Diego Masson conducts the Guildhall New Music Ensemble and Guildhall Sinfonia in Messiaen’s landmark Des canyons aux étoiles

• Faculty Artist Series: professors from the Vocal Studies, Strings and Keyboard departments perform chamber works by Mozart, Barber and Elgar in Milton Court

• Guildhall Wigmore Recital Prize – Welsh tenor Joshua Owen Mills gives his winner’s recital in London’s renowned Wigmore Hall

• Our second-ever Technical Theatre Arts Graduate Exhibition, this year in Milton Court Studio Theatre

• Senior Guildhall chamber musicians showcased in five Guildhall Artists at the Barbican concerts, and fifteen lunchtime concerts in the City of London Festival

More information and how to book:

www.gsmd.ac.uk/events

3GUILDHALL SCHOOL NEWS • SPRING / SUMMER 2014

EditorialContents

Welcome to the Spring/Summer 2014 edition of Guildhall School News

So, Milton Court is finally open and, given the incredible response it got in the press and on social media, you could be forgiven for thinking that was all of our news – but we have so much more to tell you about.

Much of the Drama Division has moved in to Milton Court, freeing up space in Silk Street which has been converted into a range of new facilities including dedicated spaces for Bass, Harp, reed-making and chamber music, and a theatre technology lab in the old studio theatre.

The School has two new Masters programmes starting in September: MA in Collaborative Theatre Production and Design and MA in Opera Making & Writing. Our MA in Training Actors has become a full-time two year course and we have launched a new scheme to support entrepreneurial alumni and staff.

Guildhall students have showcased their talents at the Lord Mayor’s Parade, in rural France and Romanian orphanages as well as in the BBC Young Musician competition; and students and researchers from the School have worked with Cambridge University and Imperial College London to explore how musicians find their creative voice and the benefits of improvisation for classical musicians.

All this and more, so read on!…

With best wishes,

Rachel Dyson Editor

FEATURES

4 Milton Court opens Highlights from our opening night

5 A Space Odyssey Improvements to the Silk Street building

10 Training the trainers The inside track on our MA in Training Actors

16 Michelle Dockery “Whatever you decide, it’s always the right decision”

19 Guildhall Creative Entrepreneurs

NEWS

6 New Masters programmes In opera making & writing and collaborative theatre production and design

8 Award-winning professors

12 Junior Guildhall News

20 Research How musicians find their creative voice

ALUMNI COMMUNITY

22 Alumni News Alumni return to play in our new concert hall and support the Scholarships Fund

24 Over To You Written by and for alumni

27 Alumni Events Diary

27 Class Notes Alumni updates

30 In Memoriam

Editorial Group

Rachel Dyson (Editor), Alumni Relations Manager

Jo Hutchinson, Head of Marketing & Communications

Duncan Barker, Head of Development

Rosanna Chianta, Marketing & Communications Officer

Richard Grosse, Full Cycle

Contact: [email protected] If you have an item that you would like us to consider for a future edition, please email your submission with any accompanying images to [email protected].

The Guildhall School of Music & Drama is

provided by the City of London Corporation

3

WHAT THE PRESS SAID“ The Guildhall School of Music & Drama has acquired the sort of facilities that catapult it into the ranks of the world’s best-equipped arts conservatoires... Oh to be a student again.”The Times

“ For the [Guildhall School] and its students, Milton Court is already a winner; if its potential is realised, a much bigger London public will have reason to celebrate as well.”The Guardian

“ Make no mistake, in Milton Court London has a hall to rival the finest anywhere in the world.”BBC Music Magazine

“ Guildhall Symphony Orchestra played a blinder (students as professionals) with expressive, alert, deft and rambunctious execution.”Classical Source

“ I’d attended the opening concert in the concert hall and was keen also to experience one of the two theatre spaces. And I wasn’t disappointed. A company of 12 final year students, directed by Christian Burgess, gave us a commendable account of The Seagull.” The Stage

FEATURES

The Guildhall School’s new building officially opened its doors on 26 September 2013.

Celebrations began with Edward Gardner conducting the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra in the world premiere of Come Forth to Play by Head of Composition Julian Philips, a piece scored for two antiphonal brass choirs, organ and percussion, which celebrated the acoustic properties of the Concert Hall. Alumni Sally Matthews and Alison Balsom joined the orchestra for concert arias by Mozart and Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto, before Elgar’s colourful homage to London life, the Cockaigne Overture, brought the concert to a fitting conclusion. Following the plaque unveiling by The Rt Hon the Lord Mayor Alderman Roger Gifford, guests were free to explore behind the scenes and see Milton Court come to life with performances, rehearsals and classes with Guildhall students and tutors taking place across six floors.

The first public event in the Milton Court Concert Hall took place on 4 October 2013, with James Gaffigan conducting the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra & Chorus in a thrilling performance of one of the most famous works of classical music ever written, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, with alumni soloists Katherine Broderick, Cátia Moreso, Timothy Robinson and David Stout.

Third-year actors raised the curtains in the new theatres with a Chekhov double bill: The Seagull, directed by Director of Drama Christian Burgess in the intimate Studio Theatre, and The Three Sisters directed by Director of Acting Wyn Jones in the proscenium-arch Milton Court Theatre.

Milton Court opens!Opening concert in Milton Court Concert Hall

Actors in the Gym

Jazz on Floor -2

Technical Theatre display in Milton Court Studio Theatre

For more information about Milton Court and its benefits for the School, read our Autumn/Winter 2013 edition online at www.gsmd.ac.uk/guildhallschoolnews

GUILDHALL SCHOOL NEWS • SPRING / SUMMER 20144

FEATURES

Renovated spaces for Music and Technical Theatre students provide over 40,000 additional available teaching hours

Milton Court has allowed much of the School’s drama and technical theatre teaching to decamp across the road. With their departure a new set of spaces has opened up for our Music Department – the School’s contractors started work on renovating these newly-available spaces even before they had finished putting the final touches to Milton Court. The clouds of dust and paint fumes almost a distant memory, music students now have access to new dedicated Bass and Harp rooms, with special double bass lockers for our bass players. Five new large movement, teaching and performance spaces have been created, in addition to two new large academic teaching spaces, and five new teaching, chamber music and practice rooms – not to mention a dedicated reed-making room. Hand in hand with Milton Court, these additional spaces give Guildhall School musicians over 40,000 additional hours of teaching and practice over the academic year.

Jonathan Vaughan, Director of Music comments: “the redevelopment of rooms in the Silk Street building has been enormously beneficial to the Music Department. They are light, airy (with high ceilings) and beautifully redecorated. The extra-large spaces that we have acquired for chamber music rehearsal are significant and will further enable the many hours of chamber music coaching that our students receive in addition to their Principal Study tuition. It has also enabled us to house more quality rehearsal time for the newly-formed New Music Ensemble. Having dedicated rooms for the large instrument families of harp, double bass and percussion as well as separate storage for basses is also a wonder to behold.”

Changes have also been made in the Silk Street building to provide further training space for Technical Theatre students. The old Studio Theatre is now a dedicated theatre technology lab, fully equipped for teaching lighting, sound and video skills. Theatre Technology students also have access to a new video and sound design suite in the basement, situated next door to the existing editing suite so that designed work can be taken directly to editing and from there into the lab. Meanwhile Design Realisation students have gained a new studio with a spacious teaching room for first years.

Ben Sumner, Director of Technical Theatre, comments: “It’s easy to be blinded by the glorious facilities in Milton Court, but the spaces that have been liberated in Silk Street are every bit as significant for our students. Whilst it’s obviously wonderful for our senior students to work in the new venues, it’s equally important for the first years to have dedicated teaching spaces and these new rooms have an enormous impact on our students’ learning. For the first time students can set up large scale project work without having to work to a time scale fixed by the next production, and already the effect on both students and staff is tangible. Proof that what goes on behind the scenes is every bit as important as what’s happening on stage!”

A Space Odyssey New facilities open in the Silk Street building

Teaching in the new Harp Room



School News

New Masters programmes in opera and theatre making for 2014

Both programmes commence in September 2014. For further information visit www.gsmd.ac.uk

Technical Theatre undergraduate courses have been taught at the Guildhall School for almost 40 years, and have seen some world-renowned alumni pass through the doors: from Olivier Award-nominated lighting designer Neil Austin, to CEO of Shakespeare’s Globe Neil Constable and Mamma Mia! producer Judy Craymer MBE. Now, the stage is set for the Technical Theatre Department’s expansion into postgraduate education with the introduction of a new MA in Collaborative Theatre Production and Design.

This new programme, subject to validation, is aimed at early career theatre practitioners who already have strong portfolios and are interested in developing their collaborative skills with other artists to create original and innovative work. By working in creative teams during the course, it is hoped that students will form strong professional partnerships that will flourish and mature long into the future. Ben Sumner, Director of Technical Theatre, tells us more: “The School has a strong collaborative ethic, creating outstanding productions to demonstrate the work of its Opera, Acting and Technical Theatre programmes. Now we’ve established a programme at the postgraduate level to nurture creative teams that can respond to stimuli both from within the School’s existing programmes and from outside the School, for example in the context of circus, dance and education.”

It is intended that students joining the course will come from a broad range of backgrounds, benefiting from networks within the programme, across the School and from the pool of professional performers, directors, designers and production managers who regularly interact with the School – creating working partnerships with the potential to continue after graduation.

The School has also launched a new MA in Opera Making & Writing for composers and writers who wish to focus exclusively on how new opera is created, developed and performed. A one-year course, it will centre on the completion of a chamber operatic work of around 25 minutes in length, which will be rehearsed, produced and given its premiere by the School’s award-winning Opera Department in the new Milton Court Studio Theatre.

