Hartford Choral Society

Every year, The Grange School Music Department opens its door to working with the wider community to undertake 7 weeks of choral training. This training culminates in a concert that takes place in The Grange School Theatre, again open to the general public.

Aims

Enhancing existing educational provision
Provide the opportunity for collaborative learning between students
Enhanced sense of community

The critical factor for success is collaborative musical learning, whilst giving the local community chance to make use and visit The Grange Theatre.

The project is mutually beneficial. Local residents have the opportunity to be involved in two ways - either through participating in the choir or through attending the final performance. A number of Grange school students and staff take part in Hartford Choral Society, giving them chance to take on challenging musical content.

Background

The project was initiated in 2005 with the establishment of The Grange Theatre and was designed by the Music department to encourage closer working with the local community.

Resources

Critical to the success of the partnership is the time and effort dedicated by The Grange's Music department, both in terms of the preparation of resources and running the choral sessions but also in terms of the logistics in putting on the final concert. This amounts to approximately 55 hours in total.

Key resources include:

Use of The Grange Theatre.
Time and efforts committed by Grange School teaching staff.
Time and efforts committed by Grange School support staff to help with logistics.

Impact

Qualitatively, there are lots of benefits of the project:

Positive feedback from Grange school staff & students
Positive feedback from partner school staff & students
Chance for all students to engage in collaborative learning
Enhanced skills of all students involved

In 2018, Hartford Choral Society performed 'The Armed Man' to an audience of approximately 150 members of the general public. All commented upon the high quality of the music offered and it was observed that this content was a fitting tribute to the WW1 remembrance celebrations.

Whilst this is an established project, each year the Music department review the content and format on an annual basis.

Pupil Involvement

This varies annually but in 2018, 40 current staff and students were involved in Hartford Choral Society. The students ranged from Year 8 to Upper Sixth.

In addition to the current Grange contingent, approximately 20 people performed as part of Hartford Choral Society. As mentioned, approximately 150 members of the general public attended the final concert.

Frequency

This is an on-going project that takes place on an annual basis. 7 weeks of rehearsals take place from September to November, with the final concert in November.