Annual Report 2015/16
gsmd.ac.uk
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Contents
Principal’s introduction Chairman’s message Vision and strategic aims
4 5 7
Exceptional teaching
Teaching and learning Research & knowledge exchange 4.48 Psychosis in the media Staff successes
9 13 14 15
Exceptional students
Student successes Graduation Alumni successes Widening Participation
19 21 22 24
Exceptional opportunities
Performances 27 Partnerships 29 Internationalisation 31 Creative Learning 33
A sustainable, world-class institution
Enterprise, innovation 35 & entrepreneurship Development 37 Estates and facilities 39 Student profile 42 Financials 46 Who’s who 48
Debbie Wiseman conducts the Guildhall Chamber Orchestra 4 (January 2016)
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Principal’s introduction
2016 will certainly go down in history as an extraordinary year, but the news was not all bad. Perhaps the most significant achievement for the Guildhall School was the outcome of the HEFCE review of institution-specific funding, which judged the School’s teaching to be ‘world-leading’ and brought with it a welcome injection of extra funding. The feedback made heartwarming mention of the ‘formidable impact’ of our recent alumni, who are, after all, what we are here for. As a result, the School’s resource base is stronger than ever, fully on a par with our competitors in the specialist sector, with additional investment from the City of London to support those areas where Guildhall adds something special: high production values in drama and opera; industry-standard training in technical theatre arts; clinical training and research in music therapy; extensive specialist music education at the under-18 level; and a growing international touring programme. Some of our 2016 highlights play to these priorities. 2016 saw the opening of a third Centre for Young Musicians at Saffron Hall, further consolidating Guildhall’s role in delivering the national music education plan. 2016 was also the year of Shakespeare400, and Patsy Rodenburg devised a wonderful ensemble piece – Go, Make You Ready - based on his life and work. That played here in the Silk St Theatre to great acclaim and then toured to China as part of the British Council’s ‘Shakespeare Lives’ project. 2016 was also the fourth centenary of the death of Cervantes, and your Principal was busy speaking at conferences in Oxford, Cork, Alcalá de Henares, Alicante and Shakespeare’s Globe. The Guildhall name continues to be recognised and respected around the world. More and more people, practitioners, audiences and aspiring students, know us for what we are: professional, engaged, creative, joyful and ‘open for business’. If we stick to those core values, we will not go too far wrong. It has been an honour and a privilege to be your principal for the past twelve and a half years and I will miss the buzz that everyone recognises when they come through the doors. But Trudi and I will continue to support you through our annual B&T scholarship, through our research and publications and, from time to time, cheering from the stalls in the theatres and concert rooms. We wish you all, and your new principal, Lynne Williams, every success and happiness for the future. Professor Sir Barry Ife CBE Principal
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Chairman’s message
2015-16 is my second year as Chairman of the Board of Governors and it has proved to be an eventful year. Early in the period covered by this Report the Principal indicated to me his wish to retire at the end of this academic year. After an extensive international search process we have been fortunate to recruit as our new Principal Lynne Williams, who comes to us from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney, Australia, where she held the post of Chief Executive. Lynne’s experience stretches across the performing arts and we are already looking forward immensely to her arrival in February 2017. The Principal has referred to the very significant funding we have received from HEFCE, which resulted from the School being judged ‘world-leading’ in its teaching. This is one of the most outstanding achievements of the Guildhall School in its recent history, and the School’s staff and students should be very proud indeed of this accolade. It should not, however, lead to complacency. These standards must be maintained in order for the School to continue to attract the world class individuals who all contribute to the in-house performances and to the performing arts in the UK and internationally. The Principal also referred to the Guildhall School as ‘professional, engaged, creative, joyful and “open for business”’. I endorse this sentiment completely and continue to be greatly impressed by the talent of our students and teaching staff. The coming years will have their challenges, particularly post-Brexit, but I am confident that the School will rise to, and meet, these challenges to ensure it keeps its position as the top conservatoire in the UK. Deputy John Bennett Chairman of the Board of Governors
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The Guildhall School’s vision To be an international centre of excellence and global leader of creative and professional practice in the performing arts
Vision and strategic aims
The Guildhall School’s mission To train and educate musicians, actors and theatre technicians to the highest international standards; support creativity, innovation and risk; lead cultural change; excite and inspire as many people as we can reach Strategic aims The School has four strategic aims for its development, addressed in this report. They are:
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Exceptional Teaching Engage world-class staff to deliver innovative teaching, research and knowledge exchange, encourage experiment and lead ground-breaking creative and professional practice Exceptional Students Recruit the most outstanding aspiring young musicians, actors and theatre technicians from around the world, train and educate them to the highest international standards, support them with continually improved services and facilities, and prepare them for successful careers in the performing arts Exceptional Opportunities Work with partners to create an international arts and learning centre without rival; encourage staff and students to find their voice, develop their craft and artistry, draw inspiration from practitioners across the art forms and engage with the audiences of the future A Sustainable, World-Class Institution Deliver the transformational investment needed to sustain a world-class centre of excellence for training and performance
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Exceptional teaching
“Guildhall cultivates ensemble culture. They have incredible teachers and a lot of the teaching is about appreciating other actors. They remind you that what is most exciting is the frisson between actors, the energy.� Paapa Essiedu speaking to The Observer, March 2016
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Teaching and learning
Programme offer in 2015/16
At the start of the academic year, the School enrolled 997 students on to the following programmes: Drama
5. Graduates who excel at all levels across a range of styles, disciplines and sectors The HEFCE Board decided that the School had satisfied all the criteria, with the review panel commenting:
BA (Hons) in Acting BA (Hons) in Technical Theatre Arts BA (Hons) in Video Design for Live Performance* BA (Hons) in Performance and Creative Enterprise* MA in Acting MA in Training Actors MA in Collaborative Theatre Production and Design*
“… the practice of performing arts in general was seen as being influenced by Guildhall’s teaching outputs. The institution’s advocacy of student-centred artistic education and socially engaged practice were seen as distinguishing features. Also, the formidable impact of recent graduates was a compelling factor in support of the case.”
*first entry of students in 2015/16
Assessment
Music
The 2015/16 assessment cycle continued the trend of excellent results across School programmes, particularly in the BA Technical Theatre Arts, Artist Diploma and Guildhall Artist Masters programmes.
BMus (Hons) Guildhall Artist Masters programmes MA in Opera Making & Writing MA in Music Therapy Artist Diploma Advanced Certificate Research
MPhil/DMus MPhil/PhD HEFCE institution-specific review
In a major accolade for the institution, the Guildhall School’s teaching was judged as ‘world-leading’ in the 2016 Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) institution-specific review, the funding outcomes of which were released by HEFCE in May. Institutions including the Guildhall School were asked to provide evidence about how concentrated their provision is, their higher costs and to describe their world-leading teaching outputs, in order to demonstrate that they met the criteria for funding. The Guildhall School’s submission was based on five key factors: 1. Specialised teaching and learning across and between music and drama 2. Internationally-recognised innovations in pedagogy and professional development 3. Collaborations with international practitioners, ensembles and institutions 4. Socially-engaged practice beyond the conservatoire
All External Examiners were satisfied with the overall quality of the programmes and highlighted a number of strengths and areas of good practice including: - The high quality of teaching and the commitment and enthusiasm of programme teams - The attention paid to the specific needs of students and the generally high level of academic support provided - The inventive programming in performance activities Comments from examiners included: “Innovative opportunities for students” [BA Video Design for Live Performance] “High levels of student morale and attainment” [BMus] “The graduating students from the Guildhall School are recognised in the industry as being among the best” [BA Technical Theatre Arts]
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Programme developments
A new PGCert in Performance Teaching was validated in the autumn term. The programme fills a gap in provision at the School, providing students at Masters level with the opportunity to specialise in performance teaching. The rationale for the programme is underpinned by sector developments in arts education as a whole, pointing to the need for more highly-trained performing arts teachers. Two programmes were validated in spring/summer 2016: the MA in Music Therapy and the Doctoral programme. In both cases the revalidation panel commended the strength of the programme and the high quality of teaching and supervision, which was borne out by the positive comments of the student representatives who participated in the revalidation events. In the autumn term, an agreement was signed with the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing for the establishment of a new BA in Acting Studies programme, with the first and fourth years delivered in Beijing, and the second and third years delivered at the School (see page 31). The programme was validated in November 2016 and will see its first intake come to the Guildhall School from Beijing in September 2017. Student feedback
The National Student Survey (NSS) takes place between January and April of each academic year, and asks final year undergraduates to reflect upon their experience of their programme as a whole. Participation increased by 12% to 87.4% in 2016 (up from 75.4% in 2015), far higher than the national response rate of 72%. The Whole School Survey takes place in the summer term of each academic year. All students of the School take part in the survey, which assesses student satisfaction on a range of issues at both programme and module level, as well as satisfaction with professional and support services. Comments from the Whole School Survey included: “What I find most valuable are the many opportunities to get experience on stage. The production process is very professional, and prepares us well for the professional world” [Opera] “The quality of the lessons is exceptional; they are wholly engaging, challenging both physically and mentally, and the development I feel I am undergoing is as a person as well as an actor” [Acting] “The thing I have most valued has been being a part of a student body, wholly dedicated to music, for the first time in my life. This has challenged me and inspired me to work harder” [BMus]
The School considered a wide variety of student feedback during 2015/16, including data from the two principle surveys - the National Student Survey (NSS) and Whole School Survey (WSS).
