Guildhall School of Music & Drama has announced the creation of Guildhall Young Artists (GYA).

The program features a network of six centers that specialize in providing performing and production arts training for children and young adults. The centers are established in partnership with various art venues, schools, and Music Hubs to give the participants enriched opportunities that cater to their creative development.

The program provides high-quality arts education spanning multiple genres. It encourages cross-artform collaboration, helping children and young people build the necessary creative skills to take advantage of new opportunities in the 21st century. It promotes participation from under-represented backgrounds, offers support and resources, and boosts creative teaching talent while enhancing local teaching infrastructure.

Overseen by the Guildhall School, the six centers that comprise GYA are the Centre for Young Musicians, Junior Guildhall, Guildhall Young Artists King’s Cross, Guildhall Young Artists Norwich, Guildhall Young Artists Taunton, and Guildhall Young Artists Online. Each center has unique program offerings, but all aim to provide high-quality music and drama education, performance opportunities, and one-to-one lessons for 5-18-year-olds.

In an official press statement, composer and Master of the King’s Music stated, “We all know that many young people, especially outside the largest urban centers, currently have few opportunities to learn, perform and create music in a sustained way. Growing out of a great conservatoire, GYA’s network of Saturday centers is a model of the best we can give them; modelled towards each local environment and providing access to teaching of the highest quality. The positivity of this organization is an inspiration to all of us, in any educational or artistic field.”

Over 1,500 students from over 700 schools nationally and from 23 counties currently participate in GYA center activities. Monetary support is offered to nearly 20 percent of participants across all GYA centers, and almost 40 percent are from the global majority.

With the introduction of GYA, The Guildhall School has become one of the leading providers of personalized and specialized performing arts education for individuals under 18 in the U.K.