Sunday, 5 Sep 2010
Music Facilities
The first and second floors of the Latymer Arts Centre house the Music School complete with acoustically designed teaching and practice rooms and a music technology studio for the newly introduced Music Technology A level.
The Theatre is currently used for larger concerts. Choral society concerts and the Carol Service take place in St Peter's Church, Hammersmith, St Paul's Church, Hammersmith and St Augustine's Church, Queen's Gate.
The Latyer Performing Arts Centre, which lies at the heart of the School, was opened in 2008. This houses a 100 seat Recital Hall, a dance/drama studio, a large music room with enough space for an entire orchestra to rehearse, and a number of smaller practice rooms. All are equipped with state of the art accoustics and air-conditioned. In addition, the building houses space for instruments to be stored in individual lockers.
Latymer's music technology facilities are unrivalled in West London. As well as having a state-of-the art digital mixing studio for multi-track recording, there are also facilities for sequencing and sampling, as well as notation software for the professional production of students' compositions and coursework.
The facilities include a recording studio and Music ICT suite. The studio consists of a control room and two live rooms. The ICT suite consists of 20 Apple MACs which provide teaching and coursework resources for the A Level Music Technology as well as GCSE music classes. They are also used for extra-curricular activities that involve the recording of school ensembles, professional chamber groups and the annual Band Night. Other uses include the provision of music for the music technology concerts, theatre productions and the production of school concerts on CD.
All students who sing or learn a musical instrument are encouraged to participate widely in the musical life of the School. Latymer offers a diverse range of extra-curricular music, both orchestral and choral. The following groups have weekly rehearsals during term-time:
All of the school orchestras, choirs and ensembles perform at a wide variety of concerts each year. There are also music competitions and a Piano Day is held in the Spring term. The most advanced orchestral players from Latymer combine with those from Godolphin and Latymer School to form the Joint Orchestra, which gives termly concerts. Informal concerts are held in the Recital Hall throughout the year to showcase individual talent across all year groups and a number of musicians go on tour in the summer, most recently to Prague and Tuscany. Latymer Consort, a small group of singers drawn mainly from the upper years, regularly sing Evensong in places such as Trinity College, Cambridge.
The creative community comes together at least once a year to perform classic works of professional quality. The Latymer and Godolphin Choral Society is a large, non-auditioned choir of pupils, staff, parents and friends which performs large-scale works with orchestra and soloists. Recent works have included Bach's St John Passion, Brahms' German Requiem, Britten's St Nicolas, Haydn's Nelson Mass, Elgar's Dream of Gerontius, Haydn's Creation and Tippett's A Child of Our Time. The Choral Society is an excellent opportunity for all in the Latymer family to let their talents shine and get to know one another.
The Music Department frequently collaborates with the Drama Department on stage productions. Recent performances have included Cabaret, Guys and Dolls, My Fair Lady and Fiddler on the Roof, together with the British premiere of the musical 110º in the Shade by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones. Latymer recently put on its first opera - Dido and Aeneas - a joint collaboration between the Music and Drama Departments, with the orchestra being made up entirely of pupils.
Jazz is a strong and vibrant part of the Latymer musical community. A number of ensembles rehearse weekly. The highlight of the year for our musicians is the day-long workshop presented by renowned trumpeter and broadcaster Digby Fairweather. This culminates in the annual Jazz Evening when the Edward Latymer Theatre is transformed into a jazz café and the place is jumpin'!
Jazz specialists are not the only musicians to benefit from celebrity input. Each term, the School runs a Celebrity Recital Series in the Edward Latymer Theatre, often in conjunction with an afternoon workshop. Students hear excellent instrumentalists and singers and are given the opportunity to work with them during the day.
Private Tuition
Instrumental lessons: Instrumental tuition is offered by a talented and experienced team of instrumental staff on a wide range of instruments. There are 30 lessons during the academic year: 12 during the Autumn Term, 10 during the Spring Term and 8 during the Summer Term. The lessons take place during normal school time and operate on a rota basis, so that no pupil has to interrupt the same lesson each week. Lessons for pupils in Sixth Form usually take place before school, during the lunch break, after school, or during free periods, so that they cause no disruption to work for A Levels.
Instruments: Most pupils have their own musical instrument. However, it is appreciated that musical instruments can be expensive and students do not always maintain their initial interest and enthusiasm. For this reason the school has a stock of musical instruments which are loaned to pupils for a nominal charge. The school is not always able to provide every pupil with the instrument of his or her choice, in which case it is also possible to rent an instrument from a local music shop. Parents should note that Latymer is unable to offer saxophones or guitars (electric, bass or acoustic) for hire.
Pupils wishing to learn the piano must either have a piano (or touch-sensitive electric piano) at home, or have access to one on a daily basis for practice purposes.
Please click here for the Music Department diary of events and concerts