National Student Survey 2016 Question
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Whole School % agree 2016
2015
2014
The School’s aim is to prepare talented young performers and theatre technicians for careers in their respective professions. I am confident that the School has provided me with the tools to take up my chosen profession.
81
84
95
Overall, I am satisfied with the quality of the course.
85
86
83
Whole School Survey 2016
Overall I was satisfied with the quality of teaching on this programme:
Programme
% satisfied 2016
% satisfied 2015
BMus
92.5
87.9
BA/MA Acting
96.5
98.5
BA Technical Theatre Arts
82.7
78
BA Performance & Creative Enterprise
100
n/a
BA Video Design for Live Performance
66.6
n/a
Guildhall Artist Masters
86.9
92.5
MA Music Therapy
88.9
100
Artist Diploma
100
92.8
Advanced Certificate
100
100
MA Opera Making & Writing
100
50
MA Training Actors
66.6
100
MA Collaborative Theatre Production & Design
100
n/a
Research
86.9
83.3
% satisfied 2016
% satisfied 2015
Whole School Survey 2016
Overall satisfaction with support services: Overall I was satisfied with... IT
the quality of the IT provision
63.3
72.4
Library
the quality of the Library Services
93.9
92.9
Registry
the quality of advice and service
84.5
81.5
Finance
the helpfulness and efficiency of staff
82.3
82.4
the clarity of information regarding fees and other payments
83.2
83.5
80.9
83.5
77 72.5 75.2
75.4 67 79.8
Facilities the courtesy & efficiency of front desk and stage door staff the catering service provided by – Silk Street Café – Milton Court Café – Green Room
Venues
the availability of Performance Venues staff
77.1
79.2
Student Affairs
the range of services
86.1
83.3
Audio Visual
the quality of the AV provision
64.5
68.1
SU
the social activities and events provided
55.2
49.3
SU communication, and staff availability
58.1
51
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Junior Guildhall
Centre for Young Musicians (CYM)
Junior Guildhall’s partnership with Felsted School continued to develop with an increase in the number of students studying at the String Training Programme at Felsted, a satellite version of the highly successful and unique programme which has been oversubscribed in London for many years. Student numbers doubled at Felsted during 2015/16. Instrumental lessons are now available on violin, viola, cello and bass with additional study piano.
The new Saffron Walden Centre opened in October 2015, and had enrolled 90 students by the end of the academic year. Plans for a Centre in Peterborough were completed by the end of the academic year with the new Centre due to open in October. During the course of the year further dialogue was opened with the Bristol Plays Music HUB and Bristol Cathedral School, where a pilot CYM project was planned for the new academic year 16-17.
Developments in the Junior Guildhall jazz course included a wider range of first study instruments to include jazz voice and an increase in the number of jazz ensembles available to both specialist and non-specialist jazz musicians, including the introduction of a jazz choir.
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Research & knowledge exchange
The extra £160,000 of HEFCE funding earned by Guildhall researchers in the Research Excellence Framework 2014 helped the School navigate a challenging financial landscape in 2015-16. Research activity continued to expand, and was given an extra boost in the shape of the very positive feedback on research from HEFCE’s institution-specific review, which commented: “World-leading pedagogic research originating from the institution was seen as indicative of an institution producing teaching outputs that have had a positive and significant impact on the way people look at teaching and learning music.” Accordingly, new posts were advertised to support exciting new developments in the School’s work on catalysing institutional change: two Creative Exchange Managers were appointed, to start at the beginning of 2016-17. A new Research Co-ordinator was also recruited to fill the post left vacant in January 2015.
successful hosting of the Royal Musical Association annual conference, which enjoyed its highest-ever number of submissions (including 13 accepted from Guildhall staff) and its highest-ever number of attendees. Similarly successful ICONgo and ICON seminar events were held in Vienna, Queensland and Oslo. As well as esteem, these activities generated around £12,000 of funding for re-investment in research. Lastly, 2015-16 saw a number of major prizes and awards, above all for staff researching in the area of composition. These included Matthew Kaner, who was winner of BBC Radio 3’s ‘Embedded: Composer in 3’, an initiative devised in partnership with Sound and Music; and Philip Venables, the School’s Doctoral Composer-in-Residence at the Royal Opera. Philip’s 4.48 Psychosis, premiered at The Lyric Hammersmith in May 2016, was a resounding critical success and went on to win Best Achievement in Opera at the UK Theatre Awards. See next page for a summary of media
coverage for this production. Other new areas of work were concentrated in the doctoral programme, which was successfully revalidated in June 2016: students were admitted to pursue projects in Technical Theatre (prop-making and scenography), opera administration, and queer theory in performance. Overall the programme welcomed another large intake, including three students fully-funded under partnership agreements with the Royal Opera House, the Barbican and the Victoria & Albert Museum (the latter an Arts and Humanities Research Council collaborative doctorate). Other students benefited from support from other prestigious funders, including the Gulbenkian Foundation and the Chinese Government, and three staff were admitted with full fee-waivers.
This was a good year for grant income, from the AHRC in particular, which committed funds of around £370,000, including £230,000 for Dr Karen Wise’s ‘Finding a Voice’ study. Also funded was Professor Julian Philips’s new opera project The Tale of Januarie, through a £4million One World Research Initiative led by Manchester University. The School’s leading position as producer of research/practice events across the world was further consolidated by a very
Matthew Kaner
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4.48 Psychosis in the media
“Philip Venables’ operatic version of Sarah "4:48 Psychosis is a remarkable Kane’s final play is both startling and achievement. The Royal Opera and the immensely moving.” Guildhall School of Music & Drama should be congratulated on commissioning The Stage (4* review) it as part of their joint doctoral composerin-residence scheme. And above all, it “Philip Venables’s 4.48 Psychosis – the first confirms Philip Venables’s reputation as opera to emerge from the Royal Opera’s one of the finest of the younger generation joint Composer-in-Residence doctorate of composers working today." with the Guildhall School of Music & Drama – gives the company its first truly The Guardian home-grown hit.” “The revelation is how Venables has The Arts Desk enriched [Sarah Kane's] play through music. He challenges the conventions “4.48 Psychosis is an arresting, affecting, of opera. Via an array of resources he haunting whirlwind, perfectly ambushes and refreshes an old art form.” encapsulating the chaotic, discordant The Observer “Where this first ever operatic setting by Royal Opera/Guildhall composerin-residence Philip Venables succeeds is through simple honesty.” The Independent (5* review)
world inside the mind of a declining manic depressive… Under conductor Richard Baker’s baton, Venables’ uncomfortably beautiful, stripped-back but richly textured orchestration and discomfiting mix of prerecorded and live sounds beautifully convey and complement the natural percussive cadences and often lyrical nature of Kane’s raw, powerful words.”