The course is part of an exciting new partnership between the Guildhall School and the Royal Opera House, combining an invaluable opportunity to acquire first-hand experience of the day-to-day workings of the Royal Opera House with individually tailored one-to-one tuition from the School’s Writer-in-Residence or from a member of the School’s world-class Composition Department. Through mentoring and observation, it is hoped students will gain valuable insight and knowledge into how to work successfully in opera with conductors and directors, singers and instrumentalists, designers and stage managers.

Dr Julian Philips, Head of Composition, comments: “I am thrilled we have such a unique and exciting opportunity to work with the Royal Opera House and to combine the expertise of a conservatoire and opera house to help support composers in the creation of new operatic work. The new Masters programme will offer young composers and writers their first immersive experience in the creation of contemporary opera and I am immensely excited to be able to search out and support new creative talent in such an innovative way.”

7GUILDHALL SCHOOL NEWS • SPRING / SUMMER 2014 7

School News

Technical Theatre students in The Lord Mayor’s ParadeLast autumn the City of London Recycling and Clean City Awards Officer, Karen Marks, approached the Technical Theatre Department to see if they could create some recycled costumes to support their walking float for the Lord Mayor’s Show on Saturday 9 November.

The First Year Costume Management Students were keen to be involved and worked in two groups to fulfil their brief: to create stunning costumes from recycled materials that could survive a three-mile walk in wind and rain, with no budget, little time and a few staplers!

The brave but willing models came from the City’s Recycling Team who visited the new Costume Workshop in Milton Court for a brief fitting of underclothes recycled from the Guildhall School’s own Costume

Store, as well as huge skirt cages made from sprung steel, donated by the National Theatre’s Costume Hire Department.

The first year students had just three hours to create headwear from hard hats donated by the Technical Theatre team and jackets from discarded fluorescent vests. They used corks saved from the recent Graduation Reception at the Guildhall, many bottle tops from The Basement, lovingly smoothed sweet wrappers, and many assorted plastic carrier bags, all woven through orange plastic fencing material provided by the City.

Two students, Thomas Jackson and Daniel Reed, bravely volunteered to escort the costumes on their long and wet march and were kitted out in uniforms from the City of London Corporation’s walking parade team. Backed by a five-metre high purple robot built from wheelie bins, their costumes provided the banner holders, Karen and Diane, with colourful, rain-proof examples of ingenious and creative costume recycling.

v Annie Crawford Costume Supervisor/

Lecturer


School News

Simon Wills wins award for his operaSimon Wills has been awarded the Jonge Ohren prize for his children’s opera Du bist da, du bist fort.

Simon writes of his opera,

“The irony is, I took it on

reluctantly because I thought myself too tired to

write another stage work immediately after The

Stolen Smells. In a very short space of time it

turned into a labour of love. I was tempted across

the sea to Düsseldorf because Annette Bieker’s

libretto was one of the best bits of writing for

music theatre that I’ve ever seen.”

Peter Gane receives Outstanding Contribution Award

Guildhall professor and former Head of the Wind, Brass & Percussion Department Peter Gane has been awarded the British Trombone Society’s 2012-2013 Outstanding Contribution Award.

It represents recognition by Peter’s colleagues and peers of his outstanding contribution to the trombone and its development, and for his dedication to education.

Current Head of Wind, Brass & Percussion Richard Benjafield said, “the Outstanding Contribution award shows how highly Peter is regarded by his colleagues in the trombone world. A passionate advocate and ambassador for the instrument in education, Peter’s teaching has inspired generations of players. He has enabled so many students to find success in their professional careers, and he continues to inspire the next generations of students and players with his teaching and his influence.”

Eric Crees wins the Neil Humfeld AwardEric Crees, Professor of Trombone, has been awarded the 2014 Neil Humfeld Award for Excellence in Trombone Teaching.

The award was voted for by fellow trombonists in the trombone community, past presidents and advisors of the International Trombone Association and is presented at the British Trombone Society’s National Trombone Day.

Last year, Eric completed a project of bringing the music of Paul Gilson to public attention with the release of La Fanfare Wagnerienne, performed by Guildhall brass and percussion

students, on CD. In The Brass Herald, Jonathan Rees wrote: “Musically this is such an important piece to have brought to life. I feel that all serious students of brass music should add this to their libraries… This is a real ‘missing link’ in the evolution of brass music.”

Simon Fischer wins ESTA Award

Just as we were going to press it was announced that the European String Teachers’ Association has awarded Simon Fischer, Professor of Violin, the 2014 ESTA Award. The

ESTA council voted unanimously to give this year’s award to Simon “in celebration of a lifetime contribution to string teaching.”

La Fanfare Wagnérienne (The Extraordinary Lost Collection of Paul Gilson)

Guildhall BrassEric Crees

9GUILDHALL SCHOOL NEWS • SPRING / SUMMER 2014 9

School News

The ancient stone walls of the medieval village of Combret sur Rance in the hills of ‘France profonde’ – two hours from Toulouse but several light years from the high-tech 21st century – rang in August to outstanding sounds from the Guildhall jazz course.

Six second-year jazz students: Will Burcher (bass), Matt Davies (saxophone), Bryan Crook (piano), James Pritchard (drums), Ben Cox (vocals) , Will Arnold-Forster (guitar), dubbed appropriately ‘Les Six’ were hosted by l’Association Musicale de Combret sur Rance at a week-long residency culminating in a weekend of excellent music-making.

Fresh from the success of his a-capella vocal group ‘VIVE’ – winner of the Vocal Festival UK Award 2013 – Ben Cox headed a varied line-up in excellent renderings of popular Broadway standards and jazz ‘greats’. Homage was paid to the late Dave Brubeck, and audiences were delighted by the inclusion in their programmes of the two French songs Je suis seule ce soir and La mer.

Under the stewardship of Pat and Peter Gane and the music-lovers of the region, Les Six played to standing ovations in the beautiful Romanesque church and the medieval stone market hall of Combret. Bravo for such lovely playing, camaraderie and joie de vivre. Les Six were impressive, taking full advantage of this ‘time out’ in a rather magical spot. In line with the aims of the Association the group grew in musical stature over the week, with chances to work together away from the demands of London student life.

They are to be congratulated on their open and engaging attitude. It was heartening to see them jamming with a young fan of eight years old, Dimitri, an ambitious young French drum player….James was a real star here!

The French Press congratulated them on this ‘Grand fête de la musique…..’

v Patricia M. Gane, President, l’Association Musicale de Combret sur Rance

Guildhall jazz hits rural France


Training the trainers“It’s the only course of its kind in the world” says Patsy Rodenburg, Head of Voice at the Guildhall School. She’s talking about the MA in Training Actors programme, which, since 2001, has recruited a small cohort of students committed to training the next generation of professional actors. “It’s a very in-depth learning, not only in terms of the practical skills they need, but the language skills they need in order to coach at a very high level.”

The programme, which previously operated on a part-time basis but from September 2014 will be a two-year, full-time course, draws on a long tradition of actor training in the UK and abroad, with students specialising in either Voice or Movement. It’s led by leading practitioners Patsy Rodenburg (Head of Voice) and Wendy Allnutt (Head of Movement) in association with professional theatre companies and leading drama schools. “The reason Wendy and I set up the course is that there’s a huge body of knowledge we’ve been given, and if it’s not passed on it’ll die. We’re very conscious of that,” explains Patsy.

As well as working closely with Guildhall actors, in the final term MA students undertake a professional placement – this has included work at the Royal Opera House with Wayne

McGregor, Watford Palace Theatre, Chicken Shed, RADA, Stratford Shakespeare Festival Theatre Canada, and the National Theatre’s production of War Horse.

Keeping numbers low is crucial to enable each student to develop their knowledge and skills under close guidance. “It’s more a pupillage, because it’s a small cohort, so they get a huge amount of attention, and there’s time to answer all their questions. Because of this we’re able to work towards the strengths of each individual,” explains Wendy.

Florencia Cordeu is in her first year of study. “Because there are only two of us on the Movement pathway, special attention is given to our personal development. The work is mainly practical, which I believe is essential as it gives you the chance to learn by experience. We join the first-year Acting students in movement lessons, giving us the time to write down notes and observe the students’ development

as well as our own. We therefore have a chance to understand the exercises and mechanics first in our own bodies before we attempt to teach them. It’s teaching me to see, to observe, and to understand where tensions and bad habits in the body are; what it means to be effortless on stage.”

Tom Morrison studied Acting at the Guildhall School, and is now on the MA in Training Actors Voice pathway. So what attracted him to the MA? “I have always held Guildhall dear to my heart, and like many actors the pursuit of professional and creative excellence both in my own work and in other people’s acting is an ongoing and continuous one, therefore the MA felt like a very natural and organic step in my career. I couldn’t think of anywhere better to train as a potential voice coach or teacher. Guildhall is a world I understand, and the teaching staff have always been a source of inspiration and support for me.”

Features

Patsy Rodenburg (right)

MA student teaches Movement


“Every day is different,” says Florencia. “A typical day on the Voice pathway doesn’t really exist,” echoes Tom. “The range and breadth of the work means that every day is different to the last with new challenges of its own. A day could range from pure voice work with the first years in the morning, and then dialect, phonetics, poetry, text or Shakespeare work in the afternoon. I have never really appreciated what people meant by ‘there aren’t enough hours in day’ until I began this training. Balancing work at Guildhall and my outside work as an actor in order to continue to earn money to live is a constant challenge – but an exciting and educational challenge.”

