Performing Arts
The performing arts play a huge part in the life of our school – every week nearly half of our girls are involved in some musical or dramatic activity and this has encouraged girls to go on into both the music and drama professions.
Often in conjunction with King Edward’s School girls take part in a wide range of musical and dramatic productions from informal lunchtime activities to the most impressive concerts in Symphony Hall.
What we at King Edward’s regard as most important is the ‘enjoyment for life’ that our pupils gain from participating in these school activities.
The Sir Paul and Lady Ruddock Performing Arts Centre
The Ruddock Performing Arts Centre is a collaborative project between King Edward’s School and King Edward VI High School for Girls designed to support our high quality performing arts provision. The centre comprises a concert hall with a seating capacity of up to 400, a drama studio seating 120 and a dance studio. The centre is the most significant new building on the Edgbaston site since the two schools moved here in 1936.
Please click here to view the Performing Arts Centre website.
Orchestral Music
The school has two orchestras which are run jointly with King Edward’s School.The Symphony Orchestra plays a wide-ranging orchestral repertoire including some of the more challenging works, as well as providing opportunities for our advanced instrumentalists to perform concertos. Highlights of each year are the concerts given in Symphony Hall (usually in April) and the Adrian Boult Hall (Christmas).Concert Orchestra is a training ensemble and its repertoire is mainly arrangements suitable for intermediate players. Occasionally the two orchestras (about 150 players in total) play together to provide an exciting finale to a concert – Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture for example. Recent repertoire has included Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony, Mahler’s First Symphony, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, Stravinsky’s Firebird and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade. Occasionally professional soloists are employed such as the renowned pianist Peter Donohoe who played Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto at our 2002 concert in Symphony Hall which marked the 450th anniversary of the foundation of King Edward’s School.
Musical Ensembles
Concert Band is a senior ensemble playing a mixture of original symphonic wind orchestra works and some arrangements of popular/light music.
Wind Band is its junior equivalent and its repertoire is principally arrangements suitable for intermediate players. Sometimes it combines with Concert Band in a major concert (about 100 players in total) to play more challenging music or provide an exciting finale to a concert.
Brass Band is an ensemble which plays a mixture of original brass band works and some arrangements of popular/light music.
There are two Swing Bands, Senior and Junior, which play arrangements of ‘jazz standards’ and some original big bands works – Glenn Miller numbers for example.
String Orchestra is a training ground for our string players from which they feed in to Concert Orchestra.
Instrumental Lessons
Instrumental Lessons are available to all girls – they take place before school, in the lunch hour and after school. We have about twenty visiting teachers, many of which we ‘share’ with King Edward’s School - instrumental lessons take place in our fantastic new suite of practice rooms.
Associated Board Examinations are held in school each term – girls may take exams in school whether or not they have lessons here – and we have our own ‘resident’ accompanist for instrumentalists.
Click on the icon below to view the Enrichment Reading List.
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Click here to download or read the Music Department Brochure
Click here to listen to an audio clip of Grieg Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16. This extract features Jinah Shim on piano with the Symphony Orchestra conducted by Peter Bridle performed at Birmingham Symphony Hall on 28th April 2009.
We try hard to make our annual programme of musical events a bit more special than just ‘School Concerts’!
In December we hold two Christmas Concerts, usually in the Adrian Boult Hall (part of Birmingham Conservatoire) and in April a Summer Concert, usually in Symphony Hall. The players have the excitement of performing in a ‘professional’ venue and the audience can both see and hear what is going on.
In March every year there is an Orchestral and Choral concert in the Adrian Boult Hall. The school year finishes with the ‘Syndicate’ Concert prepared and performed by students about to leave King Edward’s. This is a lovely Summer Evening’s music-making with wine and strawberries in the interval.
During the year there are six Lunchtime Concerts, held on Thursdays in the Concert Hall of King Edward’s School. These concerts give our musicians the opportunity to perform in front of a sympathetic audience.
We think singing is very important!
Junior Choir caters for the first and second year girls – usually about 40 of them. The choir performs in the major concerts and usually contributes a solo item to our Carol Service held in Edgbaston Old Church. In 2006 the choir won a cup at the Cheltenham Festival of Music in the Under-13 age-group.
Chamber Choir is an ensemble of 30 – 40 girls from Year 8 upwards. It explores the exciting repertoire for girls’ voices in three and four parts. The choir always contributes to our major concerts and is responsible for providing the music at the Carol Service. In December 2006 and 2008 the choir has been invited to participate in ‘Noellies’ Festival in Strasbourg with choirs from all over the European Community.
Choral Society is a 100-strong four-part choir drawn from pupils and staff of the boys’ and girls’ schools. For many of the choral concerts professional soloists are used – a real source of inspiration for our singers. When an orchestral accompaniment is used we often use professional players, ensuring that our most talented instrumentalists can sing if they wish. Last year they were working on Mozart's Requiem. This year the society are attempting Rio Grande by Constant Lambert.
Click here to listen to an audio clip of Mozart's Requiem.
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