“He [Venables] manages to enhance Kane’s groundbreaking format with his own The Upcoming (4* review) unbuttoned imagination… It’s unhinged and chilling, albeit laced with Kane’s “Venables’ score, played by the CHROMA trademark humour. Most of all, it is Ensemble conducted by Richard Baker, is dizzyingly colourful.” poignant and atmospheric and suits the Financial Times (4* review) words very well. It allows some to be uttered slowly, and others to be rattled through in “Rawly powerful…This is an urgent a haze, signifying how someone’s thoughts message from black-dog hell, and it should can rush in and pile on top of each other.” not go unheeded.” Music OMH (4* review) The Telegraph (4* review) “Philip Venables’s opera 4.48 Psychosis… finds a musical vocabulary for the substances with which we treat depression… Every self-harming syllable of the text is clear… I can only praise the musicality, discipline and bravery shown by [the singers]” The Times (4* review) “An intense theatrical experience. In contemporary opera, that is a rare achievement.” Opera magazine
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“A drum, a hammer and a saw pound accusingly, or ping question marks; the emphasis, the emotion, comes through in the voice of the instrument as much as in the written word. This doesn't sound all that, but boy does it work in the space; 4.48 Psychosis is worth watching just for those sections…There are also dotted instances of real fizzing energy, with Venables' score rising to the challenges of Kane's text with thrilling urgency.” What’s on Stage (3* review)
4.48 Psychosis
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Staff successes
The Guildhall School’s internationallyrenowned teaching staff are at the core of the Guildhall student experience. In 2015/16, the achievements of Guildhall School staff were formally recognised in a number of ways: Staff development
The title Professor was conferred upon four members of staff, in acknowledgement of a national and international standing in their discipline: JANICE CHAPMAN (Professor of Vocal Studies) DR NYE PARRY (Professor of Composition) SIMON WILLS (Professor of Trombone) IAN WILSON (Professor of Recorder)
A significant number of staff also achieved recognition from the Higher Education Academy under the Catalyst Scheme in 2016. The following staff were made Fellows of the Higher Education Academy: CECELIA BRUGGEMEYER DAVID CORKHILL CATHERINE FLEMING
EMILY WHITE , Sackbutt Professor, won a Gramophone Award with the English Cornett and Sackbutt Ensemble for their recording The Spy’s Choirbook. STEVE HUTTLY , Head of Theatre
Technology, won the ABTT Theatre Technician of the Year Award, which was presented to him at the ABTT Show by Guildhall honorary fellow Mark Jonathan. Estates & Facilities Senior Projects Manager HANNAH BIBBINS , Orchestral Manager JIM DEAN , Head of Physical Actor Training DANNY MCGRATH , Piano Professor CAROLINE PALMER , and Vice Principal and Director of Music JONATHAN VAUGHAN were all made Fellows of the Guildhall School at the 2015 Graduation Ceremony (see page 21). Appointments and retirements
After many years of teaching in the department, MALCOLM EDMONSTONE was appointed Head of Jazz in March. JENNY MOLLICA was appointed Head of Creative Learning, and CARLOS LOPEZREAL was appointed Programme Leader for the new PGCert in Performance Teaching programme.
MATTEO DALLE FRATTE RICK HOLLAND MATTHEW KING ELIZABETH MARCUS SARAH PRING DR CHRISTOPHER SUCKLING
And two staff were made Senior Fellows of the Higher Education Academy: IAN CLARKE SARAH NEWBOLD
Staff achievements MATTHEW KANER , Guildhall alumnus and Professor of Composition, was selected for BBC Radio 3's 'Embedded: Composer in 3 Scheme', working closely with Radio 3’s programme makers over a 70-day period, composing a number of short pieces and talking about the process of composing classical music today. Elsewhere in Composition, JULIAN ANDERSON won a prestigious RPS Music Award in the Chamber Scale Composition category for his work Van Gogh Blue.
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The Guildhall School welcomed a number of new faces to the professorial staff in 2015-16. ANDRÁS KELLER was appointed Professor of Violin, JULIUS DRAKE as Professor of Piano Accompaniment, GARETH DAVIES as Professor of Flute, DOMINIC MORGAN as Professor of Contra Bassoon, MAHAN ESFAHANI as Professor of Harpsichord, and ROBERT AULT as Professor of Bass Clarinet. The Jazz Department saw a range of new staff appointed, including LIANE CARROLL , IAIN BALLAMY , LAURENCE COTTLE , ALEC DANKWORTH ,
Steve Huttly
Lynne Williams
BARNABY DICKINSON , MARTIN
Finally, in July it was announced that
FRANCE , CHRISTIAN GARRICK , ADAM
LYNNE WILLIAMS , currently Director/
GOLDSMITH , JAMES KNIGHT , MIKE
CEO of the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney, Australia, would succeed PROFESSOR BARRY IFE as Principal of the Guildhall School, and would take up her post in February 2017.
OUTRAM , PERCY PURSGLOVE , BARAK SCHMOOL , ROSS STANLEY , NICHOL THOMPSON
and GARETH WILLIAMS .
As the new BA Performance and Creative Enterprise welcomed its first student intake, a number of staff were appointed to deliver the programme, including RICK HOLLAND , ZARA MCFARLANE , JUSTIN O’SHAUGHNESSY , RACHAEL PERRIN , and JACOB SAM-LA-ROSE . And this year the School bid farewell to three long-serving members of staff: DEREK RODGERS , Head of Junior Guildhall, retired after 33 years working at the School; HEATHER SWAIN retired as Deputy Registrar (Assessment & Progression) after 27 years’ service; and NICK HIRST , Facilities Assistant, retired after 32 years.
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Exceptional students
“Students at the Guildhall School’s opera course were throwing heart, soul and terrific talent into pieces they’d worked up for their final assessment. There were scenes from standard works…plus three half-hour mini-operas composed by the students. For two or three hours the intensity of these students took me away.” The Times (Matthew Parris), on Opera Makers, July 2016
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Student successes
Guildhall School students are recognised in appointments, award ceremonies and competitions across the globe. Successes for 2015/16 included: Vocal & Opera
(Opera Course) 1st Prize, Wigmore Hall Song Competition
MILAN SILJANOV
(MPerf Vocal Studies) Song Prize, Kathleen Ferrier Awards
BIANCA ANDREW
(BMus Voice) and ROBERT LEWIS (BMus Voice) 2nd Prize and 3rd Prize, Kathleen Ferrier Society Bursary for Young Singers Competition JACK ROBERTS
MARTA FONTANALS-SIMMONS
(Artist Diploma Vocal Studies) and (Piano Fellow) 'Prix de Lied', Concours International de chant-piano Nadia et Lili Boulanger RICARDO GOSALBO
FRANCESCA CHIEJINA (MMus Vocal Studies) and TOM ATKINS (Opera Course) Accepted onto the Royal Opera House Jette Parker Young Artists Programme 2016
(Artist Diploma Vocal Studies) Park Lane Group Young Artist; accepted into the National Opera Studio
LIZZIE KARANI
MAYA IRGALINA (MMus Piano Accompaniment) Accompanist's Prize, Kathleen Ferrier Society Bursary for Young Singers Competition
(MPerf Piano Accompaniment) and EDWARD LIDDALL (Piano Fellow) Joint winners, Accompanist Prize at the Maureen Lehane Competition NATALIE BURCH
(DMus Piano) Named as a City Music Foundation Artist
ALEXANDER SOARES
ANTONIO OYARZABAL (Artist Diploma Piano) Winner of the finalist prize and the audience special prize, Campillos International Piano Competition
(BMus Piano) Runnerup, 2016 Norah Sande Award
DANIEL EVANS
Chamber Music
(Pablo Hernán Benedí, Michael Petrov, Erdem Misirlioglu) 1st Prize and Audience Prize, Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition
TRIO ISIMSIZ
PELLEAS ENSEMBLE (Henry Roberts, Luba Tunnicliffe, Oliver Wass) 1st Prize and Audience Prize, St Martins' Chamber Music Competition
(Artist Diploma Violin) and EDWARD LIDDALL (Piano Fellow) 2nd Prize, BPSE Beethoven Chamber Music Competition
AMARINS WIERDSMA
(MPerf Vocal Studies) 2nd Prize, Association of English Singers & Speakers Patricia Routledge National English Song Competition
JONATHAN HYDE
(Opera Course) Emerging Artist at Scottish Opera ELGAN THOMAS
Keyboard
(BMus Piano) Grand Prize, 2015 Montreal Symphony Competition, and Winner, Sylvia Gelber Music Foundation Award
SCOTT MACISAAC
JONATHAN MORRIS (MPerf Piano) Piano Prize, Deena Shypitka Awards
(Artist Diploma Piano) Worshipful Company of Musicians silver medal MARINA KOKA
