SE Music Conference 2022

MTA CONFERENCE 2022 | ST EDWARD’S, OXFORD

Music at St Edward’s

The Ogston Music School, built in 2016, sets the scene for an extensive music programme at St Edward’s, which is seen to involve a large proportion of the School, whilst fitting into a popular and strong arts provision, and more broadly into a comprehensive co-curricular programme where students can be broad in their choice, and yet head for excellence in their interests and talents. 60% of the School learn an instrument, taught by our team of 37 visiting music staff, and there is a busy schedule of ensemble rehearsals and concerts each week, led by our seven full-time members of the department. On top of that, we link up with drama and dance in The North Wall Arts Centre, where 1 in 7 take LAMDA lessons (including musical theatre) and 1 in 6 take dance. We offer academic music to every Year 9 student once a week, teaching a curriculum planned to feed into GCSE Music, Pathways Music Technology and Popular Music (our own devised GCSE-level course accredited by Buckingham University), A level Music and Music Technology and IB Music. Our Chapel Choir, Symphony Orchestra and Concert Band prepare amid the perfect acoustics of the Weston Recital Room for performances at prestigious venues in the city of Oxford and beyond, including Cadogan Hall and St John’s Smith Square, or at our new home venue of the Olivier Hall. We enjoy collaborative work with professional orchestras and ensembles — and have increasing links with Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, Instruments of Time and Truth

and the London Mozart Players. Recent concerts have also included work with other groups including the English Chamber Orchestra and Southbank Sinfonia. The School’s location makes it perfectly placed to take advantage of the cultural life of Oxford, London and Birmingham — whether that’s performance opportunities or trips to see opera (particularly using our links with Garsington), musicals, chamber recitals, orchestral programmes or lectures. The department has an eye for modern music in equal measure. Students are able to take 1:1 lessons in music tech/ sound engineering, songwriting and jazz harmony, and musical theatre specialisms within singing lessons. We prepare students for exams in ABRSM, Trinity London, Rockschool and LAMDA each term. Our Big Band performs in gigs around the county, complemented by our improvising Modern Jazz Ensemble. Rock bands link with music tech, making use of the fully equipped Fenton Recording Studio (running Ableton and Logic), and there are a number of gigs and band competitions for the School during the year. Pupils are also encouraged to take part in chamber music and smaller vocal groups too. We run year group close harmony choirs, a Brass Band, and a range of different chamber groups for quartets, quintets and small-scale ensembles. Every pupil has the chance to find something within their range, and head for excellence in those pursuits. It’s great to see students continuing their music to the highest level when they leave, with many classical recitalists, choral scholars, and recording engineers and DJs taking up music as a university subject or as a career.

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