What plans do Florencia and Tom have for their future careers? “I would love to teach and pass on the vast amount of information and work I am learning here to others,” says Florencia. “I can see myself applying this work on every new production I am involved in, whether as an actor or movement director.”

“To work, quite simply,” answers Tom. “Most actors know how it feels to be in possession of a range of skills and techniques and be denied the opportunity to apply these. To receive an education like this and not use it does a huge disservice to the work.”

If previous graduates are anything to go by, the future looks bright. “They’ve

all got work,” says Patsy, “and they’re all coaching in theatre – in America, Canada, and one recent graduate has just gone to the Royal Shakespeare Company. So we’re beginning to have an impact.”

www.gsmd.ac.uk/trainingactors

Wendy Allnutt (centre)

MA student teaches Voice


School News

Junior Guildhall collaborative projectsThe theme of Junior Guildhall’s development work this year has focused on collaborations and partnerships.

Junior Guildhall has developed an exciting new partnership with Felsted School allowing talented musicians to study at both Felsted School and Junior Guildhall. The partnership also provides a new programme for beginners: the Junior Guildhall Training Programme at Felsted.

The String Training Programme was developed in response to the growing demand for expert training of very young children. Until now the programme has only run at the Guildhall School in London. From 2014 it will also be running at Felsted School on Saturdays providing the opportunity for local children to follow this outstanding course in the excellent facilities of Felsted School. The programme includes classes in Kodaly, Dalcroze Eurhythmics and Ensemble playing as well as individual tuition on violin, viola, cello and double bass with piano available as an extra study.

Junior Guildhall’s opening concert in Milton Court saw School-wide collaboration in action. The performance was of a work written by Derek Rodgers with libretto by Miriam Rodell called Masada. Completed in 1987, Masada is an oratorio in four parts depicting the story of the Jewish stronghold, the Roman attack and the final outcome on a remote mountain top between the Jordean mountains and the Dead Sea in the year 66. The text is based on Josephus’s account of the events and the production involved both

Junior Guildhall’s Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Choir joining with Junior Guildhall drama students who took on the role of the narrator. In addition members of the CYM Choir joined the Chorus and the soloists Natalie Johnson-Hyde, soprano and Elgan Thomas, tenor were senior school students. The performance made a dramatic impact in the new building.

We have an exciting collaboration with the National Youth Chamber Orchestra of Portugal this year. The programme OCPzero is sponsored by Linklaters and aims to enrich the student experience through international partnerships. The project will enable selected young musicians from Junior Guildhall to travel to Lisbon to perform with the Portuguese Chamber Orchestra and selected Portuguese students will travel to London to perform with the Junior Guildhall Symphony Orchestra. In addition members of staff from each institution will be giving masterclasses and taking rehearsals in a true spirit of exchange. The project is being led by Pedro Carneiro, former Guildhall School student and Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Portuguese Chamber Orchestra. The project culminates in a performance in Milton Court on Saturday 24 May.

v Alison Mears, Head of Junior Music Courses

Three Junior Guildhall students nominated for BBC Young MusicianThree Junior Guildhall instrumentalists were nominated for BBC Young Musician 2014, the UK’s leading contest for young classical musicians. Trombonist Isobel Daws and trumpet players Matilda Lloyd and William Thomas were Brass category finalists in the competition, which received over 450 entries from musicians aged 8-18 years old.

After an extensive audition process, judges announced five finalists in each category – Strings, Keyboard, Woodwind, Brass and Percussion – who performed in front of an audience and a panel of adjudicators on 3-7 March at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama for one of three coveted places in the semi-final. The Category Finals were also broadcast on BBC Four.

Since the competition’s first outing in 1978, BBC Young Musician has established an enviable reputation for finding outstanding new talent. Previous winners include Junior Guildhall alumni Thomas Adès and Alison Balsom.


School News

Students take shows to underprivileged children in Romania

Actors, singers, instrumentalists, composers and theatre technicians work together in self-started outreach project

The Wind-Up Penguin Theatre Company is a group of Guildhall School students from across all disciplines – singers, instrumentalists, composers, actors and theatre technicians – who come together to create children’s shows from scratch. The show is then taken abroad to be performed in orphanages, hospitals and under-privileged schools in countries of high child poverty. Nobody is left out – every participant sings, plays music and acts. So far the group have travelled to Romania twice: in December 2012 and 2013. The most recent trip saw three different shows performed a total of 15 times around Bucharest.

Founded by third year BMus classical singer Elisabeth Swedlund, the project is undertaken outside of term time. Whilst there is no academic credit for the students involved, bringing joy to those who have very little of their own is a major driver for the company.

Elisabeth explains, “it’s an incredible opportunity to work with other brilliant artists, get out of our comfort zone and act and sing, see the world in places where people aren’t as fortunate as we are, and perform for a purpose. For the children, we hope to inspire them, and bring them beautiful art to help them cope with their difficult lives.

“I’ve always wanted to set such a project up, but hadn’t met the right people yet. I’ve been working with children in ‘third-world’ countries every year since I was 14 – those experiences have always inspired me so much, and I feel like I have to give the opportunity to my Guildhall School friends to know these experiences, this inspiration.”

Jonathan Vaughan, Head of Music at the Guildhall School, comments: “we’re supporting the Wind-Up Penguin Company at the Guildhall School – essentially we have a group of highly motivated students who are really interested in charity work, they’ve already established themselves doing projects in Romania, working with orphanages and teenagers. It’s a company that works right across the board – drama, music and technical theatre students – producing really dazzling and colourful productions to entertain children throughout the world.”

“…an incredible opportunity to… see the world in places where people aren’t as fortunate as we are, and perform for a purpose”


School News

Creative Learning projects 2013/14

Creative Learning leads on projects across Barbican and Guildhall involving young people, students, graduates, artists and communities across East London.

The new Guildhall enterprise initiative called coLABorate offers a £1000 grant and performance space to current students for an experimental cross-arts production or event. This year there are five coLABorate productions. Musician Ricardo Gosalbo’s excellent production of Enoch Arden was performed in the Milton Court Studio Theatre at the beginning of January. Musician Liam Heath started filming his short film Nation Down in January and will be filming in various locations around the UK over the year. The remaining three projects led by musician Hunter Noack, technical theatre student Marie Egetoft and actor Alice Winslow will be performed in April at Milton Court and Guildhall School venues.

Dialogue 2014 is Creative Learning’s annual high profile event celebrating the talent, creativity and diversity of our students, the people of East London and the next generation of artists. Over a number of weeks, artists and musicians from Creative Learning alongside students from the MMus Leadership course and BMus elective groups worked with a variety of community groups based on the theme of Compass Rose.

This year through Dialogue, the students worked with over 20 community groups and ensembles. Projects included Leadership students and Barbican Young Poets working with women originally from Montserrat now living in East London and a song-writing project with The Arbour, a charity in Tower Hamlets for women who have migrated to the UK in the past year to join British-born husbands. Future Band – a creative ensemble for young people aged 8-16, and The Messengers – a band formed in collaboration with St Mungo’s charity for homeless people – worked with students to create new music as one whole ensemble.

Undergraduates on the Collaborative and Workshop skills elective created a new orchestra at Prior Weston Primary School, created artistic work with a class at Richard Cloudesley Special Needs School, and devised a promenade performance on Whitecross Street uncovering the stories of the people who work, live or have lived there through a series of musical portraits.

A new tumblr page has been created to house documentaries about the process of Creative Learning’s work with Leadership masters students which can be found at http://mmusleadership.tumblr.com/


School News

Collaboration between Guildhall musicians introduces children to Max RichterElectronic Music and Leadership students put on pop-up shows ahead of Richter’s world premiere

In January, musicians from the Guildhall School’s Electronic Music and Leadership courses worked with the Barbican and Guildhall’s joint Creative Learning team to introduce children to the music of Max Richter, ahead of his world premiere of Memoryhouse in the Barbican Hall. A series of six pop up performances took place in Hartley Primary School and Ranelagh Primary School in Newham, reaching nearly 200 children.

Led by Leadership graduate Jo Wills and supported by visual artist Somang Lee, the performances explored the links between music, image and emotion, and introduced the children to composing and improvisation. The Guildhall musicians performed extracts from Richter’s Memoryhouse, led discussions with the children around memory, and then translated the children’s thoughts into improvised soundscapes. A Year Group Leader at Hartley Primary School described the children’s experience as ‘engaging, exciting, emotive...a great new experience to get our children thinking’.

There will be more pop up performances in the coming year, involving Guildhall musicians and taking the music of the Barbican and Milton Court stages into primary schools. At the end of February, New York chamber collective Decoda worked with four Guildhall chamber ensembles in Newham schools, and in May there will be a series of pop up performances relating to the Barbican’s marathon weekend with Nonesuch Records.

Major grant awarded to Creative Learning to establish East London and City Culture PartnershipBarbican Centre and Guildhall School to work together with six music education hubs

The Barbican Centre and Guildhall School of Music & Drama will be working together with six music education hubs in East London to establish an East London and City Culture Partnership with the support of a major grant from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation to the Barbican Centre Trust.

This ambitious partnership aims to develop plans to give every young person in East London the chance to experience the best musical and cultural education. The eight partners will work together to address the following areas: entitlement – giving every young person opportunities to experience the arts; progression – giving every young person the chance to develop their creative and technical skills as far as they can; professional development – ensuring the arts and education workforce have the skills and tools to provide the best possible

experience to young people.