(MMus Piano), Winner, Musicians' Company's 2016 Carnwath Piano Scholarship
SOPHIA DEE Pelleas Ensemble
Strings ELISABETH EDER (MPerf Harp) Winner, VIII Concorso Musicale Filadelfia, Italy OLIVER WASS (MMus Harp) St John's Smith Square Young Artist
(BMus Cello) 2nd Prize, 21st Kobe International Music Competition
TAMAKI SUGIMOTO
Wind, Brass & Percussion
(BMus Flute) Winner, Instrumental Solo competition for under-25s at the Urdd Eisteddfod 2016
ENLLI PARRI
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Composition
(MMus Composition) and DONGHOON SHIN (MComp Composition) Winners, 2016 Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize
JACK SHEEN
(Trumpet) Brass finalist in BBC Young Musician 2016
ZAK EASTOP
(Percussion) Percussion finalist in BBC Young Musician 2016
HRISTIYAN HRISTOV
(Cello) Winner, Emunah Young Musician of the Year 2016
ELLEN BAUMRING-GLEDHILL
Drama
Final year actors went on to a number of prestigious roles: TOM GLYNN-CARNEY Dunkirk – Feature Film (dir. Christopher Nolan); The Last Post - TV series (Bonafide Films for the BBC) Bessie Carter
JOSH DYLAN Allied – Feature Film (dir. Robert Zemickis); Sheppy (dir. Paul Miller) at the Orange Tree Theatre LEONIE BENESCH Babylon Berlin – TV Series (dirs. Tom Tykwer, Achim von Borries, Hendrik Handloegten); The Crown – Season 2, TV Series (dir. Stephen Daldry)
946: The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips (dir. Emma Rice) UK and US touring production
AKPORE UZOH
The Roundabout (dir. Hugh Ross) at Park Theatre (‘a star performance from Bessie Carter’ Evening Standard); King Lear (dir. Deborah Warner) at the Old Vic Theatre
BESSIE CARTER
ROSE D’AULBY Pride and Prejudice (dir. Deborah Bruce) at Regents Park Theatre and UK tour
Two Technical Theatre students won awards at the Association of British Theatre Technicians Show: ELENA PITSIAELI
GDS Student Achievement Award RORY BEATON
Michael Northen Bursary Junior Guildhall
(Violin) Winner, International Russian Rotary Children's Music Competition in Moscow, and winner of Russia’s prestigious Nutcracker competition
LEIA ZHU
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ALEXANDER PAPP (Violin/Composition) Runner-up, Royal Philharmonic Society Duet Young Composer Competition CHRIS BREWSTER (Euphonium/ Trombone) Appointment, London Symphony Orchestra Brass Academy SAM RUDD-JONES (Composition) Winner, BBC Proms Inspire Young Composers’ Competition 2016 LILLY VADANEAUX (Composition/Piano) Highly Commended, BBC Proms Inspire Young Composers’ Competition 2016
(Trumpet) 1st Prize at the Northern and Eastern Europe round of the German music competition 'Jugend Musiziert'
RUBEN EMSON
TORRIN WILLIAMS (Guitar) Leader of the National Youth Guitar Ensemble EZO SARICI (Violin) 2nd Prize, Josef Micka International Competition in Prague, and joint winner, Woking Musician of the Year
14 Junior Guildhall students were selected for the National Youth Orchestra, one for the National Youth Wind Ensemble and one in the National Youth Wind Orchestra. Centre for Young Musicians TAD DAVIES , CATHERINE MCCARDEL
and ESTHER SKIPP (CYM Norwich) Selected for the Britten Sinfonia Academy (CYM Norwich) Winner, Michael Badminton Prize for the most promising string player in the Norfolk Young Musician Competition
CATHERINE MCCARDEL
Three CYM Hestercombe students were selected to have their composition performed at the BBC Ten Pieces II Proms on 23 and 24 July 2016.
Graduation
The School’s Graduation ceremony celebrates the efforts and achievements of Guildhall students and marks their entry into the profession.
Fellowships were also awarded to five members of staff (see page 16). Jodie Whittaker gave an acceptance speech on behalf of the honorands.
Graduation Day 2015 took place in the Great Hall of the Guildhall on Friday 6 November with over 200 graduands in attendance to receive their awards in front of friends and family. At the ceremony, Fellowships and Honorary Fellowships were conferred by the Board of Governors on a number of figures from the arts industries in recognition of their services to the School and the profession. These included: Wigmore Hall Artistic and Executive Director JOHN GILHOOLY OBE , Chief Executive of Arts Council England DARREN HENLEY OBE , lighting designer JOHANNA TOWN , Deputy Chairman of the School (and outgoing Chairman) ALDERMAN DAVID GRAVES , and Acting alumna JODIE WHITTAKER .
Graduation 2015: Professor Sir Barry Ife, Johanna Town, Danny McGrath, Jodie Whittaker, Mark Jonathan
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Alumni successes
Lily James in War and Peace
Guildhall alumni work across the globe, achieving extraordinary things. Highlights in 2015/16 included:
MARK SIMPSON
Music
BENJAMIN APPL
ALESSANDRO FISHER (Voice 2013) Joint winner, Kathleen Ferrier Competition ASHOK GUPTA (Repetiteur 2012) Accompanist's Prize, Kathleen Ferrier Competition PALISANDER QUARTET (Miriam Nerval, Caoimhe de Paor, Lydia Gosnell, and Hannah Fisher, Recorder alumni from 2014 and 2015) St John's Smith Square Young Artists' Scheme 2016-2017 CLARE HAMMOND (Piano 2011) Winner, RPS Awards in the Young Artists category RODERICK WILLIAMS (Opera 1995) Winner, RPS Awards in the Singers category
(Opera 2012) Winner, Welsh Singer Competition
SIONED GWEN DAVIES
Palisander Quartet
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PRACH BOONDISKULCHOK (Piano 2010) and VLADIMIR WALTHAM (Cello 2012) of the Linos Piano Trio, 1st Prize in the Piano Trio section of the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition 2015
(Composition 2012) Winner, South Bank Sky Arts Award in the Classical category
(Voice 2016) Signed to Sony Classical record label (Trumpet/Composition 2006) Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for Sylva with Snarky Puppy and the Metropole Orkest
JULES BUCKLEY
(Flute 1994) Elected Chairman of the London Symphony Orchestra
GARETH DAVIES
GAVIN REID (Trumpet 1991) Appointed Chief Executive of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra
(Cello 2014) Appointed Assistant Conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
JONATHAN BLOXHAM
SAMEETA GAHIR (Flute 2013) Appointed Principal Piccolo of Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (where she joins fellow alumni Cormac Henry and Fiona Fulton to form an allGuildhall flute section) MAGRETHE LYSHOLM (Horn 2014) Appointed Tutti Horn at Aalborg Symphony Orchestra
FABIAN SCHMIDT (Trombone 2011) Appointed to the Trombone section of the Brandenburg State Orchestra
CHARLES HAINES
SARAH OLIVER (Cello 2011) Appointed No. 4 Cello in the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
ANNA MATTHEWS (Technical Theatre 2005) Highly commended by the Stage Management Association for her work in The Chairs
(Trumpet 1998) Appointed OBE in the Queen's birthday honours 2016
(Technical Theatre 1980) Winner, ABTT Product of the Year
ALISON BALSOM
(Technical Theatre 2008) Winner, Award for Outstanding Achievement in Media Server Programming at the 2015 Technical PAUL LEWIS (Piano 1995) Appointed CBE in the Queen's birthday honours 2016 Theatre Awards LESLIE EAST (Former Director of Music) Appointed OBE in the New Year’s Honours 2016 PROFESSOR HELEN ODELL-MILLER
(Music Therapy 1977) Appointed OBE in the New Year’s Honours 2016 (Violin 2004) Appointed MBE in the New Year’s Honours 2016 ALINA IBRAGIMOVA
ALEXANDRA DARIESCU (Piano 2011) Appointed Special Ambassador to Romania
Technical Theatre JOCELYN BUNDY (Stage Management 1983) Appointed Honorary Associate (HonARAM) by the Royal Academy of Music
JONATHAN LYLE
Acting
(Acting 2012) Winner of a BAFTA award for Best Female Performance in a Comedy and two Royal Television Society Awards (Breakthrough and Best Comedy Performance) for Chewing Gum
MICHAELA COEL
FREDDIE FOX (Acting 2010) 3rd Prize, Ian Charleson Awards for his performance in Romeo and Juliet at the Crucible, Sheffield
(Acting 2007) Nominated for a Tony Award (Best Actor in a Featured Role in a Play) for his performance in King Charles III
RICHARD GOULDING
EILEEN ATKINS (Speech & Drama 1953) Received the 2015 Gielgud Award for Excellence in the Dramatic Arts at the UK Theatre Awards 2015
Amongst many exciting castings for Acting alumni, the BBC’s new adaptation of War and Peace featured a host of Guildhall graduates, including LILY JAMES (Acting 2010) as Natasha Rostova, KATE PHILLIPS (Acting 2014) as Lise Bolkonskaya, OLIVIA ROSS (Acting 2011) as Mademoiselle Bourienne, CHLOE PIRRIE (Acting 2009) as Julie Karegina and BEN LLOYD-HUGHES (Acting 2011) as Tsar Alexander.
Charles Haines
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Widening Participation
The Guildhall School seeks to identify and develop the most talented young artists regardless of background. The role of widening participation is to increase the proportion of applications and enrolments to the Guildhall School from young people who have backgrounds that are underrepresented in higher education, including: state school attendees; black and minority ethnic groups; young people with disabilities; and those from neighbourhoods with a low number of participants in higher education. There are a number of initiatives in widening participation at the Guildhall School which are targeted at specific London boroughs, mostly in East London. These target boroughs represent the reach of the Centre for Young Musicians (CYM) and the reach of Creative Learning (see page 33). The School’s access projects aim to provide progressive and sustained learning opportunities in order to increase the skills and aspirations of young people in these areas. Application fee waivers
During 2015/16, the Guildhall School piloted a system of application fee waivers for two of its undergraduate programmes. Application fee waivers were made available to young people from low income households who lived
Junior Guildhall
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in the School’s target boroughs, who were otherwise unable to meet the cost of the School’s application process. 54 young people were given application fee waivers and, subsequently, four were offered and accepted places onto an undergraduate programme. In the next academic year, the Guildhall School will be increasing the number of application fee waivers from 60 to 170 and will be extending them to all undergraduate programmes. Summer Schools
The School provides free places for courses on its summer school programme for students who meet the eligibility criteria. Eligibility is means-tested to the same scale as the Department of Education’s Music & Dance award. These free places enable young people to experience a taste of conservatoire study as well as increase their familiarity with the Guildhall School. In 2015/16, 27 young people were given a free summer school place. Junior Guildhall
Junior Guildhall has a range of scholarships and bursaries to enable young people from a low-income background to take advantage of intensive music tuition. To encourage uptake of these scholarships from young people in East London, Junior Guildhall
skills of young artists, and projects that develop the aspirations and knowledge of young people seeking to develop careers in the performing arts. The School aims to build on Creative Learning’s existing relationships with young people in East London in order to increase the number of applications and enrolments to the Guildhall School from targeted areas. CYM assisted places
Acting workshop in Dagenham
and the School’s Widening Participation Officer developed a taster event in wind & brass. 37 young people, who play a wide range of wind and brass instruments, attended this event, from nine different East London boroughs. Acting outreach
During the year, the School piloted a range of acting workshops in targeted London boroughs, delivered by Guildhall graduates in schools, colleges and theatres. From February 2016 to August 2016, Guildhall graduates delivered 15 workshops designed to give a taste of the type of actor training provided by the Guildhall School. The School has received very positive feedback on the sessions from both the participants and the teachers, and many of the young people involved made use of the School’s application fee waivers in order to apply to the BA Acting programme. Others have gone on to join more sustained workshops offered in 2016/17.
Centre for Young Musicians (CYM) is a division of the Guildhall School and provides intensive and progressive music tuition for under-18s. Their London Saturday school is situated in Morley College in Lambeth and offers tuition in both classical and jazz disciplines. The Guildhall School provides a range of scholarships to help young people at CYM from lowincome backgrounds with the cost of their music tuition. In 2015/16 the School awarded just over £80,900 of access scholarships to 30 children at CYM. At the end of 2016, two students who received scholarships left CYM to pursue further study: one to study music at Birmingham Conservatoire and the other to the prestigious Harrow School on a music scholarship.
Creative Learning outreach
Creative Learning (see page 33) delivers the majority of the School’s outreach and community engagement work in East London. Creative Learning’s work ranges from ‘first access’ to the performing arts for young children, long-term projects to increase the
CYM London
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Exceptional opportunities
“Yet again, this was an unusual performance in that the LSO members were joined by student players from the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra. It was remarkable how Rattle and his diverse forces achieved near flawless ensemble, with extraordinary finesse to the string tone, exceptional energy in the brass and striking vitality from the woodwind.� The Guardian, June 2016
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Performances
In 2015/2016 third year actors tackled some exciting material in the Milton Court Theatres. Productions in the Milton Court Studio Theatre included The Secret Rapture by David Hare and Mountain Language, One for the Road and A New World Order by Harold Pinter and Dealer’s Choice by Patrick Marber. In Milton Court Theatre productions included Mephisto, a novel by Klaus Mann adapted by Ariane Mnouchkine, and Top Girls by Caryl Churchill. The Alumni Recital Series continued in 2015/16 and welcomed Sa Chen, Sophie Karthäuser and Eugene Asti, Toby Spence and Julian Milford, a guitar showcase with JØrgen Skogmo, Ahmed Dickinson Cardenas and Maria Camahort, and also included the film and TV music of Debbie Wiseman, conducted by Debbie herself. Over in Silk Street, opera audiences were thrilled by works including Le donne curiose by Ermanno WolfFerrari, The Rape of Lucretia by Benjamin Britten and two lesser ° known works by Martinu: Ariane and Alexandre bis. Opera audiences were also able to see the culmination of the School and Royal Opera’s first Doctoral Composer-in-Residence with a new operatic adaption of 4.48 Psychosis, based on the final work of British playwright Sarah Kane, at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith (see page 14).
Iain Burnside’s new play Drums and Guns brought together artists from the Guildhall School, Royal Irish Academy of Music and the Juilliard School for this devised piece which explored conflict in war and the impact it has on families left behind. This production was also performed in The Lir, Dublin and Juilliard School in New York. Also across the Atlantic, three senior students gave a chamber music recital in New York’s Carnegie Hall, which the School visits on a bi-annual basis. The 2016 Gold Medal was the year of the harp – Oliver Wass was the overall winner with a performance of Ginastera’s Harp Concerto. The Guildhall Wigmore Recital Prize, a competition run jointly by the School and the Wigmore Hall, with a Wigmore recital as the prize, was won by pianist Marina Koka and the Junior Guildhall Lutine Prize was won by violinist Didier Osindero. Gold Medals were also awarded in Acting, to Claudia Jolly, and in Technical Theatre, to stage manager Victoria Shillingford. The School continued its association with the BBC Symphony Orchestra through the Total Immersion series, which this year featured music by Henryk Górecki, Louis Andriessen and Henri Dutilleux. Following the cancellation of the City of London Festival Guildhall musicians produced a series of 12 lunchtime chamber music concerts at the School, and there were also 10 pre-LSO concerts on the Barbican stage as part of the LSO Platforms: Guildhall Artists series. The Guildhall Jazz Festival transformed the Milton Court Studio Theatre into a jazz club for two days, culminating in performances by Bob Stenson, Martin Speake and the band Anorak. The jazz department also came out in force for a special concert in collaboration with the award-winning singer-pianist Liane Carroll. Technical Theatre took video mapping to a number of high profile external events, including Shakespeare: Son et Lumière in Guildhall Yard (see page 36) and Glastonbury Festival, to name but a few.
Top Girls (February 2016)
Productions of Lulu by Frank Wedekind directed by Christian Burgess and a devised piece based on Shakespeare’s 29
sonnets entitled Go, make you ready directed by Patsy Rodenburg showcased the versatility of Guildhall actors; the latter toured to China for five performances in Shanghai, Beijing and Chongqing as part of the Shakespeare 400 celebrations. On the Twentieth Century, the summer musical, was a spectacular end-of-year finale. The Technical Theatre Arts Graduate Exhibition, now in its third year, was a huge success and provided a networking opportunity for 34 graduating students.
