Performing Arts Courses & Classes in London and Online
City Lit offers performing arts courses in the heart of Covent Garden in Central London during the evening, daytime and at weekends. Explore our range of subjects including acting, (including accredited acting courses), dance, radio and screen, and voice, speech and communication as well as a full range of music courses, such as piano, singing, strings and wind instruments to jazz and pop, music technology, music theory and history
Our courses are labelled clearly for beginners or those with previous experience and you can speak to a specialist advisor to help you choose the right level. If you would you like some help or advice:
For music courses email music@citylit.ac.uk. You can also view our music auditions and advice page.
For drama, dance and speech courses email drama@citylit.ac.uk
- Opera appreciation: an introductionCourse start date: Thu 24 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Pauline GreeneWhat is opera? And how do you approach watching and listening to it? Explore the ostentatious, sometimes overwhelming, world of opera through study of two major works and styles.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £69.00 Concession £69.00 - Flute and clarinet choirCourse start date: Sat 26 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Lindsey FillinghamOpen to intermediate/advanced flutes and clarinets to play ensemble pieces in a range of styhles. Great for sight-reading and ensemble skills! Alto flute, piccolo, Eb and bass clarinets welcome. - Mime: workshopCourse start date: Sun 27 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Sean CroftThere’s so much more to Mime than the striped jumper, beret and box!
The course will cover basic techniques in Mime towards developing and creating worlds alongside opening your body up to expressionistic styles. Through technique and improvisational based classes we will play and explore some of the most renowned exercises in Mime and build on them. Engaging your imagination and developing your awareness of your body as a tool for theatre craft.Full fee £69.00 Senior fee £69.00 Concession £48.00 - Piano: advanced performance workshopCourse start date: Thu 31 Jul 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Maria RazumovskayaWelcome to the Summer School edition of Piano: advanced performance workshop! The advanced performance workshop is for pianists playing at Grade 8 standard and above, comprising two three-hour sessions. This insightful class will address issues of interpretation and style as well as dealing with aspects of technique and performance practice.Full fee £99.00 Senior fee £99.00 Concession £99.00 - Piano: multi-piano workshopCourse start date: Fri 1 Aug 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
This brand new Summer School three-day intensive course is designed for intermediate to advanced level pianists looking to explore the exciting world of multi-piano performance, under the expert guidance of acclaimed pianist and teacher Nadia Lasserson.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £90.00 - Music history bookclub: My Tango with Barbara StrozziCourse start date: Fri 1 Aug 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Edward BreenThe music history book club meets towards the end of each term to discuss novels and biographies with musical themes and references relevant to the music history programme.Full fee £19.00 Senior fee £19.00 Concession £19.00 - Music theory: score reading and analysis level 6Course start date: Fri 1 Aug 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Learn to navigate the musical scores, analyse basic structures (harmonic, motivic, and contrapuntal), and identify several baroque stylistic characteristics through the study of Bach: Partita no. 6 in E minor, BWV 830.
NB: this course has a scheduled lunch break of 1 hour
Tutor: Dr Cheryl Tan [external website].Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £59.00 Concession £59.00 - Come and sing: Mamma miaCourse start date: Sat 2 Aug 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Siobhan Blake, Richard Hartley-WilsonCome and sing all your favourite ABBA songs from the wildly popular jukebbox musical Mamma Mia at our friendly weekend workshop. There will be oppurtunities for solos over the weekend.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £129.00 Concession £90.00 - Piano: intermediate to advanced practice clinicCourse start date: Mon 4 Aug 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Phillip LeslieExplore the foundations of good practice and how to prepare for performance. These classes offer you the opportunity to address key technical, musical and physical challenges at the keyboard within a musically diverse and supportive group.Full fee £89.00 Senior fee £89.00 Concession £62.00 - Piano: healthy technique clinicCourse start date: Mon 4 Aug 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Lewis KestertonExplore the foundations of healthy piano playing and discover how technical difficulties at the keyboard can be overcome in this Summer School workshop. These classes offer you the opportunity to troubleshoot technical challenges in realtime within a musically diverse and supportive group.Full fee £89.00 Senior fee £89.00 Concession £62.00 - Great works: Beethoven's Symphony No 9 "Choral"Course start date: Tue 5 Aug 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Katy Hamilton, Trish ShawBeethoven’s monumental ninth symphony, first performed in 1824, has had an enormous impact on western classical music and on wider European culture. How did Beethoven come to write this work, and what does this symphony still mean to us two centuries after its first performance?Full fee £39.00 Senior fee £39.00 Concession £39.00 - Great composers: Gilbert and SullivanCourse start date: Tue 5 Aug 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Katy HomdenCreators of arguably the most popular and enduring opera in the English language from the 19th century, this course will introduce you to Gilbert & Sullivan’s musical legacy via biographical study and operatic highlights. tutor: Katy HomdenFull fee £59.00 Senior fee £59.00 Concession £59.00 - Contemporary dance intensiveCourse start date: Sat 16 Aug 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Francis AngolThis is a three-evening intensive in contemporary dance fusion. Learn how to express your physicality in a dynamic fashion and gain basic knowledge of the main principles of contemporary dance, with influences from other techniques. General level - suitable for both beginners and improvers. - String ensembleCourse start date: Tue 29 Apr 2025 (and 3 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Robert PuzeyCome and play string repertoire in a friendly group, and develop your confidence in ensemble playing. Suitable for those who have been playing violin, viola, cello or double bass for at least two years, playing at Grade 3 standard or above. Please click the 'start interview' button to apply. This is to make sure we have a balanced array of instruments for our ensemble. Break week 27 May 2025.Full fee £179.00 Senior fee £179.00 Concession £125.00 - Music theory: diploma topics 1Course start date: Mon 15 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Simon RigbyExplore the music theory topics equivalent in standard to the first year of an undergraduate degree. The topics in this module are selected from the Trinity Associate (AMusTCL) syllabus. You may use this course as part of your preparation for this exam, or just to develop your knowledge. This term: Musical skills. Break week 27th October 2025.
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