The partners will combine the local knowledge and expertise of the music and cultural education hubs with the Barbican and Guildhall School’s world-class arts and learning programme. This will include creating new projects and initiatives that deliver high quality, inspiring learning opportunities for all young people across eight East London boroughs and the City of London. The partnership also aims to ensure opportunities are delivered strategically where they are most needed, and where they will have the

broadest and deepest impact. The project’s impact will be shared widely in order to support all arts and education organisations in their efforts to achieve the shared goal of strengthening cultural provision for all children and young people in England.


Michelle Dockery (Acting 2004) is instantly recognisable as the actress who plays Lady Mary Crawley in ITV1’s hit period drama Downton Abbey, currently filming its fifth series.

In February, Michelle talked to Rachel Dyson, Alumni Relations Manager, about what she learned at the Guildhall School and how she can’t wait to get back on set.

Can you believe it is nearly ten years since you left Guildhall?

I hadn’t realised until an interviewer recently said to me “Congratulations on your tenth anniversary in the profession!”. We always said we’d have a reunion after ten years, so we need to get on it.

Did you always want to be an actor?

I was at The Finch Stage School from the age of five, but dance was my main thing; it was a hobby really. But at secondary school I was encouraged by a teacher to audition for the National Youth Theatre. I got in and loved it. It was like a whole drama school training in three weeks. During my A-levels that same teacher helped me with my drama school applications – in fact, she wrote my reference for the Guildhall application.

What do you remember about your Guildhall auditions?

I applied to LAMDA, RADA, Guildhall and Bristol, but – and I’m not just saying this because I got in to Guildhall! – Guildhall was the place to be. There was such a great atmosphere on the drama corridor and in that little space at the bottom of the stairs from the classrooms…

During the auditions we were all together for the two days and then at the end we were taken into Room 251 to be told that we were the ones who had got in. It was one of the best days of my life. I have a distinct image of that moment, looking across the room at Kristen Bush (to this day one

of my closest friends), and turning and hugging Sam Bloom. It was amazing.

What are the most important things that you have taken from the training here?

I was talking to Lily James [fellow Guildhall graduate who plays Lady Rose in Downton Abbey] about Guildhall the other day actually… There was such a focus on being part of a team, on working as an ensemble, being part of a company, that is so valuable. We have that on Downton; it’s like being in a play. There can be twenty of us on set for the whole week and you feel like a company, which is quite unusual for working on film or television.

Michelle Dockery

Interview withFeatures


During the second and third years you can get cast in a variety of roles, big and small, and your instinct is to always want the lead part, and so when you don’t get it you can be frustrated but I have learnt since that the teachers know better than you what role is right for you, what role you’re going to learn from. For instance, I learnt a lot from playing Annette in An Italian Straw Hat and I often think back to that; and in our animals class, I wanted to be a bird but Wendy [Allnutt] made me be a lion; I was a bit sensitive when I got

to Guildhall and I think she wanted to toughen me up a bit.

Christian Burgess and Joseph Blatchley taught us a lot about having patience, not just in your acting work, but in your life as an actor. That’s something I didn’t truly understand at the time, but they instilled it in us. During Measure for Measure I got called to audition for a play in the West End which, if I got it, would have meant that I had to leave Guildhall early. I was getting quite worked up about it and Christian Burgess told me not to panic, that I was

going to be acting for the next 30 years so I didn’t need to rush. I didn’t go up for it in the end and I know that was the right decision for me.

In fact, that’s something I have learned: whatever you decide, it’s always the right decision.

Who was your 3rd year tutor?

Barbara Thorn had me and Brownie [David Brown]. She came to see all of our shows and gave us a lot of encouragement. Barbara was a good sounding board and had a real sense of fun. She and Martin Connor really encouraged us not to get too serious about things and to find the humour in the situation – to remember that we were just dressing up and pretending to be lots of people, that there’s a silliness to be enjoyed in acting.

What were your expectations when you graduated in 2004?

Well, there is a part of you that thinks ‘It could be me! I could be in the next Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I could be in the next Bond film.’ Because you see what has happened to other people who have left Guildhall before you and you know that some people do walk out and have instant success. But I’m glad it didn’t happen that way for me – I don’t think I would have handled it very well at that point.

Instead I spent eighteen months at the

National Theatre, which was like an

apprenticeship. At one point when I was

(Left to right) Michelle Dockery, Lily James and Laura Carmichael on set for Downton Abbey

Rehearsing Half A Sixpence at Guildhall School, 2004


Features

understudying on His Dark Materials

and Henry IV I had six characters all in

my head at the same time. It felt like

an extension of the training.

You had your on-screen role in Fingersmith around that time, didn’t you?

Yes, it was a small role, only a few lines really but it was amazing. When I got it I remember talking about it as if I’d got the lead! It felt like such a big thing.

The TV workshops we did at Guildhall were a good introduction, but nothing can really prepare you for what it is like to work on a set. One hundred people around you and so many things to remember.

I don’t think there is much difference in acting for the screen compared to theatre really, it’s just a bit smaller.

Downton Abbey has been the most extraordinary hit and playing Lady Mary has made you instantly recognisable to many people. What challenges has celebrity (for want of a better word) brought you?

There’s mostly upsides to it, to be fair!

I had been working for six years before the overnight success of Downton, so I had got to know the world of acting, but the fame thing is something you can never be prepared for. I sometimes miss my old anonymity, but it is not something I want to complain about.

The other stuff – the red carpets, the photo shoots – it’s great fun and wonderful but that’s a side dish. The work is the main thing for me. I can’t wait to get back on set.

What advice would you give to the actors graduating this summer?

Focus on what you are doing when you are doing it. It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking ahead all the time. You get a job and it’s the best thing in the world and then in a week’s time you’re thinking about the next one. Don’t do that. Be in the moment. Focus on the job in hand.

Keep yourself active. I had some ups and downs in my career in my early 20’s. I was out of work sometimes, thankfully never for too long, but when I was I tried to keep active. I went to places like The Circus Space and took classes, to keep up my training.

Tensing up and freaking out at auditions won’t do you any favours. Rather than think about how much you want the job, go in and give the best performance that you can do. Play the role as you would want to play it.

Guildhall alumni in Downton Abbey include:• Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary)

• Kevin Doyle (Molesley)

• Charles Edwards (Michael Gregson)

• Thomas Howes (William, Series I & II)

• Lesley Nicol (Mrs Patmore)

• Lily James (Lady Rose)

• Cara Theobold (Ivy Stuart)

Measure for Measure at Guildhall School, 2004


Features

Guildhall Creative EntrepreneursScheme to support Guildhall School alumni and staff to create, launch and make a success of their businesses as well as raise vital seed funding

Autumn 2013 marked the launch of the Guildhall School’s new Creative Entrepreneurs scheme aimed at supporting graduates and staff of the School to set up their own businesses/social enterprises and develop entrepreneurship skills. Recognising the current needs of graduate students to be able to be self-starting and entrepreneurial, the scheme supports Guildhall School alumni and staff to create, launch and make a success of their businesses – as well as to raise vital seed funding.

Run in partnership with development and fundraising enterprise Cause4, Guildhall Creative Entrepreneurs forms one strand of a new scheme of enterprise development at the Guildhall School, focusing initially on working with a cohort of recent Guildhall alumni (music, acting and technical theatre) through transition to professional life.

The scheme consists of an intensive 12-month programme for those with a business idea already formed and includes access to mentoring, coaching, business planning, marketing and sales and funding. Alumni benefit from use of office and creative space for a 12-month period and are introduced to a range of entrepreneurial, community and partnership networks to support business development. Alongside the intensive programme, a ‘lighter touch programme’ of workshops and seminar activity is available for those wanting to develop their knowledge of creative entrepreneurship and develop viable initiatives.

Nine Creative Entrepreneurs from across the UK and Europe entered the scheme in 2013-14 including Acting graduate Nikesh Patel (pictured far right). Nikesh and his business partner Emily Plumtree applied to the scheme with their proposal No Quills, with a vision to revolutionize Shakespeare in schools and to captivate the imagination of a new generation as they encounter Shakespeare for the first time through a series of innovative workshops led by a team of professional actors. With access to the

resources, mentoring and support offered by the scheme, they’ve already pitched their ideas, worked up a full business proposal, and have workshops in the pipeline with Google.

Interested in joining the scheme in 2014-15?

Applications will open in May 2014, to start the scheme in September 2014.

For further information visit www.gsmd.ac.uk/creativeentrepreneurs

“One of the difficulties we faced when we started is that we almost had too many ideas. The scheme has provided us with an invaluable introduction to planning and developing a new business, and has given us a real focus for the year ahead. We’ve also been overwhelmed by the number of influential and supportive people we’ve met in such a short space of time.”

Nikesh Patel (Acting 2010)


School News

Music in the Making An investigation into creative inspirationGuildhall School students recently took part in innovative fieldwork for a Cambridge University study into how musicians find their creative voice.

Perhaps surprisingly, the results of the study suggested that musicians may be at their most creative when not actually playing or singing. The researchers from the University of Cambridge found that breakthrough moments of inspiration often took place while the students were humming pieces to themselves, imagining dance moves or emotional narratives inspired by the music, or tapping out rhythms on nearby furniture, rather than using their instruments.

To gain access to the innermost thoughts of both students and teachers, the team employed an innovative video-recall technique, which involved filming one-to-one lessons and then asking each student and teacher to watch the films separately. In doing so, they were invited to identify moments when they felt especially creative in their playing or teaching, or when something new emerged about their understanding of a piece. These were described by the team as ‘creative episodes’. Some students were also filmed practising on their own, and in addition they were asked to keep practice diaries as they prepared for their exams and public performances. The videos were later played back to the student and their reflections on the film compared with the contents of the diaries.

