Allegations against predatory tutors suggest an 'endemic' culture of abuse at conservatoires

As two new claims of historic sexual misconduct at Guildhall are investigated, there are calls for a full inquiry into mistakes made 30 years ago, writes Vanessa Thorpe

- Vanessa Thorpe

The school has admitted failings in its duty of care towards students.

(Alamy)

Fans of early classical music are a tight-knit crowd. So when the musician Clara Sanabras arrived at a London concert earlier this year, she expected to recognise several of those taking their seats inside the small venue. But there was only one person she was there to see: the male soloist who was due to perform. He was her former music tutor, and she was braced for a difficult moment.

"As he moved towards the stage, I realised I had to act quickly or I would lose courage. I went forward and told him he might remember me," said Sanabras, 51. "And then I handed him, as evidence, a blown-up version of this postcard that he'd given me when I was his new young student from Spain. He was chuffed at first that somebody was giving him a gift. And then he realised."

The note was from 1994, when Sanabras had just arrived in Britain to take up a place at London's Guildhall School of Music & Drama. It was an invitation from the tutor, a respected musician a number of decades her senior, to meet up outside class, ideally at his flat. This offer was initially reassuring for Sanabras, who had no relatives or friends in the country. But the postcard now chills her.

"It is quite obvious now what he intended and that it was to be a secret," said Sanabras. "Although he claimed at the concert that he felt he had been offering me opportunities."

The invitation marked the beginning of months of sexual encounters between Sanabras and her tutor that she now believes were abusive and which she said damaged her feelings of self-worth for years afterwards.