Music

The LHAA curriculum is truly
comprehensive, encompassing music tuition with specialist teachers, classroom lessons, masterclasses, performances, chamber music, choirs, orchestras and a host of other complementary educational experiences, which, aim to provide an exceptional holistic education with Music and Art at its heart.

At LHAA we believe that a good musical education should be balanced by a good general curriculum “of true educational value”, and that “a career in music is not taken for granted and a broad range of academic subjects is included – without diminishing the musical priority”.

A truly world-class education of any sort is an holistic one and LHAA is clear in its assertion that cultivating the most creative and informed musicality involves the education of the whole person, so that the creative impulses which fire the most inspired musicality are nurtured and stimulated by an informed and imaginative awareness of the world in general. LHAA’s ambition is to provide a world-class musical education is served by an equal commitment to the very best in complementary academic study.

The curriculum at LHAA aims to
achieve the best and most effective
balance between musical studies and other classroom subjects. The curriculum aims, with appropriate structures, to support each individual pupil to achieve their potential, musically and intellectually. In the years up to and including GCSE (years 7 to 11), pupils concentrate on achieving proficiency in a wide range of academic subjects. The curriculum allows a reasonable number of GCSE examinations to be taken, which, is more than at mainstream academically selective schools: enabling LHAA students to manage the balance between academic and musical study and to devote appropriate time to their musical specialisms.

All students have at least one session per week of aural training. Critical listening is something that musicians do constantly, whether it is the first read-through or the fiftieth concert, and at LHAA, we keep our pupils’ ears and listening-brains in excellent shape.

Students will have weekly lessons in traditional music theory and harmony. By the end of their time at LHAA, they will be adept in a range of harmonic styles from Baroque through to contemporary. Musicians at the school have regular opportunities to flex their aural and harmonic muscles in our improvisation workshops.

The history of music, with a focus on the Western 'Classical' tradition is taught, however, we study many other types of music in some depth - pop and rock, dance, jazz, musicals, folk music from India, Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America. Older pupils also examine the issues surrounding historical performance practice.