Music
Our aim in the Music Department is to ensure all students have access to high quality music education, regardless of prior experience. Our music curriculum, spanning both Prep and Senior classes, is thoughtfully designed to develop students in all aspects of music including listening, performing and composing. In the classroom, the focus is on musical perception and appreciation, building artistry, collaboration and confidence, and fostering creativity and musical expression. Instrumental skills are introduced very early on with a variety of instruments being taught in the classroom. These include ukulele, recorder, keyboard and percussion.
Beyond the classroom, we offer private instrumental tuition delivered by professional visiting teachers. Students can learn strings, woodwind, brass, guitar, harp, percussion and piano. We have a fantastic team of professional musicians who bring their passion and expertise to inspire our students. The Music Department currently offers individual lessons in the following instruments/disciplines.
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Woodwind Clarinet Saxophone Flute |
Strings Violin Viola ‘Cello Double Bass Harp |
Brass Trumpet Trombone French Horn |
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Keyboard Piano Organ |
Vocal Singing |
Percussion Drum kit Orchestral Percussion |
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Guitar Electric guitar Bass guitar Acoustic guitar |
We have a number of ensembles for our students to get involved in and we encourage all to get involved. These are run by our in-house Music Department staff and rehearsals run weekly in order to prepare ensembles for upcoming concerts and events. Our current offering includes:
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Across the academic year, we stage several concerts, trips and events for our students to perform at including termly ensemble and soloist concerts, weekly Mass in our Chapel, the Carol Service and Feast Day at Ealing Abbey and Young Voices at Wembley Arena. We also have a partnership with Sainte Marie-de-Neuilly in Paris, and their choir visiting us at Christmas to take part in our Carol Service has become a tradition.
In the Pre-Preps, Music focuses on developing listening skills, a sense of rhythm, and enjoyment through movement, singing and action songs. In Prep II (Year 1) and Prep III (Year 2), music is taught discretely within the curriculum, building musical awareness and confidence. Each term the girls share their learning in performances; nativity plays (Michaelmas Term), the Spring Show (Lent Term) and Songs and Certificates in the Summer Term.
In Years 3-6, Music lessons develop pupils’ musical understanding and skills through listening, singing, movement and performance. Girls explore a wide variety of repertoire, while deepening their awareness of rhythm, pitch and musical structure. In Year 4, all pupils learn the recorder, and in Year 5 they are introduced to the ukulele, giving them the opportunity to apply their musical knowledge through instrumental playing. Opportunities for performance continue to grow, with students sharing their developing skills in class and assemblies.
In Years 7–9, pupils follow a range schemes that broaden their knowledge and appreciation of different skills, styles, genres and traditions, ranging from the elements of music and basic piano skills (year 7) to the bass clef and Jazz (year 8) to Samba and film music (Year 9). Practical work remains central, with opportunities to sing, play instruments and compose, while building critical listening skills. Performances are shared both in class and in larger school events, such as concerts and celebrations, fostering confidence and creativity.
Students follow OCR’s specification to develop their skills in critical listening and appraising, performing and composing. The course exposes students to music from around the world and from different time periods including concertos by Vivaldi, Indian Classical Music and Bhangra, and hits by Adele.
Music A-Level develops students’ listening skills to an advanced level, requiring them to be able to analyse and appraise the function and role of different elements within compositions as diverse as Mozart and Stevie Wonder.
Please could you include the two tables currently on the website? And add in the following regarding the various shows, etc:
The Music Department works together with the Drama Department to deliver several productions every year, and the Senior School Production every other year. In recent years, these have included: Annie, Little Shop of Horrors, Chicago, Grease, Sister Act and The Addams Family. Our young musicians also compete in the Ealing Festival.
In recent years, we have enjoyed building a musical exchange with our sister school in Paris, Sainte Marie-de-Neuilly. Every Christmas, their choir visits us to take part in the Carol Service at Ealing Abbey, and in return we have taken some of our excellent young musicians and ensembles to perform in concerts in Paris.