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
- Storytelling: tell your personal storyCourse start date: Sun 11 May 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: John EastmanTell your own personal story to others, and in so doing gain some perspective on how past events have shaped your life and how they will affect your future, while at the same time inspiring and informing others about life choices. The course will take place in a safe environment in the college.Full fee £229.00 Senior fee £229.00 Concession £160.00 - Acting for wellbeing
Course start date: Tue 3 Jun 2025Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Juliet PragueIncrease your physical and emotional wellbeing through playful and fun acting exercises. Connect, take notice, be active, learn new skills, become more present and engaged with others using tools drawn from actor training. - Beethoven: an introduction to his music Course start date: Tue 3 Jun 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Edward HendersonLudwig van Beethoven is one of the most important composers in the Western classical canon. Come and discover more about this most famous of Austro-German composers on a short introductory course.Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £149.00 Concession £149.00 - Improve your speaking voiceCourse start date: Thu 15 May 2025 (and 5 other dates)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Lloyd WyldeCome and improve your vocal skills through voice production and speech exercises. Learn about self presentation, develop spontaneity and gain greater confidence in your communication skills. This is a practical course based in the college.Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £104.00 - Great albums: Kind of Blue Course start date: Tue 8 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Albi GravenerDiscover everything you have always wanted to know about this extraordinary recording, one of the most critically acclaimed but also commercially successful in the history of jazz.Full fee £29.00 Senior fee £23.00 Concession £20.00 - Music, sound, and the moving image Course start date: Thu 17 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Neil LuckThis course explores key ideas about music for the screen, covering a broad range of examples, techniques, and ideas.Full fee £89.00 Senior fee £89.00 Concession £62.00 - Classical music: an introductionCourse start date: Mon 21 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Pauline GreeneAre you interested in finding out more about classical music but not sure where to start? This taster course will introduce you to the history of music through a careful choice of works. - Great composers: Louise Farrenc Course start date: Thu 24 Jul 2025
Location on this date: Online
Tutors: Trish ShawDiscover the musical life and work of Louise Farrenc (1804–1875), the celebrated French pianist, composer, teacher and scholar. Learn about her delightful chamber music, her important piano etudes, and her impact on French music and culture in the 19th century.Full fee £39.00 Senior fee £39.00 Concession £39.00 - 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 - 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 - 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 - Choral singing for pleasure Course start date: Mon 28 Apr 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Richard Hartley-WilsonWhether you’re a beginner or have some experience, this choral class will give you something to look forward to on a Monday. We sing many genres from musical theatre to pop plus more traditional pieces. This course is very popular, so booking early is essential. Break weeks 5th & 26th May 2025.Full fee £249.00 Senior fee £199.00 Concession £174.00 - Choir at lunchtime Course start date: Mon 28 Apr 2025 (and 1 other date)
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Richard Hartley-WilsonCome and spend your lunchtime singing a range of music, in interesting choral arrangements. It's good for the mind, body and spirit. Sing music from across all genres, have fun and leave with a spring in your step. There's no better pick-me-up at lunchtime! Break weeks 5th & 26th May 2025.Full fee £149.00 Senior fee £119.00 Concession £104.00 - Exploring the music of Richard StraussCourse start date: Tue 16 Sep 2025
Location on this date: Keeley Street
Tutors: Katy HamiltonFrom the heady waltzes of Der Rosenkavalier to the awe-inspiring opening of Also sprach Zarathrustra, come and delve into the life and works of the brilliant – and controversial – composer and conductor, Richard Strauss.
Full fee £269.00 Senior fee £215.00 Concession £188.00
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