Annabel King from Colby travels to Manchester this week to begin her studies at Chetham’s School of Music. Annabel, 13, is moving to the largest specialist music school in the UK from the south of the Isle of Man where she has attended Scoill Phurt Le Moirrey and Castle Rushen High School and has studied the piano and singing with Judith Christian and the violin with Bernard Osborne.
During her time at Chetham’s Annabel will receive academic and musical tuition to the highest level. At the same time she will have the opportunity to play in chamber groups, choirs and school orchestras and to take part in concerts which are held regularly in major music venues such as the Royal Festival Hall in London, the Royal Northern College of Music and the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, as well as in the School’s own multi-million pound Stoller Hall, newly opened earlier this year.
Annabel’s piano teacher, Judith Christian, is delighted with Annabel’s achievements in gaining a place at Chetham’s through a rigorous audition and interview process last October, and in achieving a distinction in her Grade 7 piano exam in June. Judith said: “Annabel has a profound love of music and is dedicated to playing the piano. I was one of the first girls at Chetham’s in 1969 and I am confident that Annabel will benefit greatly from the Chetham’s experience.”
With around 300 students aged from eight to 18, Chetham’s welcomes young musicians from all areas of the United Kingdom, Crown Dependencies and beyond. Entry is based solely on musical potential, not social background or financial circumstance.
Based in the heart of Manchester, Chetham’s provides a dynamic music programme, complemented by its cosmopolitan city centre location. Around a third of the timetable at Chetham’s is devoted to music, so students can expect to study music for three hours a day plus practice time. Students follow the full adademic curriculum; the school has an outstanding academic record with over 95* of students receiving A* to C grades or the equivalent at GCSE and A level. The broad curriculum, together with consistently high A level results, keeps choices open for students when they move on to the next stage of their career. Over two thirds of students continue their musical studies at a conservatoire and around a quarter go on to university to read subjects including medicine, law and engineering.
As a co-educational boarding school, Chetham’s is home as well as school to two-thirds of its students. Against an attractive backdrop of buildings on-site that are nearly 600 years old, Chetham’s students also benefit from the incredible resource of a 21st-century state-of-the-art New School Building. Opened in 2012 and created with the most advanced acoustic technology, the building houses teaching, practice and rehearsal rooms, a Music Technology Centre, an Outreach Centre and a full range of academic classrooms. A 100-seat recital hall and 400-seat concert hall provide spaces for almost daily performances throughout the school year.
Photo - Annabel King with her piano teacher Judith Christian at the Manx Music Festival in April 2016.
