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
- Orchestra workshop
Course start date: Tue 15 Jul 2025 (and 1 other date)Location on this date: Keeley Street
A fun, intensive workshop for players of orchestral instruments of Grade 6 level upwards, with good music reading skills. Please click the 'Start interview' button, follow the login instructions, and the Music Department will contact you.Full fee £129.00 Senior fee £103.00 Concession £90.00 - Great works: Mendelssohn's OctetCourse start date: Tue 2 Dec 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Katy HamiltonStudy the history and form of this famous work in a short, enjoyable music history class.Full fee £29.00 Senior fee £29.00 Concession £29.00 - Great musicians: Berio and BerberianCourse start date: Tue 2 Dec 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Trish ShawComposer Luciano Berio and singer-composer Cathy Berberian were the power couple of contemporary music in the 1950s and 1960s, collaborating to discover new sounds and musical techniques and structures in works from Tema: Omaggio a Joyce and Sequenza III to Stripsody.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £59.00 Concession £59.00 - Whispering ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response)Course start date: Sat 6 Dec 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Kate MontagueA one-off workshop on this worldwide phenomenon, delivered in the college. How can the impact of what we hear and feel enhance our connection to our voices? Through body-mind connection and the use of vocal sounds, gestures, rhythms and touch, you can not only reset your nervous systems, and better manage stress, but also find a deeper connection to your voice.Full fee £39.00 Senior fee £39.00 Concession £39.00 - Great works: Bach's Christmas OratorioCourse start date: Mon 8 Dec 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Edward BreenDiscover Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. Learn about the forms of this work and the history behind the first performances.Full fee £29.00 Senior fee £29.00 Concession £29.00 - Music analysis for listeners: Messiah Part ICourse start date: Wed 10 Dec 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Pauline GreeneHandel’s Messiah, composed in1741, is a stalwart work for concert programmers everywhere at Christmas and Easter. We look at Part I, from the beginning to the duet and chorus ‘His yoke is easy’, briefly putting the work in context and examining its forms and overall structure. We will then analyse a passage of recitative, an aria, and a chorus, in order to show how the composer created his effects and how effective this was for audiences then and now. *This course includes a 60 minute break.Full fee £59.00 Senior fee £59.00 Concession £59.00 - Great artists: David Munrow Course start date: Thu 11 Dec 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Edward BreenExplore the life and works of David Munrow, one of the key performers of early music in the 1960s and 1970s.Full fee £29.00 Senior fee £29.00 Concession £29.00 - String Winter SchoolCourse start date: Fri 12 Dec 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Robert PuzeyLearn technique, repertoire and ensemble skills for all orchestral strings. Develop your confidence and make new string friends. For players at grade 3 or above.Full fee £139.00 Senior fee £139.00 Concession £97.00 - Music history bookclub: The Great PassionCourse start date: Fri 12 Dec 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
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