Music News

The Music Department at Sherborne Girls lives right at the heart of the campus and permeates the school’s ethos.  With 60% of girls either playing an instrument or singing in one of the many choirs, the love of music shines through. This is evident to all who visit, particularly if they’ve had the opportunity to meet John Jenkins, Director of Music since 1996, who is so well loved by the girls, parents and staff that he has even had a room named in his honour in the new Arts Centre (thanks to the generous donation of a current parent of the school).
Visit Sherborne Girls and you are never very far from a hymn practice, concert rehearsal or performance of some sort. The team of six specialist music tutors combined with 22 visiting peripatetic teachers cover everything from strings to woodwind, from brass to percussion, means there is great variety in the instruments studied and allows the girls to have access to experts in their chosen field.

This enthusiasm and genuine love of music is reflected in the numerous successes and highlights, with just some of the recent achievements this term being:
The Baroque Chamber Quintet were finalists in the national Pro Corda Chamber Music Competition held in Cambridge.
At the Taunton Festival of the Arts, Sherborne Girls won in every category they entered, scooping awards for the String Orchestra, U16 String Solo, U14 String Solo, U15 duet, Piano Duet, Piano Solo and the Senior String Ensemble.
A stunning joint concert with Sherborne School held at Sherborne Abbey where they performed JS Bach’s St John Passion alongside distinguished solo artists. 
The annual Harriet Tory Masterclass saw an inspiring collaboration between our strings players and the Carducci Quartet.
A joint concert held at St George’s Church, Hanover Square, where the girls’ Madrigal Society (the elite choir formed over 57 years ago) shared the spotlight with Sherborne School’s Swing Band, performing to parents, Old Girls and Old Boys.
 
The Madrigal Society also had an incredibly successful tour to Budapest last summer, performing in a selection of magnificent venues. They are looking forward to a similar programme in Vienna in July.
We enjoy a vibrant musical collaboration with the other local schools. There have been excellent concerts by the Sherborne Schools’ Symphony Orchestra and Sherborne Sinfonia, including players from the four senior schools, Sherborne International and Sherborne Prep. Founded in 1979, this youth orchestra enterprise remains one of the jewels in our musical crown.
Sherborne Girls’ commitment to supporting its musical talent, and indeed the wider arts, will be encapsulated by a fantastic new venue due for completion in Spring 2019.  The school looks forward to inviting Sherborne town into its grounds to enjoy performances in the £10m Arts Centre development, which will provide a 350 seat recital hall, music school, refurbished drama school and multi-functional social spaces, ensuring the building is truly beneficial to the musicians and singers as well as the wider community.  

John Jenkins concludes:

“The Music Department continues to go from strength to strength, with our musicians performing to an impressively high standard as singers, orchestral instrumentalists and keyboard players. 
“We want the girls to get to as high a level as they can during their time at school so that the doors are open to them in the future, enabling them to enjoy the unique richness in their lives which music brings.”