The films include one session in which a horn student was undertaking private practice. When he watched the videos of his practising, the student identified 34 creative episodes – of which 23 took place while he was not using his instrument but instead was singing, whistling, playing

the piano, and beating out the rhythm of the piece. Yet in 40 entries recorded by the same student in his practice diary, 28 pertained to the technical use of the instrument itself. Professor John Rink, who led the project, said “During the ‘creative episodes’ that he identified he was doing all kinds of things to embed the music in his mind, but many of them were not directly related to his actual instrument. Interestingly, he was not fully aware that this was happening. When textbooks talk about ‘mental practice’ they generally refer to thinking about how the instrument is used. Less emphasis is placed on thinking about the actual music or how it might be internalised. Yet, as this case shows us, exploration and experimentation without the instrument itself may be an important part of how musicians learn and become creative.”

The project is one of the major research initiatives launched in 2009 by the Centre for Musical Performance as Creative Practice, a collaboration between the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford, King’s College London, and Royal Holloway, and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. The team carried out fieldwork at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and the Royal College of Music, monitoring select students as they practised towards an examination and a public performance over a period of weeks. With colleagues at the Guildhall School and RCM, the team are also producing a book, Musicians in The Making – Pathways to Creative Performance, which Oxford University Press will publish in 2015.

Further information about the AHRC Research Centre for Musical Performance as Creative Practice can be found at www.cmpcp.ac.uk


School News

2013 FellowshipsAt this year’s Graduation Ceremony, the following people were elected Fellows of the Guildhall School: Head of Wind, Brass & Percussion Richard Benjafield, Assistant Principal (Research & Academic Development) Professor Helena Gaunt, eminent Hollywood film composer Harry Gregson-Williams, distinguished violinist Anthony Marwood, LSO Managing Director Kathryn McDowell CBE, Deputy Head of Academic Studies (Postgraduate) Dr Kate Romano, distinguished pianist and tutor Martin Roscoe, Director of Strategic Projects Clive Russell and Lecturer in Construction Management Andy Wilson. Alumnus Harry Gregson-Williams gave the acceptance speech on behalf of the honorands.

Honorary Fellows of the Guildhall School for 2013 included Director-General of the BBC Tony Hall CBE, Associate Director of the National Theatre and playwright Sir David Hare, and those involved heavily with the development of the School’s new building Milton Court, developer Gerald Ronson CBE and contractor The Hon. David McAlpine.

London has a new Lord Mayor and she’s a Guildhall School Governor!Alderman Fiona Woolf CBE is the Lord Mayor of London for the year 2013/14 as the 686th Lord Mayor, and only the second woman to hold the role since 1189.

Lord Mayor Woolf, who served as Sheriff of the City in 2010/11, was elected Alderman for the Ward of Candlewick in the City of London in October 2007 and has been a Governor of the Guildhall School since 2011.

Guildhall Associates on 2014 New Year’s Honours List!Congratulations to Sir Roger Gifford (Honorary Fellow),

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, CH (Honorary Fellow) and

Michael Welbank MBE (Former Governor of the Guildhall

School) for their recognition in the 2014 New Year’s Honours.

Brain study by Guildhall researchers suggests classical musicians should improviseA joint study between researchers at the Guildhall School and Imperial College London found that listeners engage with classical music more when musicians improvise.

A collaboration of researchers from the School, including Professor John Sloboda and Dr David Dolan, together with colleagues from Imperial College London, examined the electrical signals in the brains of musicians and listeners.

The team created a live concert, with a chamber music trio playing the same piece of music twice, once in an improvised fashion and once without improvising. The three musicians along with two audience members were wired up to a device known as an electroencephalograph, a machine which measures and records the tiny electrical signals sent between brain cells. By comparing the brain signals produced during both the improvised and non-improvised versions of the performance the researchers were able to show a clear difference in brain activity during each piece. An area of the brain known to be involved in sustained attention, working memory and the inhibition of responses, known as the Brodmann 9 area,

was much more active in both musicians and listeners during the improvised performances. This indicates that the audience were much more engaged when listening to classical music containing improvised elements.

The team hope that this work will go some way to helping classical music fight against declining audiences. They suggest that by incorporating improvisation into classical musical concerts, musicians could create a unique event that will be both engaging and captivating. The results will be published in the online journal Music Performance Research later this month.

Reference: ‘The improvisatory approach to classical music performance: an empirical investigation into its characteristics and impact’, David Dolan, John Sloboda, Henrik Jeldtoft Jensen, Björn Crüts and Eugene Feygelson, Music Performance Research, Vol. 6, Nov/Dec 2013.


Alumni Community pages• Alumni News• Alumni Events Diary• Class Notes

Alumni News

The series began in November with Thomas Adès, Anthony Marwood, Matthew Hunt and Louise Hopkins performing an incredibly challenging selection of pieces, including several of Ades’s own works, which was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and led Gavin Dixon to write in Seen and Heard that “Thomas Adès is the ideal artist for Milton Court, and Milton Court the ideal venue for Thomas Adès.” This was followed just two weeks later by a sell-out recital of French mélodies and chansons by mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter and Friends (Bengt Forsburg and Bengan Janson).

On Wednesday 26 February, violinist Tasmin Little and professor of piano Martin Roscoe gave us a programme of Mozart, Fauré, Ravel and Franck variously described by audience members as ‘a lovely, intimate recital’, ‘uplifting bliss’ and ‘a real treat’. We were delighted to be able to take this opportunity to present Martin Roscoe with the Fellowship of the Guildhall School that he had not been available to receive at Graduation.

We are eagerly anticipating the fourth concert in the series: tenor Toby Spence and pianist Julian Milford on Friday 2 May.

All proceeds from the Alumni Recital Series will go to support the Guildhall School Scholarships Fund. The School is grateful to these wonderful performers for giving their time and their talent to support the next generation of Guildhall School students.

Alumni Recital SeriesThe opening season of the Milton Court Concert Hall has given us fantastic opportunities to demonstrate the quality and the range of music training that the School has to offer as well as the quality of our newest concert platform. One of the greatest examples of this has been the return of some of the School’s most acclaimed alumni to perform in our first ever Alumni Recital Series.


It’s a family affair: the Dankworths’ return to the Guildhall SchoolMilton Court concert featured special guest appearance by the legendary Dame Cleo Laine.

The Dankworth family are one of the most celebrated

musical dynasties in the British contemporary music scene,

so their collective visit to the Guildhall School in November

to play an exclusive concert in memory of the late great

Sir John Dankworth, led by his son Alec, was naturally the

cause of much excitement all round. The Dankworths’

connection to Guildhall has grown over the years, with

a majority of their musically-active members connected

to the School in one way or another. Alec, a British Jazz

Awards Winner, studied at Guildhall, his daughter Emily is

a recent graduate, and sister Jacqui is also an alumna as

well as a Fellow of the School.

This concert in particular, played in the Concert Hall at

Milton Court, gave us the opportunity to watch Alec direct

six-time winners of the BBC Big Band contest, the Guildhall

Jazz Band, as they played small group jazz and big band

music composed by Sir John – and also celebrated the

donation by the Wavendon Foundation of a double bass

to the School’s Jazz Department, accepted on behalf of the

School by Principal Barry Ife. Also joining the stage were

Emily’s a-cappella group, Vive.

Welcome back!

We were delighted to be able to welcome alumnus William Dazeley (Opera 1991) back to the School last November, as fellow adjudicator to Linnhe Robertson (Guildhall School Artistic Consultant for Opera and Voice), of the English

Song Prize. Here they are pictured immediately afterwards with the winner tenor Dominick Felix and soprano Nicola Said who received a special commendation.


On BroadwayDoctoral student and sometime Historical Performance tutor, Emily Baines writes about how she came to perform in a smash-hit Broadway season and the possibilities that have opened up in her career

From October to December last year I was lucky enough to be playing shawms, recorders, curtals and rauschpfeife in Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre’s first ever Broadway season. As I write, the production, which consists of two Shakespeare plays (Twelfth Night and Richard III) with an all-male cast including Mark Rylance and Stephen Fry, is entering its final week having enjoyed four months of sell-out shows and seemingly endless critical plaudits.

My involvement was the result of an extremely fortuitous chain of events.

It’s funny how areas of one’s life often link together as people become aware that you’re interested in trying out certain directions. In 2010 Jonathan Holmes and Pete Readman of Jericho House Theatre Co. contacted Helena Gaunt regarding their research, and via Jane Booth, the head of Historical Performance at Guildhall, they approached me to assist with a workshop on the music of the lutenist Robert Johnson and its connections to Shakespeare’s The Tempest. This went well and I subsequently acted

as Musical Director for both of the company’s 2011 productions – Into Thy Hands, and The Tempest (a Barbican BITE production). I had already been developing a parallel interest in playing early woodwind instruments, specifically loud winds such as shawms, curtals, bagpipes and crumhorns under the direction of William Lyons and it was on these instruments, along with recorders, that I was booked to play at The Globe in Richard III (2012) – having been nominated as a deputy by Emily Askew (also an ex-Guildhall recorder student) – then as a principal band member for A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2013) and finally on Broadway.

Living in New York, expenses paid, for two months, playing in two hugely successful Broadway shows, being interviewed by the New York Times, meeting a raft of celebrities; that’s a dream, right?! It’s certainly not where I thought I’d be as I headed off to study Historical Performance as a first-study recorder player!

This is, in fact, the first time that period instruments have been heard in a Broadway show. For me that’s

even more exciting than being given two months to explore this truly exhilarating city.

