The Purcell School for Young Musicians is a specialist

music school A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

for children, located in the town of

Bushey Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. It has a population of over 25,000 inhabitants. Bushey Heath is a large neighbourhood south east of Bushey on the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow re ...

, 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 The UNESCO Mozart Medal is an award named after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and administered by UNESCO. Recipients * Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, 1991 * Alicia Terzian, 1995 * Elfi von Dassanowsky, 1996 * Igor Moiseyev, 2001, for "outstanding contribution ...

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 College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

, 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 The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...

. In 2015, the School became the first

Fazioli Fazioli Pianoforti (), translated as Fazioli Pianos, produces grand and concert pianos from their factory in Sacile, Italy. The company was founded by engineer and pianist Paolo Fazioli in 1981. The craftsmen at Fazioli build 140 pianos a year. ...

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 and Irene Forster founded the school in 1962 under the original name of the Central Tutorial School for Young Musicians, at

Conway Hall The Conway Hall Ethical Society, formerly the South Place Ethical Society, based in London at Conway Hall, is thought to be the oldest surviving freethought organisation in the world and is the only remaining ethical society in the United Kin ...

in central London. The school later moved to

Morley College Morley College is a specialist adult education and further education college in London, England. The college has three main campuses, one in Waterloo on the South Bank, and two in West London namely in North Kensington and in Chelsea, the lat ...

, 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 Harrow on the Hill is a locality and historic village in the borough of Harrow in Greater London, England. The name refers to Harrow Hill, ,Mills, A., ''Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001) and is located some half a mile south of the mod ...

. 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

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 BBC Young Musician is a televised national music competition broadcast biennially on BBC Television and BBC Radio 3. Originally BBC Young Musician of the Year, its name was changed in 2010. The competition, a former member of the European Uni ...

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 Miranda Sex Garden are an English music group from London. They were originally active from 1990 to 2000, reforming in 2022. Biography Formed in 1990, Katharine Blake (singer), Katharine Blake, Kelly McCusker and Jocelyn West were originally ...

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, singer with classical-pop group All Angels * Robert Cohen, cellist *

Jacob Collier Jacob Collier (; né Moriarty; born 2 August 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. His music incorporates a combination of jazz with elements from many other musical genres, and often features extensive use of reha ...

, five time Grammy awarded singer, arranger, composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist *

Nicholas Daniel Nicholas Daniel (born 9 January 1962) is a British oboe, oboist and conductor. In 2003 he was appointed Artistic Director of the Leicester International Music Festival. Education He was educated at Salisbury Cathedral School and the Purcell S ...

, 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 t ...

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

Julius Drake The gens Julia (''gēns Iūlia'', ) was one of the most prominent patrician families in ancient Rome. Members of the gens attained the highest dignities of the state in the earliest times of the Republic. The first of the family to obtain the ...

, pianist *

Catrin Finch Catrin Ana Finch is a Welsh harpist, arranger and composer. She was the Official Harpist to the Prince of Wales from 2000 to 2004 and is visiting professor at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and the Royal Academy of Music in London. ...

, harpist * Teo Gheorghiu, pianist and actor * Ploypailin Mahidol Jensen, pianist, a granddaughter of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. *

Oliver Knussen Stuart Oliver Knussen (12 June 1952 – 8 July 2018) was a British composer and conductor. Early life Oliver Knussen was born in Glasgow, Scotland. His father, Stuart Knussen, was principal double bass of the London Symphony Orchestra, and a ...

, composer and conductor * Oliver Lewis, virtuoso violinist * Jack Liebeck, violinist * Tirzah, singer-songwriter * Lara Melda,

, 2010 *

Micachu Mica Levi (; b. 28 February 1987), also known by their stage name Micachu, is an English singer, songwriter, composer and producer. Levi is classically trained and since 2008 has released experimental pop music with their band Good Sad Happy ...

, 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 Sarah Jane Oates is violinist and associate leader at the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, United Kingdom Background Oates was born in Johannesburg, South Africa on 26 June 1976. Her family then moved to Durbanville, Western Cape, South Africa. ...

, violinist and associate leader Philharmonia orchestra * Joseph Phibbs, composer *

Paul Sartin Paul Sartin (20 February 1971 – 14 September 2022) was an English singer, instrumentalist, composer and arranger, specialising in oboe and violin. He was best known for his work with the folk band Bellowhead, but also played with three-piece ...

, oboist, violinist and singer with Bellowhead, 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 Lee Ru-ma ( ko, 이루마; born 15 February 1978), better known by his stage name Yiruma ( ko, 이루마, links=no), is a South Korean pianist and composer. Biography Yiruma was born in Seoul to a pastor. At age five, he began learning the pia ...

, South Korean pianist

References

External links

*
Profile
on the

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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