Guildhall School of Music & Drama has announced its Autumn 2026 season, and it is a rich one: a programme of concerts, opera, jazz and drama running from September through December, most of it at Milton Court and the Silk Street Theatre in the Barbican, and much of it free or inexpensive. One weekend in particular will draw Beatles lovers.
The Sir George Martin Centenary Weekend
The season’s headline is a weekend celebrating the centenary of Sir George Martin — the “fifth Beatle,” the producer who shaped the band’s sound, and a Guildhall alumnus. On Friday 4 December, The Eleanor Rigby Experience: 60 Years of Revolver marks six decades since the album’s release with the Guildhall Session Orchestra performing brand-new orchestral arrangements of the entire record, inspired by Martin’s own scoring of “Eleanor Rigby.” Then on Sunday 6 December, the Sir George Martin Centenary Concert reflects across six decades of his work, from the Beatles and Bond to his classical collaborations. Both are at Milton Court Concert Hall.
America, in the 250th anniversary year
With 2026 marking 250 years of American independence, the season leans into music from the other side of the Atlantic. The Guildhall Symphony Orchestra & Chorus open the season (24–25 September) with Copland and Bernstein, and there are events celebrating the electronic artist Pamela Z and British-American composer Anna Clyne.
Spotlighting Black creatives
Vocalist, composer and Guildhall professor Elaine Mitchener presents the UK edition of George Lewis’s Afrodiasporic Incubator Project, Always, Already There; the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra champions composer Hannah Kendall; and the Guildhall Jazz Orchestra performs new big-band arrangements of Miles Davis.
Jazz, opera and drama
The Guildhall Jazz Festival returns 18–22 November as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival — 19 performances, free to all. On the opera side, a double bill of Menotti’s Amelia al Ballo and Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti plays the Silk Street Theatre (2, 4, 6 and 9 November). The drama programme brings Nina Raine’s Tiger Country and Laura Lomas’s Chaos, both running 19–24 October at Milton Court. And for something entirely different, the Guildhall Session Orchestra performs Vangelis’s Albedo 0.39 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the Southbank (21 November).
Most performances are at Milton Court and the Silk Street Theatre in the Barbican (nearest tube: Barbican or Moorgate). Full listings, dates and tickets are at the Guildhall School box office. Many events across the season are free.
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