The music facilities at Loretto School support the high-level teaching throughout the course. With extra pianos hired in spacious class rooms, and lots of practice rooms with keyboards, there is an extensive learning environment to complement existing performance spaces across the campus.
From its foundation in 1827 Loretto School has excellent facilities and a strong musical tradition. The Music School contains a suite of practice rooms and the Peter Wood Memorial Concert Hall and the Chapel houses an exceptional organ (built by Kenneth Jones in 1988).
In addition to the Music School there are several large class rooms with electronic pianos for ensemble coaching and movement based classes, and smaller study rooms which are used for one-on-one classes and private practice. Each day a practice room booking sheet is put on the Music School notice board to book rooms for the following day. Each student may book up to two 30 minute slots per day, with a separate Accompanists’ Room available for student and staff accompanist bookings only. Students may also organise rehearsals with their accompanist and music can be left in their named trays in the Theatre foyer.
The daily drop-in sessions for singers and accompanists also provide additional space for repertoire work before scheduled classes. These 10 minute slots are made available on a drop-in basis for singers, with longer sessions for accompanists to explore technical challenges without a singer.
The Student Showcase concerts and Opera Scenes performance take place in the air-conditioned Loretto Theatre, which can accommodate an audience of up to 300, and we hire a full-sized Steinway grand piano to showcase the excellent music making throughout the week.
In 2016 the Colin Thomson Hall was also transformed from a multi-use space to a dance and drama studio with an attractive matte dance floor, window blinds and a spectacular multi-colour ambient lighting system. We make full use of this space with morning warm-ups, Masterclass Lunchtime Series and the Wednesday night Ceilidh.