I’ve had an amazing chance to work with some wonderful actors, musicians and technicians in the really special way in which Globe productions work. In the Globe you share dressing rooms and the Green Room is a communal space for actors, musicians, stage management, office staff, cleaners and security guards. This changes the way a company feels, and therefore the way it performs as a whole. This atmosphere, combined with the connection the Globe provides between those on stage and the audience I believe is one reason the American public has embraced these shows so wholeheartedly. And the Guildhall School is well represented, with at least three other alumni in the cast including actor Kurt Egyaiwan, and musicians Arngeir Hauksson and Nicholas Perry!

So for now it’s back to other work. I have a thesis to write (on ornamentation and interpretation in eighteenth century mechanical musical instruments), baroque chamber music concerts, operas, solo work, medieval and renaissance bands, teaching: a standard (if there can be any such word) recorder/early wind player’s portfolio career. I’ve been associated with the Guildhall School since I arrived in London nearly eight years ago. Back then I had an idea that I’d have a career purely as a solo/chamber recorder player and teacher.... I’m still just scratching the surface of how wrong that idea was. I still love solo, orchestral and chamber music playing and work hard at it; but it’s very exciting finding out how much more there can be!

v Emily Baines (Recorder 2009, DMus student)

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Over to you


Over to you

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Thirty five years with the BBC SingersSpending my entire young life in care, singing became my salvation: I found I could escape into the world of the librettist and use my voice as an outlet for my emotions. I inherited musical talents from my natural parents which, coupled with a sound technique acquired at the Guildhall, gave me the tools for the long career I have enjoyed with the BBC Singers.

I spent four happy years at the Guildhall School, winning several prizes and a Countess of Munster Award for further study in Opera. My singing teacher was the formidable Joyce Newton who nurtured and honed my young voice never asking too much of it. ‘Moo Maa’ was the exercise of the day!! I remember with amusement the Movement classes which Arlan Wendland directed on the roof using the sun as a spotlight!

During my time at the School in John Carpenter Street, I was recruited to work as an audio typist for a firm of solicitors in Temple which stood me in good stead during my ‘resting’ periods. However it was not long before I had an audition to become an ad hoc BBC Singer and after juggling office

and singing I finally got a permanent appointment in 1979.

In 1985 I had my next challenge when I entered the Pavarotti Prize and became a World Finalist winning an all-expenses paid trip to Philadelphia to take part. That was a very exciting time during which the BBC granted me a sabbatical to sing in the Glyndebourne Chorus, and I also got married!

Finally a decision had to be made – go freelance as an opera singer or return to the ranks of the BBC Singers, which had already afforded me many solo opportunities. I chose the security of the latter and remained for 35 years, retiring in January 2014. I have had a wonderful

career travelling all over the world and fulfilling my solo and freelance yearnings – even singing the role of Turandot!

I remain in touch with many Guildhall alumni and am looking forward to visiting and reminiscing. I am not hanging up my vocal cords for good just taking life easy with my little chihuahua until another opportunity comes along!

v Jennifer Adams-Babaro, née Adams (Opera 1975)

Guildhall Alumni Chorus is here to stay!Back in the autumn of 2012, I wrote an article in this magazine about the possibility of forming a Guildhall Alumni Chorus (GAC). The response to that piece was very positive and it soon became clear that plenty of former students liked the idea.

Now, in spring 2014, I am delighted to tell you that the GAC is no longer a dreamy concept, but a living, breathing and singing reality.

We have rehearsal space in the City YMCA, which many readers of this magazine will remember from their student days. Next we bought a keyboard, and then we established a rehearsal routine of alternate Thursdays from 6 till 8pm.

We are as yet a determined but relatively small band, but we are building numbers and would love to hear from you if you’re interested in joining us.

Any former student is welcome to join. So, don’t be put off if you’re a percussionist or an actor, because everyone is eligible. And so are family members of alumni or current students.

We have choristers travelling in from Sussex, Dorset, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex – so if you live well out of town, the chances are that some other chorus member will be travelling home your way.

We are planning to have our first concert in May – and though the programme has yet to be finalised, it’s likely to include works by Mozart, Britten, Verdi, Bruckner and Brahms.

Later in the year, we’re going to perform a concert to commemorate the centenary of the First World War.

The pleasure of singing together – now that our performing careers are over or never quite got going – is a huge joy. Old friendships are being rekindled, and new ones made. And the common denominator is the Guildhall School which, after all, was the centre of our existence at a very important period of our lives.

We’re here to stay. Why not come and join us?

v Christine Webber (Voice 1968)


Thank you Guildhall and Bravo!Who comes to New York in January in freezing temperatures if only to do something very special?

It is Thursday, January 23, 2014 and I am heading with my young Colombian flautist friend to Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall on 154 West 57th Street, where Rachel Dyson, Alumni Relations Manager at the Guildhall School, has left me two tickets at the box office for a reunion concert at 8pm.

Rachel and I have been connected for several months through the Guildhall Alumni page of LinkedIn and I have been patiently waiting to put closure on my Guildhall journey as I embark on another chapter of a creative life. I never made it to graduation as I got a dream job with Attenborough but always felt at a loss for not saying my goodbyes to my close friends so I had to come to New York to mark, index the end of an age and the beginning of a new one.

Two years ago in Pittsburgh via SkypeI was able to share a bottle of Dom Perignon over the internet with my fellow thespians from Guildhall in London but it was just not good enough. Like a baptism or a funeral or any rites de passage the body just has to be there. Just as Guildhall itself was sending live bodies to represent it, this action would mark the beginning of a new era with a concert at Carnegie Hall and after party at Trattoria Dell’Arte 900 Seventh Avenue, I also had to be there in body and spirit. Our hosts Christian Burgess, Director of Drama, Jonathan Vaughan, Director of Music, James Alexander, Head of Music Administration, Martin Connor, Head of Acting Studies, Ronan O’Hora, Head of Advanced Performance Studies and Head of Keyboard Studies, Linnhe Robertson, Head of Vocal Studies, and Rachel Dyson, Alumni Relations Manager came to represent. For them this marks a first of many alumni events to come in the future to seal Guildhall’s reputation as the world leader in acting, music and technical theatre training.

To end our collective journey from Silk Street to Milton Court and usher something new soprano Raphaela Papadakis, baritone Benjamin Appl and pianist James Sherlock treat us to an ambitious selection of music by Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Schumann, Philips, Poulenc, Schoenberg and Britten. After I see a smattering of familiar faces, but like siblings separated after birth and reunited, several generations of “Guildites”, share stories of group classes in acting with Ernst Berk or the

marvel of working with Bernstein on Mass. Having had the opportunity to do everything at least once, a rep season, national touring company, a run in a West End show, the Nash, a few films, and many US premieres of plays, starting a production company in Namibia, graduate school at NYU Tisch School, teaching at Norwegian Theatre Academy, even an international tour as entourage with opera diva Anna Netrebko and having two babies, my time had come to say goodbye and hello.

I was now embarking on my most ambitious of creative projects, a first feature as a director, writer, actor and a hybrid oratorio commission. I needed a blessing from the original source, my metaphorical mother and father who first nurtured my creative spirit, Guildhall School.

We sit in rapture at Carnegie Hall for every minute of this

experience, so grateful for the interdisciplinary training we received from the number one school in the western world, which trained us to be like a chameleon who can change its color depending on its environment and like the chameleon our progeny at Guildhall are now better equipped to translate our crafts into many new and emerging mediums.

I braved thousands of miles and many rich experiences to make it back here. Thank you Guildhall and Bravo!

To my dearest friend and mentor, Tony Church.

v Mukwae Wabei Siyolwe (Acting 1986)

Over to you


Class Notes

MusicThomas Adès (Piano/Composition 1989)

Adès: The Tempest, a recording of Thomas Adès’ opera based on Shakespeare’s iconic play, won Best Opera Recording at the 2014 Grammy Awards.

Glyn Bailey (Voice/Piano 1972)

October 2013 saw the London premiere of Glyn Bailey’s musical Lawrence, based on the life of D.H. Lawrence, at the Bridewell Theatre. Glyn is composer, lyricist and book co-writer of this original musical which has been fully staged in London and New Orleans. We are grateful to Glyn for kindly offering a discount for Guildhall students, staff and alumni to see the show at the Bridewell and happy to hear that plans for the next production are already underway.

Alison Balsom (Trumpet 2001)

Alison Balsom was awarded 2013 Artist of the the Year at the Gramophone Awards.

Simon Coleman (Jazz Guitar 1998)

You may have heard some Simon Coleman scores recently, without even realising – he wrote tracks to accompany the timelapse footage in Tales from Northumberland with Robson Green which aired last autumn on ITV1, and the Titles track for Newsflash – Stories that Stopped the World, which was on ITV1 in November.

Alexandra Dariescu (Piano 2011)

Alexandra Dariescu won a 2013 Women of the Future Award, in the Arts and Culture category.

Nico de Villiers (Piano 2008)

Pianist and lecturer at Leeds College of Music, Nico de Villiers recorded the world premiere recording of composer/pianist André Tchaikowsky’s Piano Sonata (1958) for the Toccata Classics Label. This recording forms part of a greater revival of André Tchaikowsky’s work as a composer and Nico will perform the premiere of the Sonata in Warsaw, Poland at the Chopin Festival later this year.

Stella Compton Dickinson née Dickinson (Music Therapy 1994)

October 2013 saw the launch of the new book Forensic Music Therapy, edited by Stella Compton Dickinson, John Adlam and Helen Odell-Miller, published by Jessica Kingsley Publications.

