Music is a very important part of life at Repton. We have an impressive department, newly refurbished, which houses a beautiful concert hall, generous teaching space and a state of the art recording studio. All pupils joining the school study the subject in their first year as part of the arts and technology programme. Music is then an option at GCSE and A Level, with some pupils opting to take GCSE in one year. We have a strong record of examination success at both levels. Classwork (which includes the use of Sibelius and ProTools music software) is well-integrated with pupils' performance activities and many of our musicians also take practical and theoretical exams up to and including the Performers' Certificate level of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music.
There are six full-time musicians in the department and thirty part-time specialist instrumental teachers. Many pupils study more than one instrument and several students each year go on to study music at university, with Reptonians regularly gaining Choral and Organ Awards to Oxbridge colleges and places at our national conservatoires.
Outside the classroom the department runs an extensive extra-curricular programme: ensembles include a concert band, symphony orchestra, string orchestra, jazz band, chapel choir, chamber choir, close harmony, chamber groups, rock bands, saxophone quartets and recorder consorts. The department organises regular visits to the Royal Centre, Nottingham and Symphony Hall, Birmingham during term-time and during the holidays our various ensembles have also toured nationally and internationally. Our musicians are also regularly involved in the National Youth Orchestra, the National Children's Orchestra, the National Youth Choir and the National Independent Schools’ Symphony Orchestra. Our academic and extracurricular programmes are further complemented by a professional concert series which brings artists of international fame to the school every term.