De-Centre Lines of enquiry

Detta Danford and Natasha Zielazinski are musicians and composers whose work is often collaborative. They have worked together since studying at the Guildhall School in 2006. During this time they have developed a rich collaborative partnership through playing, composing, leading, thinking, writing and researching together. Their work together includes performing with ensembles such as Jetsam and Breakfast Club, as well as playing and performing as a duo. Their joint practice involves arts facilitation, co-teaching collaborative and participatory arts practice, as well as group coaching and coach training. Detta and Natasha are currently working closely with partner organisations like the LSO and The Magpie Project to develop new models of practice which explore alternative models for collaboration, facilitation and connection. 

Their project Music Motherhood and Me is a collaboration with The Magpie Project, a charity that supports mums and under-fives in temporary accommodation in Newham. Music Motherhood and Me explores the intersection of coaching and arts facilitation within creative sessions. Their Line of Enquiry is concerned with understanding how these two disciplines interact and the impact this has on well-being and creative health, and on another level, the project aims to contribute to the understanding of community partnership and co-created work between community organisations like The Magpie Project and HE institutions like the Guildhall School.

Leslie Deere is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Guildhall School and an internationally exhibiting artist, performer and published author.

Her current multidisciplinary work investigates embodied sound making, affect and immersion. She is engaged in research looking at the potentials of arts-based extended reality experiences as creative new forms of therapy. She has recently released a book chapter on VR performance from the 90s to now published by Springer and will contribute to a book in 2025 on altered states in audiovisual art. Leslie, BA Hons Sonic Art, MA RCA, PhD, is a classically trained dancer with a background in the performing arts.

Leslie’s line of enquiry looks at immersive technologies for live performance and the theatre space as well as the creative possibilities of extended-reality technologies for self-expression and exploration within mind body practices.

Dr Kate Jones is the research group coordinator for Music Therapy at Guildhall School and Director of
the charity Music Therapy Lambeth. Kate began her research journey into Selective Mutism after being referred ‘quiet children’ from nursery schools. These children responded quickly to Music Therapy returning to the classroom talking and often becoming quite loud. Kate’s other research interests are in the neuroscience of health and wellbeing, particularly for therapeutic interventions but also in the broader systemic applications of how we use the arts for nervous system regulation and health. 

Kate’s line of enquiry research is investigating if and how Music Therapy practice can be best utilised to support children with Selective Mutism. Her research journey is embedded in clinical practice, employing a critical stance to examine and share the current tools in our therapeutic toolkit. 

Emily Peasgood is an Ivor Novello Composer’s Award-winning composer, sound artist and visual artist.
She is a Guildhall School professor, teaching field recording, sonic art, and electronic music composition, and she leads a community choir and community samba band. 

One of Emily’s lines of enquiry, EverSong, is a sound installationthat allows visitors to hear a person’s lifespan in a song as they walk along a pre-defined pathway or tunnel. This work explores the fragility of life and its circularity, and invites people to celebrate the present. It
also questions our legacy as humans in an increasingly digital age. She is particularly interested in transient spaces in urban and transport hubs, where we move through the world on autopilot. EverSong features a new lullaby Emily is composing and will sing herself. However, at the start, she will sound five years old; by the end, she will sound 95. As visitors walk forward, the singer ages. If they walk backwards, the singer de-ages. 

Sigrún Sævarsdóttir-Griffiths is a musician, educator and music leader, working within higher education and various community contexts. For 12 years, Sigrún was Course Leader of the Masters in Leadership Programme at Guildhall School, where she continues to lecture and lead artistic work. Sigrún is founder and artistic director of MetamorPhonics, an award- winning Community Interest Company, establishing performing and recording musical bands, in collaboration with higher education institutions, occupation rehabilitation centres and homeless charities in the UK and in Iceland. Sigrún is passionate about enabling music making and access to the arts as an essential, unifying element of life, in every community. 

Building Bridges is a collaboration between Sigrún, Iceland University of the Arts, York St John University,
UK and Bifröst University, Iceland. This line of enquiry aims to investigate the community music practice of MetamorPhonics and its impacts on participants. The research encompasses multiple aspects, including understanding the profiles and motivations of band members, exploring the principles, beliefs and core pedagogic approaches that guide MetamorPhonics, comparing them to other community music practices. 

Fuelled by curiosity in creativity as a critical and social process that is rooted in interaction, rather than an isolated and individual ‘act of genius’, this line of enquiry will explore how continuing learning can be personalised collaboratively through the shared experience of today’s cultural, digital and social revolution. 

Can conservatoires evolve, thrive and be celebrated as enablers of creative and human growth (including mental health and well-being) for the benefit of society, as well as maintaining their reputation as centres of excellence for more established arts and cultural industry training? 

