Guildhall School of Music & Drama announces its Spring 2025 Season

This spring, Guildhall School of Music & Drama presents a varied programme of events for the public to enjoy, including concerts, drama productions, opera and jazz.

Highlights include:

• A celebration of exemplary British artistic voices:

  • Opera: Jonathan Dove’s opera Mansfield Park based on the novel by Jane Austen, in the author’s 250th anniversary year

  • Drama: Fresh takes on Shakespeare from alumna Mariah Gale, who returns with her new production of A Winter’s Tale, and Owen Horsley, who directs Hannah Khalil’s bold adaptation of Henry VIII

  • Music: Britten’s Serenade for Tenor Horn and Strings is the centrepiece of Guildhall Symphony Orchestra’s spring concert, which also features Richard Strauss’ An Alpine Symphony

  • Jazz: Alec Dankworth, son of Sir John Dankworth, leads a musical tribute to the Dankworth Seven in Milton Court Theatre

  • Music: Guildhall String Ensemble celebrates British composers in an exploration of works by Thomas Adès, Ralph Vaughan Williams and William Walton, directed by alumna Candida Thompson

• An exploration of improvisation:

  • Music: Mozart expert Robert Levin joins London-based choir Eclectic Voices to perform his completed version of the composer’s Requiem, as part of his Guildhall School residency focusing on Classical improvisation

  • Jazz: Guildhall’s ‘Improvisers’ Workshop’ ensemble focus on jazz improvisation as a vehicle for contemporary composition with directors Trish Clowes and Clare Wheeler, and featuring one of the UK’s leading tap dancers, Annette Walker, as a special guest

  • Research: Oded Ben-Tal and David Dolan explore possibilities of real-time improvisation with an AI-inspired system, where the computer listens to a musician and generates live musical responses

Details of the Spring Season’s events can be found below.

Opera

Mansfield Park

Monday 24, Wednesday 26, Friday 28 February, and Monday 3 March, 7pm, Silk Street Theatre

Jonathan Dove’s opera inspired by Jane Austen’s beloved novel – Mansfield Park – explores the vibrant world of Regency England. Alasdair Middleton’s libretto breathes life into the social intricacies and romantic entanglements of Fanny Price on her journey through love, loyalty and self-discovery within the grand halls of Mansfield Park.

First premiered in 2011 by Heritage Opera, Dominic Wheeler conducts the London premiere of the 2017 ensemble version in a new production directed by Martin Lloyd-Evans and designed by Anna Reid, marking 250 years since Jane Austen’s birth.

Drama

Henry VIII by William Shakespeare & John Fletcher, adapted by Hannah Khalil

Monday 10 – Saturday 15 February, Milton Court Theatre

A bold reimagining of Henry VIII that centres the untold female perspective in this well-known tale of a king’s relentless quest for a male heir.

Adapted by Hannah Khalil, Shakespeare’s Globe Writer in Residence (2022), this fresh production of The Life of King Henry VIII: All is True directed by Owen Horsley explores the powerful dynamics of love, lineage and authority, from the viewpoints of the women whose lives are forever altered by the whims of monarchy. Designed by Ryan Dawson Laight, this production dives into themes of ambition and consequence, revealing the strength and resilience often hidden in the shadows of history.

The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare

Friday 21 – Wednesday 26 March, Silk Street Theatre

Alumna Mariah Gale adapts and directs Shakespeare’s epic tale which unfolds the story of Queen Hermione and her husband King Leontes, whose sudden and groundless jealously leads him to accuse his lifelong friend of betrayal, condemn his faithful queen and abandon his new-born daughter. Hugo Aguirre joins the creative team as designer, Ali Hunter as lighting designer and Ben Collins as sound designer.

Music

Guildhall String Ensemble

Friday 17 January, 6pm, Milton Court Concert Hall

Guildhall School alumna and Artistic Director of Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Candida Thompson, returns to conduct a celebration of British music featuring works by Thomas Adès, Vaughan Williams and Walton. In an hour-long concert celebrating the power of strings, the ensemble presents an exploration of the sea through Thomas Adès’ Shanty – Over the Sea, the lush harmonies of Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and Walton’s powerful, exhilarating Sonata for String Orchestra.

