Concerts and Performances

The Christmas Season

There are several music performances each term.

Christmas at Withington is something unique, with tradition, fun, laughter and a sense of community with both the young and the old. The Concert Season usually begins with a traditional Carol Service at St Ann’s followed by The Senior Citizens’ Christmas Party where the girls enjoy bringing the Christmas Season to the older generation.

Next is the Junior Christmas Concert which usually takes the format of voice and musical performances before interval and a musical play after interval. (There is more about Junior Music in the Junior Section of the website.)

The final concert of the festive season is the Senior Concert, where well over one hundred girls and all the musical ensembles, choirs and orchestras take part.

At Founders’ Day, the School’s musicians and the whole school choir has the honour of performing on the famous Bridgewater Hall stage to their biggest audience of the year, comprising pupils past and present, Governors, parents and teachers.

Informal Recitals

Informal music recitals are an integral part of the musical life of the School. They usually comprise performances by the pupils of two of our peripatetic music followed by a performance of teachers themselves. Such is the depth and breadth of musical talent at Withington, if all talented musicians were to perform at one of the larger concerts, the audience would be thinking about breakfast by the time the concert came to an end. The main aim of these informal concerts, therefore, is to give a greater number of pupils the opportunity to perform solos and in small ensembles for an audience – the only way to learn performance skills.

Spring and Summer Term Concerts

The Spring and Summer Musical Showcases celebrate the hard work and success of pupils from Years 7 – 13, bringing together a collection of songs from the shows, solos, jazz, classical, students’ compositions, dance performances and the School orchestras and ensembles. Pupil GCSE and A Level compositions are always a great highlight – they are performed by professional musicians and conducted by their composer always leaving the audience amazed at the standard and quality of these original compositions.

Leavers’ Concert

Each year the outgoing Upper Sixth put together their own variety show including music and song. Always a moving occasion, the programme is always varied and, aside from music, might include a comedy sketch or short playlet.

Choir Trips

Every two or three years there is a Music Department choir tour to Europe. Always popular with pupils, members of the Senior Choir have taken tours of, Florence, Barcelona, Venice and Milan with upwards of 40 pupils on each of the tours. Venice and Milan was the most recent tour when pupils sang in, among other famous venues, in St Mark’s Cathedral.