Beatrice Baumgartner-Cohen is an artist, illustrator and graphic recorder. The emphasis of her work is on live illustration/visual minuting and graphic recording. Beatrice initially trained as a scientific and craft glassblower and also has an MA in Applied Linguistics with an emphasis on Discourse Analysis. This has been very useful for her graphic recording work, which is as much about listening as it is about drawing. In 2022 she completed a Masters in Illustration
at Cambridge School of Art/Anglia Ruskin University and is currently a doctoral researcher at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. 

As the inaugural artist in residence for the Guildhall De-Centre, the De-Centre has become a case-study for Beatrice’s doctoral research: The Secret Lives of Meeting Room 1 – Doing Visual Ethnography by drawing life/live at Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Beatrice has been documenting the steering group meetings and decision- making process of developing the De-Centre through her illustrated graphics. Some of her images are included in this booklet and on the website. 

Sean Gregory is Vice-Principal
& Director of Innovation and Engagement at Guildhall School, responsible for a range of lifelong learning programmes across Guildhall School, and in partnership with arts and education organisations. Alongside working as a composer, performer, and creative producer,
he has led collaborative arts projects for all ages and abilities in association with many British and international orchestras, opera companies, theatres, galleries, and arts education organisations. 

Informed by the mapping process undertaken by Guildhall De-Centre’s line of enquiry ‘Echoes and the unsaid’, this past-present-future perspectiveof artists as makers, (socially engaged practitioners who are reflexive, collaborative and facilitatory), will investigate and re-imagine models of continuing professional development, with dialogic learning at its heart,
in a range of societal contexts. 

Dr Sophie Hope is a practice-based researcher and Lecturer in Social Engaged Practices at Guildhall School and Dr Jo Gibson is a community music practitioner-researcher from East London, Research Fellow at York St John University’s Institute for Social Justice, and supervises doctoral researchers at Guildhall School. 

Their line of enquiry aims to map, make visible (and audible) specific teaching initiatives to generate a better understanding of why, what, how, when and where socially engaged practices have been taught historically at Guildhall School. By listening to the echoes of past practices at Guildhall they hope to inform future directions and understandings of what innovative, socially engaged, de-centering pedagogies might look like for Guildhall School going forward. They are particularly interested in exploring socially engaged practices across artforms and disciplines to understand what ‘de-centering’ has meant in these diverse (and overlapping) contexts. 

Gilly Roche specialises in creating inclusive, postdisciplinary environments for the development
of new artistic ideas and practices. Their research explores the queer potentiality of the early, R&D stages of artmaking. At Guildhall, they oversee undisciplined – an extra-curricular programme of funding, workshops and events designed to support students to collaborate and work beyond and between departmental and disciplinary boundaries. They also lead the Self-Led Practice strand within the BA (Hons) Acting Programme, the annual Cross- School Project and they are developing new undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in contemporary and socially engaged performance practice. 

Gilly’s line of enquiry asks “how can we reimagine the Cross School Project for the progressive, plural, post- disciplinary conservatoire?” It positions the project as a marquee event within the School’s timetable – an opportunity to instil an ethos of artistic curiosity, collectivity and mutual support within our community of students. 

Professor Jonathan Vaughan, Principal of Guildhall School since 2022 and former orchestral musician, leverages extensive experience from roles such as Director of Music at Guildhall, Chairman of the London Symphony Orchestra, and CEO/Artistic Director of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. Driven by concerns over music education inequities and
a commitment to social justice and environmental sustainability, he is pursuing a PhD on “Artistic Citizenship and Performance Excellence in Music Conservatoires.” His research investigates how conservatoires cultivate Artistic Citizens. Jonathan’s study examines the integration and practical training of Artistic Citizenship within conservatoire curricula. Initially surveying 24 global institutions, his focus shifted to one selected institution, Oberlin College and Conservatory in Ohio. Through fieldwork and interviews, Jonathan aims to identify successful curriculum initiatives and challenges in fostering Artistic Citizenship, with preliminary findings highlighting effective strategies and obstacles observed at Oberlin. 

Jonathan’s research question is: How do conservatoires effectively train Artistic Citizens in order to create current and future generations of artists who are equipped and willing to intelligently engage with the current dialogue around ethics, social justice and well-being in order to define their own lives as 21st Century Artists in Society? 

Dr T J Bacon (she/they) is a trans-femme pansexual person with hidden disabilities. Her practice as an artist- philosopher foregrounds transgender studies, queer theory, crip theory and queer phenomenology to consider visual art, performance art, theatre, activism and curation. She has exhibited internationally for over 20 years, is the founder and artistic director of Tempting Failure and a PhD Advisor for the Trans Art Institute. She joins Guildhall School as Researcher in Residence. 

Her line of enquiry is titled Queer Acts of Hope. It is a timely and urgent response to UK-centric transgender lived experiences, arguing that trans lives occupy a position of queer phenomenological value for inclusive practices to be advocated for and through. Acknowledging the landscape of trauma but choosing not to exploit this, her line of enquiry foregrounds
the celebration of transition through close phenomenological examination
of the socially engaged artistic practice of transgender artists, communities and activists, noting the significance of hope and resilience when navigating UK society, political climates and healthcare. 