Robert Levin in Residence: Mozart Double Piano Concerto & Requiem

Monday 20 January, 7.30pm, Milton Court Concert Hall

London-based choir Eclectic Voices lead an ambitious performance of Mozart’s Requiem, completed by pianist Robert Levin and featuring the voices of Guildhall singers soprano Biqing Zhang, mezzo soprano Gabriella Noble, tenor Dominic Lee and baritone Hector Bloggs, under the baton of Scott Stroman. The programme also offers the chance to hear Mozart’s Double Piano Concerto performed by Levin and David Dolan, Head of Guildhall's Centre for Creative Performance & Classical Improvisation, plus an illustrated introduction by Robert Levin providing insights into his completion of Mozart’s final composition.

Guitar Alumni Concert

Wednesday 22 January, 7pm, Milton Court Concert Hall

An annual celebration of Guildhall Guitar Alumni sees the extraordinary sounds of the guitar in unique arrangements of timeless compositions, showcasing a fresh perspective on sonatas by Scarlatti, Saint-Saëns’ Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah, Mertz’s Elegie, Debussy’s Deux arabesques and Rachmaninov’s Italian Polka. The dramatic flair of two overtures – from Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel and Glinka’s Ruslan and Lyudmila – is reimagined for guitar quartet. Performing alumni include Matilde Freiria, Jens Franke, the Mela Guitar Quartet and soprano Isabelle Peters.

Total Immersion: Iridescence

Saturday 23 February, 1pm, Milton Court Concert Hall

BBC Symphony Orchestra’s Total Immersion series opens with an exploration into symphonic electronics. The performance features the UK premiere of Juste Janulyte’s Iridescence by the BBC Singers, opening a portal into the expanding musical universe of symphonic electronics. The voices of the Guildhall Session Singers join artists from Guildhall’s Electronic & Produced Music department, for the world premiere of an exciting new collaborative song cycle of 12 ‘moments’ for 12 voices and electronics.

Guildhall Symphony Orchestra

Thursday 6 March, 7.30pm, Barbican Hall

Guildhall alumnus Roberto González-Monjas returns to conduct Richard Strauss’ epic An Alpine Symphony - a vivid symphonic depiction of a journey through the majestic Alps. The programme also features Anders Hillborg’s mesmerising Eleven Gates and Benjamin Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, featuring Guildhall musicians tenor Sebastian Hill and horn Sarah Pennington.

The concert is dedicated to the memory of Peter Gane FGSM, Head of the Wind, Brass and Percussion department from 1988 to 2008.

Chamber Music Festival

Friday 14 – Sunday 16 March

Guildhall School’s Spring Chamber Music Festival returns. Student performers and esteemed faculty members perform a wide range of ensemble works in celebration of some of the greatest chamber music ever written. More details to be announced in early 2025.

Total Immersion: Pierre Boulez – The Second Piano Sonata

Sunday 30 March, 3pm, Milton Court Concert Hall

Boulez’s shattering Second Piano Sonata and two extraordinary works for solo clarinet are performed by pianist David Palmer and fellow Guildhall School musicians in this BBC Symphony Orchestra Total Immersion concert introduced by Kate Molleson.

The Odd Couple – Human & AI Making Music in the Moments

Sunday 30 March, 6pm

Composer and music programmer Oded Ben-Tal has been developing an AI-inspired system for live, real-time improvisation with a human partner – pianist and improviser David Dolan. In this event, part of a two-day conference exploring performance, creativity and AI, they will perform several duo improvisations, drawing on musical languages on the one hand and the capabilities of cutting-edge technology on the other.

