The Purcell School for Young Musicians is a specialist music school for children, located in the town of Bushey, south

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, England, and is the oldest specialist music school in the UK. The school was awarded the UNESCO Mozart Medal in 2003, which was received on behalf of the school by

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

, who is a patron of the school. Sir

Simon Rattle Sir Simon Denis Rattle (born 19 January 1955) is a British-German conductor. He rose to international prominence during the 1980s and 1990s, while music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1980–1998). Rattle was principal ...

is honorary president of the school. Many of the pupils subsequently study at top conservatories across the country including: the Royal College of Music, the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...

and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In 2015, the School became the first Fazioli Pianoforti Centre of Excellence. The School's pupils are funded largely by the Government's Music and Dance Scheme, along with the School's own scholarship funds. It has a consistent success in national and international competitions and has an extensive programme of outreach and community work. The majority of pupils progress to music conservatoires although a small number each year elect to go to University to study both music and non-musical subjects.

History

Rosemary Rapaport Rosemary Rapaport (29 March 1918 in St Albans – 8 June 2011 in Olney) was a violinist and music teacher who founded the Purcell School for musically gifted children. Early years Nancy Rosemary Peace Rapaport was born into a Rabbinic family. ...

and Irene Forster founded the school in 1962 under the original name of the Central Tutorial School for Young Musicians, at Conway Hall in central London. The school later moved to Morley College, and subsequently to

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

, then to a large Victorian house in Harrow on the Hill. The school changed its name in 1973 to The Purcell School (after the English composer

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest E ...

). In 1997, the school relocated to the site of the former

Royal Caledonian School The Royal Caledonian School was a residential home and school for Scottish orphans, initially in London and subsequently in Bushey, Hertfordshire. History The Caledonian Asylum was launched by members of the Highland Society of London in 1815 ...

campus in Bushey,

Notable former pupils

Martin James Bartlett Martin James Bartlett (born 1996) is an English classical pianist who has twice reached the keyboard finals of the BBC Young Musician of the Year contest, winning the competition in 2014. Education From the year 2010, Bartlett was educated at ...

, BBC Young Musician of the Year 2014 * Katharine Blake, Kelly McCusker and

Jocelyn West Jocelyn West (formerly Jocelyn Montgomery) is a British musician and actress. West was one of the founding members of the band Miranda Sex Garden. After leaving the band in the early 1990s, she joined the medieval music ensemble Sinfonye. In 199 ...

, vocalists and founder members of the

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

ensemble Miranda Sex Garden *

Sona Jobarteh Sona Jobarteh (born 1983) is a Gambian multi-instrumentalist, singer and composer. She is from one of the five principal kora-playing griot families of West Africa, and is the first female professional kora player to come from a griot family. S ...

Gambian vocalist, multi-instrumentalist *

Daisy Chute All Angels were a British classical crossover group formed in 2006, consisting of Daisy Chute, Laura Wright, Rachel Fabri, Melanie Nakhla and actress Charlotte Ritchie. The group's style was classical crossover music and close harmony arran ...

, singer with classical-pop group All Angels * Robert Cohen, cellist * Jacob Collier, five time Grammy awarded singer, arranger, composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist * Nicholas Daniel, oboist *

Anne Denholm Anne Denholm is a Welsh harpist born in Carmarthenshire, who held the position of Official Harpist to the Prince of Wales from 2015 to 2019. Education Denholm was educated at Ysgol Gynradd y Dderwen and Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bro Myrddin. She th ...

, harpist, Official Harpist to the Prince of Wales 2015 *

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, pianist * Catrin Finch, harpist *

Teo Gheorghiu Teo Gheorghiu (born 12 August 1992) is a Swiss-Canadian pianist. Life and career Gheorghiu was born in Männedorf, Switzerland to a Romanian father and Canadian mother. He started playing the piano at the age of 5 with Daniel Höxter. He stud ...

, pianist and actor *

Ploypailin Mahidol Jensen Than Phu Ying Ploypailin Jensen ( th, พลอยไพลิน เจนเซน; ; born February 12, 1981) is a member of the Thai Royal Family, a granddaughter of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand and a niece of King Vajiralongkorn of Th ...

, pianist, a granddaughter of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. * Oliver Knussen, composer and conductor *

Oliver Lewis Oliver Lewis (1856–1924) was an American jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing. On May 17, 1875, Lewis won the very first Kentucky Derby aboard Aristides. The pair won by a reported two lengths, setting a new American record time for a mile-and- ...

, virtuoso violinist *

Jack Liebeck Jack Liebeck (born 4 August 1980) is a British–German violinist. In 2010, he won a Classical Brit in the young British classical performer category. He was soloist on the score for the 2011 film ''Jane Eyre'', directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and ...

, violinist * Tirzah, singer-songwriter *

Lara Melda Lara Melda Ömeroğlu (born 16 December 1993), known professionally as Lara Melda, is a British concert pianist. Early life and education Lara Melda was born in London, United Kingdom to Turkish parents. She began playing the piano at age 6, i ...

, BBC Young Musician of the Year, 2010 * Micachu, experimental pop musician *

Leona Naess Leona Kristina Naess (or Næss) (born 31 July 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. She released her debut album, '' Comatised'', in March 2000, which produced the single "Charm Attack" (Adult Top 40 #29). Biography Early life Naess was ...

, singer-songwriter * Sarah Oates, violinist and associate leader Philharmonia orchestra *

Joseph Phibbs Joseph Phibbs (born 25 April 1974) is an English composer of orchestral, choral and chamber music. He has also composed for theatre, both in the UK and Japan. Since 1998 he has written regularly to commissions for Festivals (including for Chelten ...

, composer * Paul Sartin, oboist, violinist and singer with

Bellowhead Bellowhead is an English contemporary folk band, active from 2004 to 2016, reforming in 2020. The eleven-piece act played traditional dance tunes, folk songs and shanties, with arrangements drawing inspiration from a wide range of musical style ...

, and others *

Yevgeny Sudbin Yevgeny Olegovich Sudbin (russian: Евгений Олегович Судьбин; born 19 April 1980) is a Russian-born British concert pianist. He studied at the musical school of the Leningrad Conservatory. After his family emigrated to Berlin ...

, concert pianist * Yiruma, South Korean pianist

References

External links

*
Profile
on the ISC website Music schools in England Independent schools in Hertfordshire Educational institutions established in 1962 Boarding schools in Hertfordshire 1962 establishments in England {{Hertfordshire-school-stub