Guildhall School of Music and Drama

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Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music and dramatic arts school which was founded in 1880 in the City of London, UK. The first Guildhall School was housed in an old warehouse in Aldermanbury, but these premises soon proved too small. A new purpose-built building in John Carpenter Street was designed by City Architect Sir Horace Jones and opened in December 1886. It is owned and funded by the Corporation of London and takes its name from the Corporation's historic headquarters at the Guildhall, though it was never based there.

Before 1935 it was known as the Guildhall School of Music. Since 1977 it has been next to the Barbican Arts Centre in the Barbican Complex built in the 1960s–70s.

It is a world leader in the teaching of:

Music
Opera
Drama
Stage Management
Technical Theatre

It has a renowned Junior Department and its outreach activities won the Queen's Anniversary Award in 2005. Much of the Stage Management and Technical Theatre teaching is assisted by the professional creative team. This gives the students the opportunity to learn from those who currently work in the industry, providing them with essential contacts to make swift progress after graduation.

The ((Stage Management & Technical Theatre)) programme at the Guildhall School has long been recognised as providing the most innovative vocational training in the UK.

The teaching is primarily practical and production based, working on public productions with professional directors, designers and conductors participating in the creation of well-received dramas, musicals and operas.

They have excellent facilities and high production values. These allow the programme to keep in line with current practice and new theatre technology. You will use the School's on-site theatres, rehearsal rooms and workshops and work closely alongside students training to be professional actors, singers, musicians and composers.

The School has excellent performance facilities. Productions take place in its 308-seat theatre. The Drama Department has also arranged performances at other London theatres, including the Pit at the Barbican Centre, the Bridewell (off Fleet Street), the Soho Theatre, the Swan (Stratford) and the Royal Court.

The main programme is the BA Honours Degree in Acting. This well-established programme has a distinguished list of graduates especially in recent years, and is highly regarded in the acting profession for the thoroughness of its audition processes, the passion, quality and rigour of its teaching, its emphasis on the integration of craft training, the care and attention for the individual development of each student and the strong ensemble ethic shared by staff and students.

In 2010, the Guildhall School plans to open it's new building on the existing Milton Court site, adjacent to City Point. The 48-floor building, funded by the City of London and built by Heron International, will include new world-leading facilities, including a 650-seat concert hall, a 220-seat theatre and a 90-seat studio theatre, as well as studios for television, radio, teaching, rehearsal, office and support services. The school’s extension is estimated to cost around £40million and the City of London hopes that the return from additional development on the site – a slim, residential tower above the school’s complex - should substantially contribute to this cost. The initial building costs for the entire scheme are estimated to be approximately £100m.