This term has been as busy as ever for the Music department at English Martyrs’ and there have been many successes to celebrate. Our busy programme events so far this year has included the Macmillan Coffee Concert, a Piano Masterclass at Ratcliffe College, Open Evening performances, workshops with Gabrieli ROAR and the National Youth Jazz Orchestra workshops and our annual Year 7 Concert. We are now preparing for the Menphys Concert at De Montfort Hall and our annual series of 5 Carol Services across two days in the last week of term. Some of the achievements we would like to highlight include:

RCO Accreditation

We are delighted to announce that the Royal College of Organists has made us an accredited institution for the work of our Music Department, particularly our Organ Tuition and Voluntary Mass Organist Schemes. We are one of only three state schools in England to receive such an honour. Our provision for Music has been called ‘exemplary’. We look forward to welcoming Andrew McCrea from the Royal College of Organists for an official presentation as part of our St Cecilia Concert on 26^th November at 6:00pm.

Support from Hymns Ancient and Modern

We are immensely grateful to Hymns Ancient and Modern for awarding us a grant of £2500 to fund new cassocks for Schola Cantorum. Thank you to Mrs Gull for securing this grant. Our Schola Cantorum has grown significantly in recent years and we are delighted that the whole choir of around 40 pupils will now have their own cassock for the Carol Services in the last week of term.

Celebrating Success – James Y13 ARCO, ORA Singers Composition and Organ Scholarship

James, A level Music student at English Martyrs’ has had a busy summer of musical achievements. Alongside his A levels, he is studying with Mrs Gull for the Associate of the Royal College of Organists (ARCO) diploma.

Over the summer, James took exams for five components of this NQF Level 5-6 qualification (equivalent to first year of degree) and passed four out of five components. These exams are pass or fail and it is very rare to pass as many as this on the first attempt. The different components are split amongst practical organ performance, keyboard skills, techniques of composition, aural perception and historical studies. James has said that he has learnt so much from studying this qualification, and it has helped him to become a more mature musician in many ways. Further to this exam success, James has been awarded the Organ Scholarship at Chichester Cathedral for next year, something which he could not have achieved without working for ARCO.

Further, James was selected as part of a group of ten young people attending non-fee-paying secondary schools across the UK to participate in the ORA Singers Young Composers scheme. He had the opportunity to write a piece for the choir which they workshopped and later performed at Kings Place in London. The task was to compose something in response to Robert Parsons’ Ave Maria, a piece from the sixteenth century, and throughout the process he was guided by a professional composer, Florence Anna Maunders. In the culminating Showcase Concert, he was awarded first prize for his piece by the adjudicators Giles Swayne, Lucy Walker and David Norland. The chief adjudicator Giles Swayne described it as ‘an intelligent and imaginative piece which brings Robert Parsons … to life in a fresh way’.

Congratulations to James.