Music at Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi

Why Music?

Aristotle once said that “Music has a power of forming the character and should therefore be introduced into the education of the young.”

At Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi, we believe that music makes a powerful contribution to the education and development of our children, and that students who participate in musical activities enjoy higher levels of engagement, as well as improved language and communication skills.  In line with our school values, we aim to encourage imagination, promote artistic excellence and enable our students to - Aim High. Work Hard. Be Kind and Respectful. Make a Difference - while fostering a life-long love of learning music.

Dulwich College London has a long-standing tradition of promoting excellence within the performing and creative arts dating back to 1619.  Dulwich College founder, Edward Alleyne insisted on ‘sound learning and strong artistic pursuits’ in education, something that the Dulwich College family of schools across the world aims to uphold to this day.  At Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi we believe that great music education is a partnership between classroom teachers, specialist teachers and professional performers, and as a result we endeavor to provide high quality musical provision and experiences for all students. 

What do we offer?

Our bespoke curriculum allows our young people to advance their musical knowledge, skills and understanding through a variety of engaging classroom activities, such as singing, tuned percussion and keyboard work. Students across the school receive weekly classroom music lessons delivered by specialist teachers, who ensure a broad and balanced approach to teaching and learning, focusing on the core elements of performing, listening and composing in a range of styles and traditions.  It is of utmost importance that practical music making is at the heart of all learning, and that all students are encouraged, challenged and feel inspired by the lessons. 

In addition to curriculum music lessons, students from Year 1 to Year 6 receive a whole class instrumental lesson as part of our unique ‘Primary Instrumental Programme’ (PIP).  This programme is designed to give every student in the Primary School the opportunity to experience playing an orchestral instrument, and to help them feel the joy of performing as part of an ensemble.  Each class gets to perform at different points throughout the year, either at an assembly or at our weekly community singing events. Each year group studies either the violin, viola, cello, clarinet or percussion for a full school year, delivered by our visiting instrumental teachers each week.

A large majority of our students across the school benefit from our weekly one-to-one ‘Instrumental Tuition Programme’.  With a wide range of orchestral, singing and piano lessons on offer, students can really focus on the detail required for high-quality music making.  Many students are now studying for the practical ABRSM grade examinations and through the CCA provision are also working on music theory grades.   

‘Endangered Instruments Scheme’

Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi Junior and Senior Orchestras are now firmly established ensembles and a successful part of the department, however, to extend the range of instruments available within these groups, we have introduced the ‘Endangered Instruments Scheme’.  Some orchestral instruments are more popular than others and therefore some orchestral instruments are in danger of being forgotten about! This also leaves the school with some gaps in the development of the orchestra.  Through this scheme the music department offers exceptional students the opportunity to learn an ‘endangered instrument’.  Students are selected on the basis of their progress, attitude and aptitude in lessons as recommended by the PIP or classroom teacher.  Instruments such as the Oboe, Piccolo or Timpani are recent additions to the list of instruments available and normally students receive the instrument on loan from the school when they sign up for instrumental lessons.

The ‘Endangered Instruments Scheme’ is closely related to our ‘Music Awards’ which is the promotion of non-orchestral instruments, such as guitar, ukulele and saxophone.  This works in a similar way to introduce students to a range of instruments.

Performance opportunities

Throughout the school year our students have a range of performing opportunities they can take advantage of to develop their musical confidence and abilities.  Many regularly perform at community singing or at our weekly assembly, and some get the chance to perform as part of one of the ensembles on offer.   

The Junior and Senior Orchestra members meet every week and work hard in preparation for the larger community event and celebrations, the most recent being the Christmas and Chinese New Year festivities.  Our newly formed Wind Band consists of upper Junior and Senior students who will do their first performance as part of the Book Week assemblies.  Another new group to be established in the next few weeks will be our first Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi Senior School String Quartet, and ‘Thunder Drums’, our Junior Chinese Drumming ensemble, gave their debut performance at the Chinese New Year celebrations last month.

Public performances

Members of the Junior and Forte Choirs have also been busy this year, performing at many events both at school and within the wider community.  Over the winter period, both choirs had the opportunity to perform at our Winter Concert and Chinese New Year Celebrations, as well as at hotels across Shanghai.  Both choirs are currently preparing for an upcoming performance at Disneyland Shanghai in the summer term!

As part of Founders Day this year we will be celebrating the fifth anniversary of the opening of Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi.  Founder’s Day celebrates the 400-year-old vision of Edward Alleyne and is an opportunity for students, staff, parents and the wider community to come together to celebrate.  Musical performances play a big part of these celebrations and it is a great opportunity for all our ensembles to showcase their hard work from across the year.

Creative Arts Scholarship

Another exciting opportunity open to our Senior School students from this year has been the Creative Arts Scholarship.  Dulwich London has had a long-standing tradition of promoting music and creative arts as a pursuit of excellence, and we are proud to draw upon this heritage to provide a unique opportunity for gifted students who excel both academically and in music.  This is a highly prestigious award that recognises students who are passionate about music, enthusiastic about performing, and are keen to improve themselves as a musician.  The first round of interviews and auditions will take place over the next few weeks and we look forward to finding our first successful Creative Arts Scholar!

And finally…

This is a pivotal year for the Music Department.  It is wonderful to watch our students investing their time and energy into the many performing opportunities and ensembles available to them.  It is fantastic to see the progress being made and the high-quality musicianship being cultivated - what an exciting time for Music at Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi!