About the author

Peter Renshaw is a writer and researcher for the Barbican and Guildhall School of Music & Drama. In 2001 he retired from the Guildhall School as Head of Research and Development, where he pioneered the innovative programme in performance and communication skills (1984-2001) and was Gresham Professor of Music (1986-93). Formerly he was Lecturer in Philosophy of Education at the University of Leeds Institute of Education (1970-75) and Principal of the Yehudi Menuhin School (1975-84). 

Peter has always had a special interest in organisational change and in the learning and development of professional artists. In the 1980s and ‘90s he was adviser to a number of orchestras aiming to extend their role: for example, the London Philharmonic; City of London Sinfonia; London Symphony Orchestra; Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra; City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; BBC Philharmonic; Royal Scottish National Orchestra, London Mozart Players; Royal Opera House and English National Opera.  

Consultancies have included Banff Centre for the Arts, Canada; Sydney Conservatorium and Queensland Conservatorium, Australia; Sibelius Academy, Finland; Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama; the Irish Government (developing an Irish Academy for the Performing Arts); the British Council in Tanzania and the International Yehudi Menuhin Foundation, Brussels. 

In addition he devised and led mentoring development programmes at the Guildhall School; Prince Claus Conservatoire Groningen; the Royal Conservatoire The Hague; the National Institute of Creative Arts & Industries, University of Auckland; the University of the Arts, London; The Sage Gateshead and Youth Music. 

From 2001-02 he was Chair of the Steering Group for Youth Music’s Creating a Land of Music and from 2001-03 he was Moderator of the EU Socrates project, Sound Links, on cultural diversity in music education. In 2005, as part of Musical Futures, The Paul Hamlyn Foundation published his research report on Guildhall Connect, titled Simply Connect: ‘Next Practice’ in Group Music Making and Musical Leadership. His report Lifelong Learning for Musicians: the Place of Mentoring was published in 2006 by the Lectorate Lifelong Learning in Music at Prince Claus Conservatoire Groningen and the Royal Conservatoire The Hague. In 2008 The Sage Gateshead published his Evaluation Report on REFLECT, the Creative Partnerships National Co-mentoring Programme. His book, Engaged Passions: Searches for Quality in Community Contexts was published in 2010 under the auspices of the Research Group in Lifelong Learning in Music & the Arts at Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Groningen and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Design, Music & Dance, The Hague. 

Most recently he was commissioned by the Barbican and Guildhall School to produce three research reports: Working Together: An enquiry into creative collaborative learning across the Barbican-Guildhall Campus (2011); Being – In Tune: Seeking ways of addressing isolation and dislocation through engaging in the arts (2013); and Collaboration: Myth or Reality? Through the eyes of the Barbican and Guildhall School (2017). 

Formerly he was a trustee of the London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT), the Centre for Creative Communities, Accord International, Share Music (Chair) and Nuance Music Limited (Chair). Currently he is Chair of Drum Works and a trustee of The Irene Taylor Trust.