Guildhall appoints under-fire principal
NewsJonathan Vaughan, who joined Guildhall School in 2007 as Director of Music, was today appointed as Principal of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama at London’s Barbican Centre.
Vaughan succeeds Lynne Williams, who resigned in August 2021.
Vaughan is under fire for the dereliction of the London Schools Symphony Orchestra on his watch, provoking a rebellion from parents and students. He has very little time in which to put this right.
The only place I can find publicly that the Guildhall School’s new Principal is ‘under fire’ (through the publication of a leaked letter) is this blog. One has to ask, Norman, just what is your agenda here and how was the letter obtained?
Corrections:
1.The Guildhall School is sited adjacent to the Barbican Centre, the two are linked in so much as both have a connection to the Corporation of London. There are regular performances by Guildhall School students at the Barbican and artists promoted by the Barbican rehearse or perform at in the School’s Milton Court halls or other performance spaces. Otherwise, they are separate entities.
2. Lynne Williams retired, rather than resigned. Resigned could be interpreted that she left for some unsavoury reason, which was emphatically not the case.
It’s hard to miss Walter White, while scrolling.
Interesting that Vaughan is “is currently studying for a PhD on the subject of ‘Artistic Citizenship and Performance Excellence in Music Conservatoires’ ”, but they do not confirm at which institution. If he is studying for a PhD at GSMD itself, then I would be curious to know what procedures are in place to handle potential conflicts of interest (in other words, how will GSMD ensure that the PhD examiners will not feel pressured into giving him an easy ride?). Whilst it is pretty common in UK Higher Education for people to study for a PhD whilst also acting as staff at the same institution, it is very unusual for the candidate in question to be in the senior management.
A PhD student will generally have two supervisors and two or three examiners. This is a small total should the student have influence over one of them, so you are right to express some concern. Most institutions will have policies to counteract potential conflicts of interest and power imbalances. At least one of the examiners will be from an external institution for example.
The biggest risk when a powerful individual studies for a PhD is the pressure on the supervisor to ‘help’ with the writing. Power most usually comes in the form of promises of generous donations to the institution from the student’s family. A high ranking manager could wield some influence I suppose. I am not suggesting this is the case here.
The task of the PhD examiner is usually summarised as determining if the thesis is of sufficient quality and originality to merit a PhD. At least as importantly, an examiner will also be assessing if the thesis is really the student’s own work. An experienced examiner will have little difficulty in determining this.