Sevenoaks School

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A forward-thinking and award-winning Music department, with approx. 50 concerts annually spanning all genres & its own UCAS-recognized Yr 11 qualification. Chamber music is a particular strength & Sevenoaks has won Pro Corda’s schools’ trophy several times in recent years. Sevenoaks is a co-educational day & boarding school for students aged 11-18. We deliver innovative thinking & academic excellence with a strong pastoral & co-curricular emphasis. An inclusive global dimension is inspired by the International Baccalaureate. Termly fees: £9,709 - £11,026 (day); £13,595 - £16,919 (Boarder).

High Street
Sevenoaks
Kent
TN13 1HU
United Kingdom

Music has been part of a Sevenoaks education for some 500 years. Today the musical life of the school is based in our magnificent performing arts centre, The Space. This boasts a 410-seat auditorium, the Pamoja Hall, and in this we host an array of concerts and performances across the musical spectrum. Other facilities include a recital room, practice rooms, organ, harpsichord, recording studio and Mac suite with Logic Pro and other production software. We have a large Symphony Orchestra, a Choral Society with some 100 students, a junior orchestra, junior choir, very active chamber groups, flute, saxophone and clarinet ensembles, chamber choirs, gospel choir, blues bands, big bands, drumming club, composers' club, singer-songwriter club and DJing opportunities. We hold a regular choral evensong. Sevenoaks School has an enviable record in chamber music competitions and has been represented in the finals concerts of the National Chamber Music Competition and the Pro Corda Festival for many years, Chamber Champions in 2018, the Pro Corda Schools' Trophy in 2016 and the Founder's Trophy in 2013.

Our concerts are a diverse mix of music styles from classical to jazz, rock and pop. In 2018, the NYJO collaborated with the School and an alliance is planned with the Sacconi quartet in 2019. Recent performances included Mozart’s Requiem, Dvorak's Stabat Mater and Handel’s Messiah and in 2019 The Choral Society will perform Bach’s St John Passion. Recent orchestra performances include Sibelius’s Symphony No 1, Mahler Symphony No 1 and Dvorak’s Symphony No 9. There was a recent collaboration with the drama department leading to a performance of Sweeney Todd. Recent European tours include performances in Teatro Accademico in Bagni di Lucca, Barcelona Cathedral, Ta' Pinu Basilica, Gozo, and the Berlin Philharmonie.

Tuition is available in strings, brass, wind, percussion, vocal, classical and jazz piano, organ, harp and classical, bass and electric guitar. We teach over 750 instrumental music lessons a week, and students play a very wide range of instruments. One-to-one music tech lessons are also available. We regularly welcome professional musicians, including alumni, to hold workshops and masterclasses. Academic Music includes our externally moderated, UCAS-approved Sevenoaks School Certificates in Music and Music History and IB Diploma Standard Level and Higher Level Music. In Years 7-9, Music is a compulsory element of the academic curriculum.

Students who undertake an advanced course of study on Saturdays at the London conservatoires are thoroughly supported by the school. Recent individual successes include first prize at the Kent International Piano Courses, third prize in the Lagny-sur-Marne International Piano Competition, a Marguerite Swan Memorial Prize, selection for the National Youth Orchestra, National Youth Choir, National Youth Music Theatre and Glyndebourne Youth Opera orchestra, performances on Radio 3 and Radio 6, an invitation to perform in Lang Lang’s piano orchestra, a part in the ENO Carmen children’s chorus, a concert at Carnegie Hall and progression to the second round of BBC Young Musician. Sophie Westbrooke (OS 2017) reached the BBC Young Musician Final in 2014 and was the recorder soloist in the world premiere of Graham Fitkin's recorder concerto, brodacast live on BBC Radio 3 from BBC Hoddinott Hall. Higher Education offers include choral, organ and instrumental scholarships at Oxford and Cambridge universities and a Royal Academy of Music scholarship.

Music Scholarships and exhibitions are available on entry to Years 7, 9 and the Lower Sixth. Scholarships may be augmented in cases of financial need, following means-testing. For more details, please contact the Director of Music, Mr Christopher Dyer (chd@sevenoaksschool.org)