Music

The vibrant Music Department, although located in dedicated facilities, is often to be heard around the school. Not the least of these opportunities is the weekly Sunday Mass at which the flagship choir, the Schola Cantorum, sings, but there is also a programme of informal and formal performances throughout the year.

There is an annual cycle of themed concerts, for example Mozart 230, commemorating the anniversary of the great composer’s death, a film music concert, and a mixed-genre concert featuring several styles influenced by folk music from a number of countries. This series culminates in the Great Academies Concert at the end of May, the traditional highlight of the school year. The formal concerts and some other events are streamed live on our YouTube channel.

Music scholars travel in the region to give recitals frequently, and the Schola Cantorum has an annual trip to London to perform in the magnificent Church of the Immaculate Conception at Farm Street, as well as an exchange programme with the Choir of Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral. October 2025 and 2026 will see European tours, to Bruges and Vienna respectively.

Lessons can be booked on an individual basis on all orchestral instruments, plus piano, organ, drum kit, all guitars and harp. Our team of over twenty professional musicians includes members of the Hallé Orchestra, the Tallis Scholars and the BBC Philharmonic, and so a wide range of professional expertise is available to our pupils.

The Schola Cantorum is our flagship ensemble, singing at the weekly Sunday Mass. It is open to all pupils; if day pupils or weekly boarders need to board on a Saturday night to enable their attendance at the 10am Sunday morning rehearsal, this is provided free of charge provided a full commitment to rehearsals, services and concerts is maintained.

A development over recent years is that most Playrooms (year groups) have a vocal ensemble. The members have a great deal of say over the repertoire, which can therefore be eclectic!

These choirs lead into a senior Vocal Ensemble, which largely performs double-choir arrangements of popular music.

The Orchestra plays a range of the classics, such as Shostakovich’s ‘Jazz Suite’ and Strauss’ ‘Radetzky-Marsch’, as well as film music, most recently medleys from ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ and ‘Star Wars’. The Orchestra performs at three concerts each year, learning at least one new piece for each, whilst maintaining a repertoire of previous pieces.

• Jazzuits
  • Stonyhurst’s house band, consisting of a mixture of staff and pupils, with the emphasis on jazz improvisation techniques and job-of-work musicianship.
• String Orchestra
  • An ensemble which explores the treasury of the repertoire written specifically for string orchestra.
• Brass Ensemble
  • As well as concert work, the Brass Group explores other avenues of brass playing, such as fanfares, bugling, and performing carols at Christmas.
• ’Cello Group
  • The ’Cello Group is an example of an ensemble set up in response to demand: there were a large number of ’cellists and so we took the opportunity to being looking at some of the surprisingly extensive ’cello-specific repertoire.
• CCF Band
  • This ensemble is drawn exclusively from the ranks of the CCF.  No prior musical experience is necessary.
• Rock Bands
  • We have the facilities to house three rock bands simultaneously in rooms acoustically isolated from each other!