Music Department
The Abbey School enjoys outstanding success in the field of music. The music department is one of the liveliest parts of the school with a large proportion of girls taking part in the exciting programme of musical activities on offer. These range from individual instrumental lessons to an extensive list of musical ensembles which perform in the many concerts in the school calendar, as well as exciting special events such as whole-school musical productions, foreign tours and visits from leading performers.
The Music Department aims to provide musical opportunities for all girls in the school, whatever their experience and ability. While girls are encouraged to develop their musical talents to as high a standard as possible, the ethos is also very much one of having fun.
The music department comprises two large teaching rooms, one equipped with 15 keyboards and ten individual practice rooms. Large-scale concerts and productions take place in the school’s main hall, the Richards Hall, which is equipped with two Yamaha grand pianos, one of which is a magnificent hand-crafted concert instrument donated to the school in 2007. Other concerts take place in the Lecture Theatre, which is ideally suited to smaller recitals and is also equipped with a grand piano. The choir also enjoys performing in the Hardcastle Hall in the old building at the front of the school, which has a beautifully resonant acoustic.
'A very successful and popular department, offering a very high quality of music education and an extensive, varied and stimulating range of extra-curricular activities. The department contributes significantly to the life of the school…….. The enthusiasm of the staff is infectious.' (ISI Inspection Report, 2002)
Instrumental Music, Scholarships, Extra-curricular music