While in residence at Guildhall, she will establish a Virtual Centre of Excellence that draws together scholars whose own research advocates for trans inclusion while building new partnerships from UK social-advocacy and healthcare organisations. She will also conduct research for her third book, a monograph tentatively entitled Trans Phenomenology: Queer Acts of Hope while beginning the first steps to develop an advocacy workshop to improve inclusive care for trans people in the UK through co-production with the Guildhall De-Centre for Socially Engaged Practice and Research and wider trans community. 

She welcomes those interested in joining any element of this line of enquiry project to contact her. 

Jane Booth performed for over 30 years as principal clarinettist with Orchestras based in the UK, Europe and Canada. Her professional practice has evolved and is now rooted in Executive Coaching and Organisational Development. Jane leads Guildhall Ignite; a professional development consultancy based at Guildhall School. As an EMCC Master Coach, a coach trainer and a systems-inspired facilitator, Jane works with a broad range of high-profile national and international clients, including orchestras and leadership teams working to amplify world-class performance. 

For her line of enquiry, Jane asks: What does the classical music industry need of its leaders today to build a more inclusive industry for all artists tomorrow? 

Recent reports from the Independent Society of Musicians, Musicians’ Union and Women and Equalities Committee (House of Commons) indicate that the classical music industry is slow to respond to the cries for greater equity, diversity and inclusion within its ranks. When will artists of difference see the change they need and deserve and that will offer them equal/fair opportunities currently enjoyed by the few who fit a current idealised profile? Time and time again at industry debates, we hear leaders say how difficult change is and how it will take time. 

What is needed to bring about meaningful change in this sector? Who brings solutions and who remains a part of the problem? 

Nell Catchpole co-leads ‘SocialArts Practice’ projects for Guildhall students. She has co-directed/
convened a number of public events
for Guildhall staff and students, including: Curious (guest artist/ researchers including Claudia
Molitor (City), Cathy Lane (LCC),
David Toop (LCC), Brian Eno, Ansuman Biswas); MAP/making at Bath International Festival,
Aldeburgh Festival, and Barbican;
and Unfinished (events at Tate Exchange (2017–18) and Iklectik (2019–23)).
She is a freelance ecological sound artist and researcher based in Tees Valley.
She is undertaking Doctoral Research at Newcastle University. Current projects include “Gongs of Teesside”: Working with an 84-year-old blacksmith to create steel gongs to be performed by local communities in a series of co-created ‘sonic actions’. 

Nell’s line of enquiry explores participatory ecological sound art’s potential for affect/effect through collective “intensities of listening” and sonic actions. Nell’s practice as research explores the socio-ecology of Teesside at a time of uncertain transition from de- industrialization to the development of controversial “Net Zero” infrastructure. Listening/sounding with Teesside’s human and more-than-human inhabitants, she situates her work within the emergent field of ‘ecological sound art’, critically examining the nexus of ecological listening/sounding, social justice, and participatory art. 

Jo Chard (they/them) is a queer neurodivergent producer and researcher who focuses on participatory and co-created approaches. Most of their practice looks at radical
and democratised community-led infrastructure in cultural organisations through their work on projects like DISRUPT. They are the Senior Manager for Creative Partnerships at Guildhall School, and are currently undertaking a PhD exploring community and activist organising models, and their applications in the governance of cultural organisations to support greater democracy. 

Drawing on non-hierarchical, collective, co-operative and consensus- based decision-making models,
Jo’s line of enquiry looks at how we can create radical new approaches to governance in cultural organisations that place communities at the centre of decision-making processes. In the next year, the project will look at different community and activist organising models to support new governance frameworks, with a particular focus on collective and participatory funding approaches. 

Nazli Tabatabai-Khatambakhsh BSc., MLitt, MA, SFHEA is Professor of Dramatic Writing on the MA in Opera Making & Writing at Guildhall School and specialises in libretto, collaboration, and dramaturgy. Nazli is Associate Artist (Stage, Screen and Strategy) at The Oxford School of Drama and is an External Examiner at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama on the MA/MFA Creative Producing. Their critically acclaimed and award-winning international professional portfolio and arts-based research practice is socially informed and engaged, spanning opera, theatre, circus, literature, dance, museums and galleries, screen and digital spaces. She is an International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA) and Arts Council England Grad Fellow and is a member of ISPA’s Governance Committee with a specialism in DEI Leadership. Nazli Tabatabai- Khatambakhsh is the inaugural Postgraduate Researcher of Libretto at Guildhall School where her doctoral study engages with the opera Carmen and contemporary Iran. 

Nazli’s line of enquiry is about developing an Equitable Collaboration Framework and Facilitation Methods Toolkit. Through transdisciplinary research practice Nazli is engaging with multiple ways to connect, for example how we tune into each other through the sharing of aesthetics and narratives, using dramaturgy, observation and writing.