Jazz

Guildhall Improvisers’ Workshop

Wednesday 12 February, 7.30pm, Milton Court Concert Hall

The ‘Improvisers’ Workshop’ is a Guildhall School group focusing on creative jazz improvisation, approaching the jazz ensemble as a malleable vehicle for contemporary composition. This performance, directed by saxophonist and composer Trish Clowes, and singer and composer Clare Wheeler, will feature original compositions by and for the group. The concert will also feature celebrated tap dancer Annette Walker as a special guest.

Guildhall Jazz Orchestra & Choir: Emboldened

Friday 14 February, 7.30pm, Milton Court Concert Hall

Guildhall Jazz Orchestra and Choir welcome guitarist and composer Steve Banks to perform his debut album, Emboldened, re-voiced for jazz orchestra and choir from the original quintet by Jonathan Silk and Sara Colman. Colman directs, alongside Scott Stroman and Clare Wheeler.

Guildhall Big Band: Portraits in Jazz

Sunday 9 March, 7.30pm, Milton Court Concert Hall

Helen Sung, acclaimed jazz pianist and composer, and a 2021 Guggenheim Fellow, joins Guildhall Big Band for the UK debut performance of her new multi-movement work for solo pianist and big band, Portraits in Jazz. The project stems from Helen’s 2021 Guggenheim Fellowship, where one of the movements, ‘Wayne’s World’ won the 2022 BMI Charlie Parker Jazz Composition prize.

Guildhall Jazz Orchestra: Dankworth Seven

Thursday 13 March, 7.30pm, Milton Court Theatre

Guildhall Jazz Orchestra celebrates the golden era of jazz with a tribute to the legendary Dankworth Seven, led by Guildhall professor and son of Sir John Dankworth, Alec Dankworth. The ensemble captures the spirit and innovation of a timeless era, celebrating the music and musicians that defined a generation. Formed in 1950 by Sir John Dankworth, the Dankworth Seven showcased his distinctive compositions and featured an impressive lineup of emerging talents, including Frank Holder, Jimmy Deuchar, Eddie Harvey, Don Rendell, Bill Le Sage, Eric Dawson and Tony Kinsey.

Children and Young People

London Schools Symphony Orchestra

Tuesday 14 January, 7.30pm, Barbican Hall

The London Schools Symphony Orchestra showcases an array of British masterpieces in its first concert of 2025. Two instantly recognisable scores bookend this concert, the first: Britten’s educational work The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra has inspired generations of young musicians, and the second: Holst’s The Planets, a dazzling exploration of the solar system. The concert also features Ian Venables’ Venetian Songs, Love’s Voice with tenor Alessandro Fisher in a new orchestration by the concert’s conductor, Matthew Lynch.

Junior Guildhall Brass Band and Wind Orchestra

Saturday 22 March, 5.30pm, Milton Court Concert Hall

Talented brass and wind players from Junior Guildhall take to the Milton Court Concert Hall stage under the baton of Spencer Down.

Junior Guildhall Symphony Orchestra

Saturday 29 March, 6pm, Milton Court Concert Hall

Julian Clayton conducts a programme of 20th-century America-inspired works, including John Harbison’s Remembering Gatsby, Joan Tower’s Made in America, and Rachmaninov’s Symphony No 3, which was first premiered in the United States.

Free events

In addition to the above events, Guildhall School offers audiences a selection of regular concerts, masterclasses, recitals and competitions which are free of charge to attend.

This season features pianist Robert Levin giving a lecture-recital and masterclass as part of his Guildhall School residency, performances by the American Songbook Company, Ubu Ensemble, and The Messengers and ImPossibilities. In addition, there will be a continuation of the popular ‘At Six’ and ‘At Eight’ series, a Soundscapes recital delving into the world of contemporary piano music, a collaboration with the Carducci Quartet, as well as masterclasses by leading musicians including flautist Steffi Winker, saxophonist Chris ‘Snake’ Davis, oboist Jonathan Kelly, percussionist Sola Akingbola, bassoonist Theo Plath and pianists Akiko Ebiand Imogen Cooper.

Visit gsmd.ac.uk/events for full listings.