Oliver Wass, Gold Medal 2016 winner
In 2015/16, the School presented over 300 public performances, with 33 major ticketed productions and events across the year. Gross ticket income for performances was £107,555, down from £128,146 in 2014/15, while average audience attendance at ticketed events was 86%, up from 73% the previous year, reflecting that unsold tickets were more proactively distributed for free to groups from widening participation activities and Junior Guildhall/CYM. Visiting artists
Visiting conductors included Sir Simon Rattle, who returned to conduct Guildhall musicians and the LSO in a premiere of the late Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’s The Hogboon; James Blair, Adrian Leaper, Michail Jurowski and Takuo Yuasa. Masterclasses provided a further opportunity for students to work with distinguished musicians, including sessions from pianists Sa Chen, Angela Hewitt and Richard Goode, and globallyrenowned singers Claron McFadden and Renée Fleming. Musicians from the Los Angeles Philharmonic gave instrumental masterclasses as part of their Barbican International Associate work. Film composers Stephen Endleman and Harry Gregson-Williams, both Guildhall alumni, continued their work with the Electronic Music department. Visiting opera directors included Rodula Gaitanou and Stephen Barlow, and Timothy Redmond conducted the opera orchestra in the Martinu° double bill. Alumni Elizabeth Desbruslais and Catherine Backhouse returned to the School as soloists in the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra & Chorus 30
performance of Elgar’s The Music Makers and Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky. Acting worked with directors including Jo McInnes, Stephen Unwin, Mike Alfreds and Jo Blatchley while Technical Theatre welcomed a number of designers and lighting designers, including Louis Carver, Simon Corder, Amelia Jane Hankin, Howard Hudson, Mark Jonathan, Dora Schweitzer, Mark Simmonds, Yannis Thavoris, Johanna Town, Agnes Treplin and Jamie Vartan. Junior Guildhall
Junior Guildhall presents over 80 concerts across the year. This year’s external performances included concerts at Charlton House, Regent Hall, and Thaxted Festival, where Junior Guildhall Symphony Orchestra performed Holst’s The Planets in the composer’s beloved church as part of the Holst centenary celebrations. Visiting guests at Junior Guildhall this year included a composer workshop with Sasha Siem, the Padeiro Repique Duo from Brazil, and a conducting workshop with Mark Wigglesworth. Centre for Young Musicians
At CYM there are also performance opportunities for students throughout the year. The London Schools Symphony Orchestra gives three Barbican Hall concerts during the year as well as an annual international tour, and the London Youth Wind Band two performances. External performance highlights for CYM in 2015/16 included: CYM London students Anton May, Yohan Rodas and Louis Lodder sang the roles of The Three Boys in the ENO production of The Magic Flute; the CYM London Chamber Choir was invited to perform at the memorial service for Sir Peter Maxwell Davies at St John’s Smith Square; four students from CYM Norfolk took part in a chamber concert with pianist Peter Donohoe; and three students from CYM Somerset performed their composition alongside the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra as part of the BBC Ten Pieces Prom in July.
Partnerships
Sir Simon Rattle conducts the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra in rehearsal
The School has developed partnerships with several major performing arts organisations, which provide exceptional opportunities for Guildhall students. In 2015/16, partnership activity included: Barbican Centre
Summer Arts Camp
- Masterclasses with members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, who are International Associates at the Barbican, and also with worldrenowned soprano Renée Fleming as part of the Barbican’s Artist Spotlight series - Electronic musicians from the Guildhall School helped to design a digital interactive installation for the Barbican Foyers called Towards the Mean, and performed in live events alongside it (see page 33) - Creative Learning, the joint outreach division of the Guildhall School and the Barbican, was involved in several major collaborations this year, including the launch of the new BA Performance & Creative Enterprise in association with the Barbican. They also brought Guildhall musicians together with Barbican International Associate ensemble Jazz at Lincoln Center, and were involved in the launch of a new Summer Arts Camp at the School delivered in association with the Barbican - As part of the ongoing development of the research degree programme at the
Guildhall School, 2016 saw the launch of a new, fully-funded studentship in partnership with the Barbican Centre, offering a doctoral candidate the opportunity to work full-time for three years on a research project in the Barbican in the area of understanding audiences. London Symphony Orchestra
- Guildhall musicians, including those studying on Orchestral Artistry, the School’s postgraduate specialism in association with the LSO, joined the orchestra under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle for the premiere of the late Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’s new children’s opera The Hogboon - Guildhall singers formed the semichorus in a LSO performance of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius at the Barbican, conducted by Sir Mark Elder - The Guildhall Artists at the Barbican series continued with 10 pre-LSO concert performances by senior Guildhall musicians on the Barbican stage. BBC Symphony Orchestra
- The BBCSO series Total Immersion, which celebrates contemporary composers, continued with performances by Guildhall musicians of works by Henryk Górecki, Louis Andriessen and Henri Dutilleux. 31
Opera Makers (January 2016)
32
Royal Opera House
Academy of Ancient Music
- Philip Venables’s 4.48 Psychosis, a co-commission between the Royal Opera and the Guildhall School in association with The Lyric Hammersmith, received its premiere in May 2016 to critical acclaim (see page 14). Based on the final work of the radical British playwright Sarah Kane, the opera was the culmination of Venables’s work as Doctoral Composer in Residence at the Guildhall School and the Royal Opera House, and went on to win a UK Theatre Award - Opera Makers, a performance of three new works by composers and librettists studying on the School’s MA in Opera Making and Writing in association with the Royal Opera House, received a performance at the Royal Opera House’s Clore Studio in January 2016, as well as its annual showcase at the Guildhall School.
- Guildhall musicians joined forces with the AAM to celebrate the music of J.S. Bach in a concert at the Deal Festival, conducted by John Butt, Musical Director of the Dunedin Consort. Other collaborations this year included performances with the London Contemporary Dance School, Wigmore Hall, London Jazz Festival, EXAUDI and Poet in the City.
Internationalisation
In a year when internationalisation came to the forefront of concerns for the higher education sector, the School’s international activity saw Guildhall staff and students working in partnership with prestigious organisations across the globe. Opportunities for international performance, teaching and cultural exchange included: China
In December 2015, the School announced a major new partnership with the Central Academy of Drama, Beijing to deliver a joint Bachelor’s Degree in Acting Studies for Chinese students. Professor Barry Ife signed the agreement, the first of its kind, at a ceremony at the Dongcheng Campus of the Central Academy of Drama (CAD), Beijing, alongside its President Professor Xu Xiang. The two-year London programme will allow 25 CAD students to follow, as far as possible, an equivalent training process to that of Guildhall’s BA Acting students; they will study in Beijing for the first and fourth year of the course and in London for the second and third years. The course will start in September 2016 and those eligible will receive a joint BA in Acting Studies from the Guildhall School and the Central Academy of Drama.
Another Guildhall School tour of major Chinese venues took place when Head of Voice Patsy Rodenburg devised and directed a new work based on Shakespeare excerpts called Go, Make You Ready, which Guildhall actors toured for five performances in Shanghai, Beijing and Chongqing as part of the Shakespeare400 celebrations. In October 2015 the School co-hosted the Sino-UK Performing Arts Forum at the China Shanghai International Arts Festival, focusing on creating stronger performing arts synergies between China and the UK. Professor Barry Ife presented a case study at the symposium with Emilie Wang, Head of Learning & Participation at Shanghai Grand Theatre. North America
Iain Burnside’s production of Drums and Guns, a devised piece exploring the conflict in war, was performed at the Juilliard School in New York in April 2016, after performances at the Guildhall School and The Lir in Dublin. Bringing together artists from the Guildhall School, Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin and the Juilliard, the work commemorated World War I and the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin. Also in New York, Guildhall students Savitri Grier, Stephen Williams and
Professor Xu Xiang and Professor Sir Barry Ife
33
to be called into question from 2018 onwards, as will visa-free travel for EU nationals. After the referendum result was announced, the School made a statement to confirm that the institution remains open for business and EU students and staff are an essential part of its cultural fabric. The School will be working closely with advocacy bodies Universities UK and London Higher to seek further clarity from the government on its plans for higher education, as well as seeking to make positive statements about the institution’s commitment and enthusiasm for internationalisation, tolerance and global connectivity.
Guildhall Symphony Orchestra without EU students
Jean-Sélim Abdelmoula presented a chamber music recital in the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in January as part of the School’s bi-annual visit there. In the same month, the School held its annual auditions in New York for students based in North America, following auditions in Asia in autumn. Carnegie Hall
Europe and the EU Referendum
2016 was of course dominated by Brexit, and in May the School released a photo of its principal ensemble, the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra, with and without its EU students to demonstrate the impact that a vote to leave the European Union could have on the institution. 42 students out of the orchestra’s 109 members (38%) hailed from countries in the European Union, and the School emphasised that these students make an enormous contribution to the institution, enriching academic life, and broadening UK students’ cultural horizons. The School supported the Universities for Europe campaign by Universities UK to highlight the value of EU membership to British universities. The UK’s vote to leave the EU in the referendum on 23 June means an uncertain future for EU students at conservatoires and universities across the UK. The funding system for European students to study in the UK has since been confirmed for students entering in 2016 and 2017, but is likely 34
Creative Learning
Since the launch of the School’s creative learning partnership with the Barbican Centre in 2009, more than 42,000 children, young people, teachers, families, artists and communities have participated in learning programmes and activities, while more than 300,000 people have enjoyed a programme of free events produced alongside our partners. Public Events
Towards the Mean was a digital interactive installation for the Barbican Foyers which received over 11,500 interactions. The piece, which explored how national identity is determined and defined in a multi-cultural and globalised society, was designed by artist Marianne Holm Hansen in association with Seth Scott and electronic musicians from the Guildhall School. Community
Dialogue: Outside In celebrated Creative Learning’s socially-engaged work across a range of diverse, intergenerational communities. The project brought Guildhall School students together with a wide range of community groups, including St Mungo Community Housing Association, Excel Women’s Centre in Barking, Golden Lane Family Centre, Whipps Cross Hospital, and young people with assisted learning needs from the Broadway Playhouse. Together they produced new work inspired by the Barbican Art Gallery exhibition, Strange and Familiar: Britain as Revealed by International Photographers. 338 participants took part in the project, ranging from 7 – 61 years of age. The final performance took place at the Broadway Theatre in Barking, to an audience of 300 friends, family and members of the public. Schools and Colleges
Creative Learning’s flagship schools programme, Barbican Box, reached over 700 school and college school students from East London, with a targeted focus on outer East London boroughs, where there is a known discrepancy in the proportion of young people accessing arts and culture.
