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from cathedral choir schools, or from schools
with major music departments. The unique
thing is that people come here because they
don’t want to over-specialise; they want to
be outstanding musicians, but they also want
to achieve on the academic front, or on the
rugby pitch or netball court. In our present
Upper Sixth, four pupils are looking at
Oxbridge choral awards, and two are looking
at music college places – a good indication of
the ambition of our senior musicians.
What music do you listen to in your
spare time?
I listen to everything. I particularly enjoy
20th- and 21st-century choral and orchestral
stuff and I love modern composers like
James Macmillan and Nico Muhly. I still enjoy
musicals in the West End and on Broadway
– and I always look out for touring jazz
bebop. The last gig I went to was Muse at
the Emirates Stadium.
Finally, what does the future hold?
The new Music School sets the scene for at
least a decade of growth and development.
Without question, it will allow us to up our
game. We now have a real opportunity to
gain a national reputation for music, just as
The North Wall has allowed us to do with
drama, dance and art. The Music School
completes the School’s ‘cultural quarter’ on
South Parade and is a very exciting addition
to our facilities.
Was it easy to decide what to do as
a career?
By the middle of my university years, I felt
I had two options: theatre or teaching. I
picked the latter because it seemed to offer
the greatest variety. In theatre, you can play
the same material every night for months.
I completed a PGCE and took up my first
teaching post at Uppingham where I stayed
for 12 years. I joined St Edward’s in 2009.
What attracted you to St Edward’s?
The breadth of the education on offer and
the range of musical activities: music should
be part of everyone’s life. The city was a big
attraction - there are wonderful venues, and
countless world-class performances.
How have things changed since you
arrived?
There has always been excellent music
at Teddies, but it hasn’t always had a high
enough profile in the outside world. All
musicians love the pressure and excitement
of big occasions. Within my first two years,
we had taken part in the BBC Festival of
Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall and
joined the English Chamber Orchestra for
a performance at London’s Cadogan Hall;
thinking big and connecting with the wider
musical landscape was a reasonably new idea.
What have been the highlights of the
past seven years?
Inevitably, the big occasions like the ones
I’ve just mentioned: St John’s Smith Square,
Cadogan Hall and our two Evensongs at
St Paul’s Cathedral. I’ve been immensely
proud of our musicals -
Into theWoods
and
West Side Story
in particular. We now have
a proper rock, pop and tech scene so our
annual Battle of the Bands is hotly contested
and increasingly professional. We’re also
starting to offer proper orchestral concerts
with programmes of overtures, concertos
and symphonies.
What opportunities will the new Music
School open up?
It will allow us to grow and develop with
confidence over the next 10 – 20 years. The
only thing limiting our musical ambition has
been the space available for rehearsals and
teaching. The Ferguson Music School was
ahead of its time in the 1960s, but every
single day of the past seven years has begun
with logistics issues: how and where can we
fit everything in? With the extraordinary
success of The North Wall, the arts have
been exceptionally strong over the past
decade. Music has been growing at the same
pace but desperately needed room in which
to develop and thrive.
What will it feature?
Dedicated music classrooms for the first
time - equipped with the very latest audio
and video equipment; I’ve been teaching
in my office! Departmental space is
centred around a proper Recital Room for
rehearsals, regular events such as Friday
at Five and chamber concerts. A carefully
commissioned music tech studio will house
a rock room and vocal recording booth, and
will enable us to take an audio feed from
the Recital Room. A new Sixth Form Music
Library, with modern work stations, will
make it far easier for pupils to understand
the possibilities of further academic music
study. Most importantly, the Music School
will triple the number of practice rooms
overnight. If we want our pupils to be more
ambitious we must make it as easy and
pleasant as possible for them to practise.
Even with our cramped conditions, ten
Grade 8s have been achieved this year, with
two or three pupils considering a Diploma.
With our growing reputation locally, we
have a good number of prep school pupils
The ‘dream team’ behind the 2015 production of
Fame!
– Choreographer Dennis Victory; Producer and
Head of Dance, Lisa Elkins; Co-Producer Beth Steer; and Director of Music, Alex Tester
Casper Sunley
ST EDWARD’S CHRONICLE
FOCUS ON MUSIC