Lady Manners School - Music & The School Orchestra

Music & The School Orchestra

Music is a major strength at the school with a wide variety of extra-curricular ensembles including Senior Orchestra (about 80 members), Senior Choir (about 100), Junior Choir (125), Brass Band (40), Senior Wind Band (35), Intermediate Strings, Junior Strings, Intermediate Wind Band, Junior Wind Band, Folk Group, etc.

In July 2004, the Lady Manners School Orchestra reached the national finals of the National Festival of Music for Youth and performed in the Royal Festival Hall, London.

In July 2005, the orchestra, conducted by Robert Steadman, was awarded "outstanding performance" at the National Festival Music for Youth Finals at Symphony Hall, Birmingham and in November 2005 they were invited to play at the Schools' Prom at the Royal Albert Hall where the 70+ strong orchestra performed a suite from John Williams' score from Jurassic Park and Elgar's Pomp & Circumstance March No. 1 (Land of Hope and Glory') with a 5,000 strong audience singing along and indoor fireworks.

In July 2007 the school's Senior String Orchestra, also conducted by Robert Steadman, was awarded "outstanding performance" at the National Festival of Music for Youth at Symphony Hall, Birmingham performing a programme of Edward Elgar, Robert Steadman and Edvard Grieg.

In July 2008, the music department managed to achieve the unprecedented by having 5 ensembles reach the National Festival of Music for Youth: the School Orchestra (who performed King Arthur a new work written by Jonathan Roberts (a 6th-form student), Nimrod from the "Enigma Variations" by Elgar and Riverdance by Bill Whelan; the String Orchestra who performed two movements from the St. Paul's Suite by Holst, the Prelude from Psycho by Bernard Hermann and Frolicsome Finale from "Simple Symphony" by Benjamin Britten; the School Jazz Orchestra who performed a programme of four works including "Birdland"; the School Brass Band; and the Senior String Quartet who performed Dvořák and Scott Joplin.

Since 2004, the music department has taken one ensemble on a short UK tour in the summer term. Most years this has been a combined brass and wind band who have visited places such as London, Edinburgh and Yorkshire giving a number of concerts. In 2009, the Senior Strings visited London and Oxford and gave performances in the Long Library, Blenheim Palace and Keble College chapel in Oxford. There are plans to take the Senior Orchestra to Hungary in summer 2010.