Young Creatives
Young Jazz East Big Band brought together 25 young people aged 11–18 with students and faculty from the School’s Jazz Department. The project culminated in a performance alongside Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra soloists and the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. Young Orchestra East brought together 115 young people to work in partnership with the LA Philharmonic, culminating in an open rehearsal with Gustavo Dudamel in the Barbican Hall attended by over 800 people. Sound East was a unique collaborative concert, co-produced by Creative Learning and its East London music hub partners to celebrate both the quality and diversity of music-making in East London. Young musicians from across eight boroughs took part in a day-long festival which culminated in an evening showcase in the Barbican Hall. The event gave a platform to performers at every stage of their musical education, from a first access group to a scratch orchestra of mixed ability students. Over 350 young people took part, with an audience of close to 500. Emerging and Practising Artists
The first cohort of BA (Hons) in Performance and Creative Enterprise (PACE) students began the programme in September 2015. PACE was conceived and developed in direct response to the need to train skilled, entrepreneurial, cross-arts, portfolio practitioners who can lead in a range of socially-engaged and participatory contexts. Curious took place in the Rose Lipman Building in Hackney, and celebrated the practice of Masters in Leadership students. It featured collaborations with students from Central St Martins as well as performances and sharing of work in progress.
Dialogue 2016
35
A sustainable, world-class institution
“I welcome the Guildhall School of Music & Drama’s Creative Entrepreneurs programme. It’s been running successfully for three years.... Since the scheme began, 22 creative businesses have launched as a direct result.” The Stage, March 2016
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Enterprise, innovation and entrepreneurship
Creative Entrepreneurs awards & pitching ceremony (July 2016)
Entrepreneurship and enterprise activities continue to engage staff, students and alumni at the Guildhall School, as well as building a diverse range of external audiences. Through enterprise the School aims to create a sustainable and flourishing – institution – and wider arts sector by facilitating income generation and developing innovative schemes to support the artists of today and tomorrow. Guildhall Creative Entrepreneurs
The School’s business incubator supports creative enterprise, and is the first initiative of its kind for the performing arts in the UK. Since its launch in 2013, the scheme has incubated over 25 businesses led by Guildhall alumni or staff, with 91% of entrepreneurs still being operational. The 12 month programme comprises training on all aspects of creative entrepreneurship, including business plan development, artistic planning, marketing, sales and fundraising, as well as bespoke mentoring, coaching and provision of office space.
Creative Entrepreneurs awards & pitching ceremony (July 2016)
Entrepreneurs also get the opportunity to pitch at a high profile event. This year’s event was compered by Simon Callow CBE with eleven businesses pitching for
awards totalling £9,000. Successes of the 2015/16 programme include: - Lyribox, a digital learning platform providing pioneering tools and educational resources to classical singers. During their time on the Scheme their website launched a new fee-paying subscription model, and started generating revenue - Gestalt Arts, a collective of operamakers and visual artists creating new works in unusual spaces. The company keeps growing in activity and reach with various collaborators, including the Horniman Museum and the London Symphony Orchestra - Vox Integra, a company offering an integrated educational approach to singing with recent courses including an audition preparation course at the National Opera Studio While during the first three years of its development the Scheme has been exclusive to Guildhall alumni and staff, September 2016 marked the launch of Guildhall Creative Entrepreneurs to public applications. Short Courses and Summer Schools
Guildhall short course programmes offer a taste of the School, providing inspiring learning experiences for young people first accessing the arts, aspiring artists and seasoned professionals. The Guildhall Summer 37
Video projection mapping at Glastonbury
Schools programme comprised 23 courses in this academic year, 7 of which were new for 2015/16, providing training across a range of Guildhall specialisms. The 2015/16 programme welcomed 554 participants and once again received excellent feedback, with a focus on teaching quality and student experience. The School expanded the popular Drama Summer School for 16-17 years and Jazz and Rock Week this year, with over 100 participants attending each course, and Technical Theatre courses including Lighting, Sound, Video Projection Mapping and Stage Management also proved very popular. 2016 also saw the launch of the Summer Arts Camp for 11-14 years, the first short course in collaboration with the Barbican. The course engaged the School and Barbican’s extensive network of leading creative artists to offer a unique cross-arts experience for 11–14 year olds. Continuing Professional Development
Drama Summer School
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The Guildhall School’s first Training in Classical Voice course ran in summer 2016 – a new five-day intensive course offering singers and singing teachers the opportunity to take part in the world’s only multi-disciplinary,
pedagogical approach to voice training. The course recruited very strongly, with 45 singers and singing teachers in attendance from all over the world, including the UK, Australia, Singapore, Sweden, Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, Canada and the US. Video Projection Mapping
Video projection mapping work has enabled the School to produce a unique and pioneering model which balances a new educational programme (BA Video Design for Live Performance) with an external artistic arm. This year creative partnerships were developed with organisations across England and Wales, with Technical Theatre students supported to work on live projects. Events included animated projections at Pontio (Bangor University), the British Museum, Glastonbury Festival and an ambitious event at the Guildhall Yard for Shakespeare 400. This ‘son et lumière’ production generated significant media interest across TV and social media and attracted some 14,200 visitors to the event. Combined audiences for video projection events reached over 200,000 for the second year running.
Development
Each year an increasing number of individuals and organisations provide generous philanthropic support for the Guildhall School and its students through activities led by the Development & Alumni Relations Office. Collectively, these vital donations enable the School to award much-needed scholarships to its students, to provide young musicians, actors and theatre technicians with unique artistic experiences during their professional training, and to maintain the institution’s world-leading standard of teaching and its state-of-the-art specialist facilities. Almost £2.5million was received by the School in donations and pledges over the course of the year and this impressive sum will have a significant impact in transforming the lives and careers of talented young people seeking to fulfil their artistic potential. The Guildhall School is enormously grateful to every single individual, trust, City livery company and business that made a donation over the past year either directly or through one of the institution’s linked charities: the Guildhall School Trust, the Guildhall School Development Fund or the Foundation for Young Musicians. Over the course of 2015-16, fundraising activity largely focused on student support, reflecting the increasing demand on the School’s Scholarship and Hardship Funds each year. Guildhall is currently in the fortunate position of being able
Thank You Day
to offer financial awards to almost half of enrolled HE students, but as tuition fees increase and the range of courses the School offers expands, the number of students in need of support is growing too. The School is immensely grateful to the 657 Guildhall alumni who took the time to speak with student callers during the course of the telephone campaign in April 2016 and is delighted that 179 former students took the opportunity to make donations. Similarly, the institution is also indebted to the many individuals, largely audience members, who gave through the Playing Your Part appeal over the course of the summer term. Through these two initiatives alone an astonishing £75,000 was pledged towards student support over the next five years: this money will make a real difference to Guildhall School students. Other fundraising was marked by a significant number of large, multi-year pledges from City livery companies totalling over £200,000. The School is particularly indebted to the Leathersellers’, Goldsmiths’, Cordwainers’, Girdlers’ and Haberdashers’ Companies for their incredible generosity and continued support, as well as to all the other companies who provide for individual named scholarship awards or make general donations towards the overall Scholarships Fund. In addition, the School was delighted to receive a renewed commitment of almost £500,000 from The Leverhulme Trust in support of Leverhulme Arts Scholars at postgraduate level in music and within Junior Guildhall and the Centre for Young Musicians over the next three years. In terms of alumni activity, the Development Office facilitated a record number of recent graduates to attend the 2015 Graduation ceremony as a way of welcoming them to the wider alumni community. There were five performances by former students over the year as part of the Alumni Recital Series, including composer Debbie Wiseman conducting the Guildhall Chamber Orchestra in a concert of her film and television works in January, and a talk by Guy Chambers to composition students in May. Lastly, Guildhall staff met with various groups of alumni across the world as part of their ongoing teaching and recruitment activities. 39
Major donors
The Amar-Franses & Foster-Jenkins Trust
The Worshipful Company of Cordwainers
Mr Robert Ball
The Worshipful Company of Innholders
BB Energy Holdings NV
Student Callers
The Wolfson Foundation
The Behrens Foundation
The Worshipful Company of Tobacco Pipe Makers
British Schools and University Foundation
The Worshipful Company of Wax Chandlers
The Anthony Edward Brookes Discretionary Will Trust
Henry Wood Accommodation Trust
Lady Rona Delves Broughton The Dorset Foundation, in memory of Harry M Weinrebe
Estate of the late Mary Beatrice Wilton Mr & Mrs Peter and Corinne Young
The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust The Drapers’ Company Ms Marianne Falk The Fishmongers’ Company Albert & Eugenie Frost Trust Norman Gee Foundation The Girdlers’ Company Charitable Trust The Goldsmiths’ Company The Haberdashers’ Company The Headley Trust Mr & Mrs Michael and Mercedes Hoffman Professor Sir Barry Ife CBE & Dr Trudi Darby, Lady Ife The Leathersellers’ Company The Leverhulme Trust Linklaters M&C Saatchi and The Josephine Hart Poetry Foundation The Mercers’ Company Estate of the late Philippa Micklethwait Mr Clive Morris Estate of the late Lady Beryl Mustill Estate of the late Billy Newman Jane Rigler and Ken Ollerton The Sidney Perry Foundation The Stanley Picker Trust The Skinners’ Company The South Square Trust Estate of the late Hugh Walter Stern 40
The Guildhall School Trust is a registered charity no. 1082472 and the Guildhall School Development Fund is a registered charity no. 1130102.