Simon Fryer (Cello 1983)

Regarding his latest recording project, Victorian Cello Sonatas, Simon Fryer wrote, “The Centaur disc features premiere recordings of sonatas by Algernon Ashton and Samuel Liddle alongside the second sonata of Sir Charles Stanford. Pianist Leslie De’Ath and I really enjoyed the discovery process for this repertoire (although a student of Stanford, Liddle’s Sonata was completely unknown and never catalogued), and trust we have brought new life to music of particular beauty.”

He added, “While a post-diploma student at the Guildhall I studied with Stefan Popov – with whom I was happy to be reunited recently at a Festival in Italy, along with [Guildhall School] alumna Micaela Milone – and was honoured to be a BP Scholar. Following extended periods with the Toronto Symphony, the Penderecki String Quartet and the Orquestra Sinfonica di Tenerife, I currently play and teach in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.”

Katie Grosset (Voice 2011)

Katie Grosset has been awarded a place at the National Opera Studio from Sept 2013.

Recent2013Friday 1 NovemberGraduate Employability Event

Thursday 14 NovemberHong Kong Alumni Lunch

2014Saturday 18 JanuaryActing Class of 1991 Reunion

Thursday 23 JanuaryNew York Recital & Reunion

Coming up2014Monday 9 JuneTechnical Theatre Arts Graduate Exhibition

Tuesday 8 JulyRecent Graduates (Drama) Reunion – Acting and Technical Theatre Classes of 2013 and 2012

Sunday 28 SeptemberActing Alumni Afternoon

Friday 31 OctoberGraduate Employability Event

2015Sunday 12 AprilGGSM classes of 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1982 Reunion

For more information or to reserve your place at any of these events, please email [email protected] or call the Alumni Office on 020 7382 2325.If you are planning a reunion that is not listed above, or are considering organising a reunion, please do get in touch with the Alumni Office (see above).

Alumni Events Diary


Class Notes

Clare Hammond (Piano 2008)

Clare Hammond has recently completed recording two CDs for BIS Records at Potton Hall in Suffolk. The first is of the complete piano works of Sir Andrzej and Roxanna Panufnik, due for release in July 2014, and the second is of etudes by Unsuk Chin, Sergei Lyapunov, Nikolai Kapustin and Karol Szymanowski, for release in early 2015.

This will be a busy year for Clare as she gives her debut recitals at eight festivals across Europe and at St David’s Hall in Cardiff.

Vera Ivanova (Composition 2001)

Dr Vera Ivanova won the 2013 Earplay Donald Aird Composers Competition with her composition for piano Three Studies in Uneven Meters. The prize came with a monetary award and a performance of the winning composition at the closing concert of the Earplay ensemble’s 2013-14 season on 19 May 2014 at the ODC Theater in San Francisco.

Three Studies, recorded with the pianist Mikhail Korzhev, was released on Navona Records’ CD Allusions in September 2013 and also performed at the 35th International Moscow Autumn Festival in November.

Vera also had two other pieces released on CDs last year: Aftertouch for piano, performed and recorded by

Bulgarian-American pianist Daniela Mineva, was released on Nova, Navona Records; and Mbira, or in Cage with Adams for digitally retuned piano, composed for Aron Kallay, was released on his album of the same name with MicroFest Records.

Vera was selected to contribute a short miniature to a collective composition CAGE 100 Party Pieces Project, to mark John Cage’s centennial anniversary in 2012. The piece was premiered 17 October 2013 at Miller Theatre in New York, NY.

In autumn 2013, Vera started teaching additionally at the Colburn Young Artists Academy music theory classes and she won a composer residency at the MacDowell Colony in winter 2013-14. www.veraivanova.com

Nicholas Jenkins (Early Music Tenor 2005)

Nick studied singing at the Guildhall School and now works as a conductor specialising in operatic and large-scale choral music. During 2014 he is assistant conductor to Sir Simon Rattle for Manon Lescaut in Baden-Baden, and Chorus Master to ENO for Benvenuto Cellini. He conducts a staged Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle for Théâtre de Nimes, and Count Ory at Blackheath Halls. Recent work includes being Interim Chorus Master to Netherlands Opera in Amsterdam, and conducting performances at the Opéra-Comique and La Monnaie.

Emma King (Percussion 2013)

New graduate Emma is currently touring Europe with STOMP!

Eliza McCarthy (Piano 2009)

Eliza McCarthy has won the 2013 British Contemporary Piano Competition.

Kendra Preston Leonard (Cello 1996)

Kendra Preston Leonard is the inaugural winner of the Society for American Music’s Judith Tick Fellowship, awarded to support scholarly research leading to publication on women’s music-making across time and musical genres, musical biography, and source studies in American music. Kendra’s Fellowship project is a scholarly edition of the complete works for voice and piano by American composer Louise Talma.

In addition, Kendra was an invited speaker at the recent George Washington University symposium “Global Shakespeares: Mapping World Markets & Archives.” Forthcoming publications include “From ‘Angel of Music’ to ‘that Monster’: Music for Phantoms and Villains,” Studies in Gothic Fiction, Spring 2014 and several book chapters on music and Shakespeare. She will be the scholar-in-residence for the 2014 City University of New York Graduate Students in Music conference, where she will conduct a workshop on “Scoring Disability Narratives.”

Leonard has also recently been named the American Musicological Society’s representative to the Coalition on the Academic Workforce and serves as a mentor through the American Musicological Society-Society for Music Theory’s Music and Disability Interest Group Support Network.

Anthony Strong (Jazz Piano 2007)

Since releasing Stepping Out in 2013 (his first album with French record label Naïve), Anthony Strong has been featured on the front page of France’s Le Figaro, performed to millions live on German television and been described in the British press as “a major talent hotly tipped to take his place in the retro-contemporary jazz pantheon alongside Jamie Cullum and Michael Bublé.”

Dobrinka Tabakova (Composition 2003)

Dobrinka Tabakova’s album on ECM Records String Paths was nominated in the Classical Compendium category of the 56th Grammy Awards.

The album features original compositions by Dobrinka Tabakova for chamber and orchestral string combinations featuring Guildhall Gold Medal winner Maxim Rysanov (Viola 2005), and Guildhall alumni Kristina Blaumane (Cello 2001) and Roman Mints (Violin 2001). The album has reached the


top 3 in the UK’s specialist classical music charts and was a BBC Music magazine orchestral album choice.

Kitty Whately (Voice 2006)

Kitty Whately has been made a BBC New Generation Artist 2013-15. Now in its 15th year the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme brings the best of emerging British and international classical and jazz talent to the airwaves and live concerts.

Caz Wolfson (Percussion 2009)

Workers Union Ensemble was formed in 2009. All the members of the six-piece group were students at the Guildhall, and initially came together to perform Louis Andriessen’s Workers Union. Scored for any group of loud-sounding instruments, the unusual line-up of the ensemble (oboe, saxophone, piano, double bass and two percussionists) suited the piece well, but meant that we were limited in terms of existing repertoire for our forces.

This has subsequently led to the group developing strong working relationships with composers. We were fortunate enough to be able to commission a range of emerging and more established composers with assistance from PRSF in 2013. We also ran a ‘Call for Works’ competition last year in addition to our existing composer-in-residence scheme culminating in a performance in November at LSO St Luke’s.

In our 2014-15 season we will begin an exciting new project funded by Sound and Music entitled ‘On and Off and To and Fro’. This will see us present a programme of five new works developed

in response to Simon Steen-Andersen’s work of the same name for soprano saxophone, double bass, vibraphone and three players with megaphones.

Alexander Woolf (Junior Guildhall 2012)

Alex Woolf has released his debut album, Red Handed, made up of nine original piano works written and performed by Alex. He also had a premiere at the Britten Centenary Weekend at Snape Maltings, where his Serenade for Tenor Horn and Strings received its first performance. www.alexwoolf.net

Nikos Zarkos (Guitar 2003)

Nikos Zarkos has released his second album, Female Writing for Guitar, the theme of which is works from the 20th and 21st century by women composers. www.nikoszarkos.com

DramaPaapa Essiedu (Acting 2012)

When actor Sam Troughton suddenly lost his voice halfway through a preview of King Lear at the National Theatre, understudy Paapa Essiedu stepped up to the mark and performed the role for the second half of the performance. Simon Russell Beale, who plays the title role, described Paapa as “fantastically cool” in assuming the role.

Jonathan Hall (SMTT 2004)

Jonathan Hall won The ‘StageBitz’ Award for Outstanding Achievement in Prop Making at the 2013 Technical Theatre Awards.

Tim Lutkin (SMTT 2008)

Tim Lutkin has been nominated for Best Lighting Designer in the What’s On Stage Awards for his design for Strangers on a Train at the Gielgud Theatre.

Sally Muggeridge (Speech & Drama 1969)

Whilst serving as Master of the Worshipful Company of Marketors, Guildhall School alumna Sally Muggeridge arranged for a £2000 donation to be made to the Guildhall School of Music & Drama for the Milton Court fundraising appeal as the Company’s charitable gift left entirely to the Master’s discretion. She was present at the formal opening.

On 25 November she was able to arrange with the City of London Corporation that her lifelong friend Archbishop Desmond Tutu be granted the award of Honorary Freedom of the City – a very rare gift of the City.

Sally was appointed a Church Commissioner of the Church of England on 1st January 2014.

She is also a Licensed Lay Minister and a Member of General Synod.

Betty Rudd née Kyprianou (Speech & Drama 1969)

Dr. Betty Rudd has recently released her latest book Introducing Psychopathology, a course companion for counselling, psychotherapy and counselling psychology trainees, published by SAGE Publications Ltd.

