Guildhall School welcomes six new members of teaching staff to the Music department

Guildhall School is delighted to welcome six new members of teaching staff to the Music department at the start of academic year 2023-24. New staff to the School include percussionist Henry Baldwin and pianist Sam Armstrong, while composer Dr Toby Young moves across from a role in our Research department to Composition. Current/recent students Nazli Tabatabai-Khatambakhsh, William Bracken and James Albany Hoyle complete this year’s new cohort, joining a department which was recently rated number one in the Guardian University Guide league table for Music.

The six new members of staff are:

Henry Baldwin – Professor of Percussion

Henry Baldwin is one of the star percussionists on the scene today. He is a founder member of the innovative and much-admired Aurora Orchestra, and featured in their BBC Prom this summer, performing Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring from memory.

Dr Toby Young – Professor of Composition and Acting Programme Leader of MA Opera Making & Writing

Dr Toby Young, a genre-defying composer and producer whose music has been played at venues ranging from the Royal Albert Hall to Glastonbury Festival, moves from a role in the research department to Professor of Composition and Acting Programme Leader of the MA in Opera Making and Writing.

James Albany Hoyle - Professor of Composition

James Albany Hoyle recently graduated with a PhD in Composition from Guildhall School, where he investigated musical time and directionality through composition. During his time at Guildhall, his orchestral piece Thymiaterion was premiered by the London Symphony Orchestra.

Nazli Tabatabai-Khatambakhsh - Professor of Dramatic Writing

Librettist and director Nazli Tabatabai-Khatambakhsh becomes Professor of Dramatic Writing, alongside her research on the doctoral programme. Her work spans opera, theatre, dance, circus and interdisciplinary new forms, and she is also Associate Director of Sanctuary Queer Arts.

William Bracken - Teaching Assistant of Classical Improvisation 

William Bracken, the Guildhall Wigmore Recital Prize winner of 2022, is an exceptional musician who is currently continuing studies at Guildhall School in his Artist Diploma where he will now also hold a position assisting Professor David Dolan in Classical Improvisation.

Sam Armstrong - Senior Tutor of Keyboard Chamber Music

Sam Armstrong collaborates with outstanding musicians in major concert halls and festivals such as Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam and festivals of Bath, Lammermuir, Wonderfeel & Krzyzowa. His album with Katharine Dain Regards sur l’Infini won major acclaim including the Guardian’s CD of the Week and the Edison Klassiek award in the Netherlands.

Interested in studying Music at Guildhall? Applications for 2024 are now open, closing on Monday 2 October 2023*. Find out more about how to apply.

*Electronic & Produced Music closes on Monday 8 January 2024