Estates and facilities
Milton Court has been in operation for three years and continues to host a range of public performances as well as conferences and other incomegenerating events.
commenced a project to improve the efficiency and temperature of the hot water system as well as working to improve the pressure and distribution of hot water throughout Sundial Court.
Across other buildings on the School’s campus the programme of external and internal building works progressed to include the decorative repairs within the Silk Street Building of up to ten practice rooms and offices. Within the John Hosier Annexe 44 practice rooms were decorated together with the corridors and foyer space. The programme of works to enhance the student accommodation at Sundial Court continued with decorative repairs carried out in the main foyer, student flats, meeting rooms and a refresh of kitchen furniture. Work also commenced to address the water proofing and structural issues in Sundial Music Room. Engineering
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Harold Pinter triple bill (February 2016) 42
Student profile
2015 new enrolment
43
Qualifications Total
Qualifications awarded for 2015/16 cycle (as at October 2016)
Bachelors degrees
132
Masters degrees
170
Artist Diplomas
15 Total 2015/16
317
Total 2014/15
269
Programme
Total (FTE)
BA in Acting
59
BA in Technical Theatre Arts
104
BA Video Design for Live Performance
3
BMus
399
BA Performance & Creative Enterprise
44
Total 2015/16
571
Total 2014/15
552
1% Information refused
11% BME
88% White
Ethnicity
11% Declared
89% None
Disability
54% Male
46% Female
Sex
6
Postgraduate Total (FTE)
Programme
20
MA in Acting MA in Training Actors
4
MA in Collaborative Theatre Production & Design
5
Artist Diploma
23
Extended Guildhall Masters
13
Guildhall Artist Masters Part 1 Performance
126
Guildhall Artist Masters Part 1 Composition
5.5
Guildhall Artist Masters Part 1 Leadership
10
Guildhall Artist Masters Part 2 (all pathways)
51
MA in Music Therapy
25 6
MA in Opera Making & Writing
27
MPhil/DMus/PhD
315.5
Total 2014/15
315
3% Information refused
15% BME
82% White
40% Male
Ethnicity
6% Declared
Disability
94% None
Sex
60% Female
2015 new enrolment
Total 2015/16
Other Programme
Total (FTE)
AGSM
â€
Fellows are students only in respect of their extra-mural tuition. Fellows are shown as headcount.
1
Advanced Certificate
23
Fellows
38
â€
Total 2015/16
62
Total 2014/15
45
45
Student Cohort
2015/16
Music Course
251
String Training Programme
170
Drama Course Total 2015/16
467
Total 2014/15
460
3% Info refused
13% Not known
24% BME
60% White
Ethnicity
12% Info refused
10% Declared
78% None
5% Other
Disability
2% Home educated
49% Independent
44% State
Schooling
45% Male
55% Female
Sex
46
2015/16
Student Cohort
London Centre
429
Norfolk Centre
111
Somerset Centre
44
Saffron Centre
97
London Schools Symphony Orchestra (LSSO)
130
Total 2015/16
811
Total 2014/15
577* *(London/Norfolk/Somerset only)
46
10% Info refused
Saffron
8% Info refused
33% Independent
59% State
8% Independent
Saffron
26% BME
Somerset
41% Male
59% Female
47% Male
53% Female
43% Male
Saffron
64% White
Saffron
92% State
2% Info refused
7% Independent
Somerset
9% BME
4% Declared
57% Female
31% Male
69% Female
Somerset
91% White
Norfolk
17% BME
Norfolk
91% State
3% Info refused
21% Independent
76% State
Norfolk
96% None
5% Declared
95% None
Norfolk
83% White
23% Info refused
London
7% BME
Ethnicity
70% White
London
49% Male
Disability*
1% Info refused
51% Female
London
7% Independent
92% State
Schooling
4% Declared
96% None
London
11% Info refused
37% BME
52% White
Sex LSSO
LSSO
*No data was available for Somerset and LSSO
LSSO
47
Financials Income
£000
HE tuition fees
8,416
Guildhall School Trust scholarships
1,252
Grants
1,978
City of London contribution
8,242
Income generation and other activities
3,629
Guildhall Young Artists tuition fees
2,384 Total 2015/16
25,901
Total 2014/15
25,156
Expenditure
£000
HE teaching and teaching departments
9,442
Academic services
3,418
Student support services
1,546
Central administration services
3,789
Income generating activities
678
Guildhall Young Artists activity and outreach
2,190
Premises & residential
5,413 Total 2015/16
26,476
Total 2014/15
25,298
48
5,413
3,789 Central administration services
Premises & residential
1,546 Student support services
2,190
3,418 Academic services
Guildhall Young Artists activity and outreach
9,442 HE Teaching and teaching departments
678
2,384 Guildhall Young Artists tuition fees
Income generating activities
3629
City of London contribution
Expenditure (£000) Total 2015/16: 26,476
Income generation and other activities
1,978 Grants
8,242
1,252 HE tuition fees
8,416 Guildhall School Trust scholarships
Income (£000) Total 2015/16: 25,901
49
Who’s who
Patron
Senior leadership
The Right Hon. The Lord Mayor
Principal
Professor Sir Barry Ife cbe Chairman of the Board of Governors
Deputy John Bennett
Vice Principal and Director of Music
Jonathan Vaughan Vice Principal and Director of Drama
Christian Burgess Deputy Chairman of the Board of Governors
Alderman David Graves (until April 2016) Vivienne Littlechild (from April 2016)
Vice Principal and Director of Academic Affairs
Professor Helena Gaunt Director of Acting
Wyn Jones Director of Technical Theatre
Board members
Deputy John Barker obe (from April 2016)
Ben Sumner Director of Creative Learning
Sean Gregory
Sir Andrew Burns kcmg
Academic Registrar & Director of Student Experience
Deputy John Chapman
Katharine Lewis
Christina Coker obe
Chief Operating & Financial Officer
Neil Constable (until April 2016) Stuart John Fraser cbe (from May 2016) Marianne Fredericks Lucy Frew Jo Hensel, elected by the Academic Staff
Sandeep Dwesar Head of Junior Guildhall
Derek Rodgers Director of Centre for Young Musicians National Strategy
Stephen Dagg
Gareth Higgins, elected by the Administrative Staff Michael Hoffman Sir Paul Hughes (until April 2016) Professor Sir Barry Ife cbe as Principal of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama Jeremy Mayhew Kathryn McDowell cbe dl (until June 2016) Alderman William Russell John Scott (until April 2016) Jeremy Simons Angela Starling (until April 2016) Alex Tostdevine as President of the Students’ Union
Photo credits
50
Clive Barda, Paul Cochrane, ROH/ Stephen Cummiskey, Matthew Ferguson, Markus Kinch, Carlos Lopez-Real, Morley Von Sternberg, Sam Shrimpton, Clive Totman, Robert Workman
51
Guildhall School is provided by the City of London as part of its contribution to the cultural life of London and the nation.