Gavin Stenhouse (Acting 2007)

Gavin Stenhouse has been cast as the lead in NBC drama pilot, Coercion, a thriller based on the Israeli format The Gordin Cell.

Johnathan Stevens (SMTT 1988)

Jon is Creative Manager of theatre consultancy Charcoalblue.

He wrote, “Charcoalblue designed the replacement of the AV systems in the Guildhall Silk Street Theatre a few years ago, and so I found myself back there for the first time in about 20 years. The work involved replacing the infrastructure in the sound control room, including an electrical panel which was neatly marked up with a handwritten label (evidently added by a student) showing what each electrical circuit breaker controlled. It took me a few seconds to work out why the handwriting looked so familiar – it was mine!”

Ian Taylor (SMTT 2004)

Ian Taylor led the team that organised the inaugural Technical Theatre Awards which took place at the PLASA London trade show in October 2013. The Technical Theatre Awards were created to highlight the outstanding achievements of individuals working within the theatre industry, and the products and services used by them every day.


In Memoriam

Alan Beaumont 1939 – 2013

Alan was born in Islington, London, and loved the piano from a very early age. After leaving Owen’s Grammar School he continued to study music even though his ‘day job’ was with The Port of London Authority for 25 years, then Trinity House Lighthouse Service and finally in the Civil Service at Land Registry.

In the early 1960s he decided to take a Piano Teaching diploma. He chose the Guildhall School and was put in contact with Cimbro Martin, who agreed to take him on for lessons. He later gained the LGSM (Teachers’) and the ARCM (Teachers’) diplomas.

In addition to his private teaching he was invited by Mr Martin to teach in the Guildhall School Junior Department on Saturdays which he did from 1974. He then became an examiner and was able to boast that he had given some 8000 lessons to over 100 pupils and examined over 100 examinees throughout south-east England as well as at the School. On retirement, after 28 years of teaching and 18 years examining, he received a letter from the Principal congratulating him on his ‘quite remarkable record’.

In 1983 he became a Freeman of the City of London, nominated by the Principal.

As well as an accomplished pianist Alan was a very competent organist, playing at local churches and in 1978 accompanying a BBC ‘Songs of Praise’ at Trinity-at-Bowes Methodist Church where he was Assistant Organist to his wife, Joyce.

After retiring from full time employment he gained a BA (Hons) from the Open University.

He died in August 2013. He leaves many very happy memories with his wife, Joyce, his daughter, Sarah and his many friends.

Joyce Beaumont

Eva Ganizate 1986 – 2014

On 4 January 2014, young soprano Eva Ganizate was killed in a cycling accident.

Eva was an undergraduate in the Vocal Studies department and stayed for a further two years on the Opera Course. After Guildhall, Eva’s career steadily began to blossom. Her unique personality and performing style was magnetic and engaging. Offstage, Eva was always ready to extend friendship and to show support for her friends and colleagues.

When the tragic news was announced, we all had memories and stories to relate about her. There were stories about Eva’s life-squeezing hugs … and many, many stories about her inimitable dress style! Clive Timms, former Head of Opera Course, told me about an opera he had been rehearsing with Eva (over a period of many weeks) where she wore a different outfit every day. I remember observing Eva walking down the street in Aldeburgh as a 2nd year undergraduate, looking like Audrey Hepburn!

All the ‘Eva’ stories were told with an affectionate smile on the face of the narrator and the listener. The common theme running through them was of Eva’s uniqueness and human warmth.

On 30 January, students, past students and close friends of Eva, organised a memorial concert at Milton Court Concert Hall which was extremely moving and beautiful. To

a recording of Eva singing an aria from Massenet’s Chérubin at the Silk Street Theatre in 2010, we watched a slide of photos of this beautiful girl. Afterwards, we listened to a performance of Fauré’s Requiem movingly performed by the students and her friends, conducted by Clive Timms. At the conclusion of the performance, the audience found it difficult to leave the auditorium and remained seated in silence for quite a while.

Linnhe Robertson, Artistic and Research Consultant for Opera & Voice

Leslie Head 1922 – 2013

Popular conductor and musician Leslie Head has died at the age of 91.

Leslie Head studied Conducting and French Horn at the Guildhall School in the late 1940s to early 1950s. He began his career as an orchestral horn player with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and later moved to the Scottish National Orchestra, but it was his work as a conductor, exploring little-known repertoire and encouraging young talent for which he was most known.

In 1956, Leslie founded the Kensington Symphony Orchestra (KSO), which he continued to lead for 30 years. The KSO was established with the intention of providing students and amateurs with an opportunity to rehearse repertoire and gain concert experience and soon became known for its ambitious programming, including world premieres of works by Arnold Bax and Havergal Brian and UK premieres of works by Nielsen, Schoenberg, Sibelius and Bruckner.

Leslie went on to found Opera Viva, which gave over 80 opera revivals, and later Pro-Opera. As John Tomlinson wrote for Leslie’s 80th birthday, he helped young singers to get over “that awkward bridge from college to professional solo work”.


John Hopkins

1927 – 2013

Internationally acclaimed conductor, educator and music administrator, John Hopkins, originally trained as a cellist before coming to Guildhall to study conducting. He became Assistant Conductor of the BBC Scottish Orchestra in 1949, then Conductor of the BBC Northern Orchestra in 1952. At the age of 25 he was the youngest principal conductor of a major British orchestra.

John moved to New Zealand as Conductor of the National Orchestra in 1957, also becoming Music Director of the New Zealand Opera Company, before moving to Australia as Federal Director of Music for the ABC in 1963 and leading what has been described as “perhaps the most important decade of [Australia’s] orchestral development”.

In 1973, John became founding Dean of Music at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, later becoming Director of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. In retirement he continued to teach conducting in Melbourne. He was appointed OBE in 1970 and a Member of the Order of Australia in 2013.

Fizz Jones

d. 2014

Sadly Fizz Jones passed away on Tuesday 4 February 2014 as a result of a brain haemorrhage she suffered in January.

Prior to her illness Fizz had been due to join the Technical Theatre Department for this term covering the role of Costume Lecturer. She was a popular and frequent visitor having most recently acted as Costume Supervisor on The Seagull, and prior to that on A Soldier and a Maker and last year’s Opera triple-bill.

Ben Sumner, Director of Technical Theatre

Marian McPartland, née Margaret Marian Turner

1918 – 2013

Marian McPartland was best known as the host of the weekly US National Public Radio (NPR) program Piano Jazz.

Having learned piano from the age of three, Marian studied at the Guildhall School. Her first professional activity was in a touring music-hall act featuring four pianists. During World War II, she entertained the troops and while playing in Belgium met her future husband cornettist Jimmy McPartland. They relocated to the US in 1946, whereupon she performed in his band in Chicago. She formed her first trio for a New York engagement in 1950 and two years later her trio began an eight-year residency at the Hickory House.

In 1965 Marian began her radio career at WBAI in New York, and in 1969 she started her own record company, Halcyon Records. In 1979, she began her weekly radio show Piano Jazz, which continued for 30 years (making it the longest-running syndicated NPR program) and led to her induction into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2007.

A Fellow of the Guildhall School, Marian won a lifetime achievement Grammy and was appointed OBE in 2010. She also published The Artistry of Marian McPartland, a collection of transcriptions, and Marian McPartland’s Jazz World: All in Good Time, a collection of her jazz profiles.

NOTICESStella Currie 1934 – 2014 (Guildhall School Governor 2004-2013)

Edward Mills 1984 – 2013 (Horn 2010)

Joyce Odiase née Taylor 1930 – 2013 (Piano/Voice 1953)

Joan Tudor-Jones 1929 – 2013 (Piano/Viola 1952)

John Whitworth 1921 – 2013 (Vocal professor 1965 – 1971)

Stay in touch

Guildhall School of Music & Drama Silk Street, Barbican, London EC2Y 8DT

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

www.gsmd.ac.uk

Guildhall School News Email: [email protected]

Alumni Office Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 (0)20 7382 2325

Development Office Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 (0)20 7382 7179

Photo CreditsSimon Annand, Clive Barda, BBC, Laurence Burns, Paul Cochrane, Rachel Dyson, Patricia M. Gane, Katie Henfry, Matt Holliday, Ronit Meranda, Shakespeare’s Globe, Shambhala, Shutterstock, Mukwae Wabei Siyolwe, Christopher Stock Photography, Clive Totman

Short CoursesThe Guildhall School offers a variety of short courses for people of all ages and experience, whether you’re looking to learn a new skill or further your professional development.

Drama Summer School• Acting in Shakespeare & Contemporary Theatre

• Acting in Musical Theatre

Music Summer School• A Cappella Choral

• Advanced Jazz

• NEW! Advanced Saxophone

• NEW! Classical Improvisation & Creative Performance

• Creative Music Training

• NEW! Electronic Music

• Essential Music Theory

• Singers’ Weekend

• Jazz & Rock Week

• Music Theory: Beyond Grade 5

Technical Theatre Summer School• NEW! Period Hat Making

• Prop Making Skills

• Scenic Art Skills

• Stage Lighting Skills

• NEW! Digital Video Editing

• NEW! Video Projection Mapping

Wellbeing• Body Mapping

• Mindfulness for Performers

Creative Learning• Music & Dance CPD: Early Years

& Primary Education Weekend

Applications now open Find out more and download our short courses brochure at

www.gsmd.ac.uk/youthandadultlearning

guildhall school news spring/summer 2014

Documents

guildhall students

guildhall sinfonia

guildhall artists

guildhall new music

milton court debut

michelle dockeryon guildhall

year course

new scheme