At Saint Ann’s, music is a living, thriving art. Saint Ann’s students experience music as performers, composers, and historians. The curriculum provides expansive opportunities by incorporating a diversity of instructional approaches that enable a well-rounded musical education. In all of our programs we reveal and celebrate the vitality of music.

   Instruction begins in the Preschool and Lower School. Students focus on singing, playing musical instruments, and exploring creative movement. Developing pitch recognition and rhythmic perception skills is accomplished by utilizing the well-proven methods of Dalcroze and Kodaly, with emphasis on the instruments and techniques of Orff. In addition, special times are set aside each week for full-class singing. The repertoire of songs introduces young musicians to a diverse array of musical styles and traditions.

   In the third grade, students may elect to begin group violin or cello study. These lessons take place before and after school. Another after-school opportunity is the third grade chorus, open to all interested students.

   Fourth graders meet twice weekly in small groups and continue developing skills fostered in Lower School. Exercises in listening – to build intonation, concentration, and coordination – are integral to this year’s work. Students learn rhythmic and pitch notation through dictation, singing, and playing recorder and pitched mallet instruments. Students begin to explore the relationship of music to history and culture. Students continue solfége and develop analytical skills. In early spring, faculty instrumentalists come to class to demonstrate and explain the nature of the instruments students will choose to study in fifth grade. All fourth graders may participate in the Lower-Middle School Chorus. Those students who wish to continue their string instrument classes from third grade may do so.

   Fifth grade students spend the full year studying one of the following instruments: clarinet, flute, horn, oboe, percussion or trumpet. Saint Ann’s provides these instruments. Classes are taught by professional musicians. All fifth graders may participate in the Middle School Chorus.

   Sixth grade students who wish to continue their instrument study from grade five may do so.They also may choose percussion techniques or may join the Camerata (a string orchestra), begin or continue percussion, or play in a chamber group. Sixth graders may also begin Music Lab, a course that teaches composition, notation, theory and studio techniques and is held in our well-equipped music technology lab. Music lab allows students to explore their own creativity as musicians. Sixth grade students may sing in the Middle School Singers.

   Seventh and eighth grade students choose from a variety of elective courses which meet in small groups twice a week. These courses include Recorder, Jazz Techniques, Guitar, Saxophone, Percussion II, Words and Music, and Music Lab II or III.

   Intermediate-level students in grades six through eight are placed in the Camerata (a string orchestra), Chamber Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, Brass Choir, or Jazz Techniques classes. All middle school students with strong skills on a particular instrument are encouraged to audition for Chamber Players or Jazz Ensemble. Bringing students together to play chamber music and jazz is a major component of our program throughout the Middle and High School. These groups meet from one to three times a week during school hours and are coached by our artist faculty. Each group performs in at least two concerts a year, and perform for their peers during school assemblies. Additional performance opportunities abound.

   Middle School Chorus is open to all students in grades six through eight. The chorus works on two and three-part music from a broad and eclectic range of styles and periods. Often groups collaborate, with chamber ensembles accompanying choruses and a jazz trio improvising as part of a chamber music concert.

   Music in the High School offers broad opportunity. Students can explore performance, composition, and theory (including electronic music), and music literature and history courses. A two-year program in theory is offered as well as a course in theory for jazz musicians. Courses in composition, cover instrumental, vocal and electronic composition, provide the opportunity for students to learn the techniques of instrumentation, melody writing, harmony, structure, and performance practice. Students who are interested in learning the basics of jazz performance and improvisation may take Jazz Techniques. Those students enrolled in jazz performing groups often study theory and ear-training, as do many of our student performers. Voice classes are offered for those students who are interested in improving their speaking and singing voices. In recent years, offerings in music literature include courses in the history of western music, music and modernism, jazz history, and the history of opera and musical theater. These classes frequently attend performances at Lincoln Center and numerous venues around New York City.

   All music students have ample opportunity to perform within and outside the commu¬nity. The cultural wealth of New York City provides additional resources for critical listening and inspiration. Students have performed in chamber music competitions and jazz festivals held by local institutions.

   Because our performance program is closely tailored to the needs of our individual students, performing groups in the High School are subject to change, depending on the number and musical levels of the students who are interested in participat¬ing in them. The choral program, for example, may include High School Chorus, Men’s Chorus, Women’s Chorus, and Chamber Singers. These groups perform works from a repertoire spanning the Renaissance to the present and, on occasion, perform out-of-school concerts, sometimes with student instrumental ensembles.

  Our extensive chamber music program is open to all students by audition. These groups rehearse weekly, as a regular part of the student’s schedule, and perform throughout the year. Players of orchestral instruments may elect to audition for Wind Ensemble, Brass Choir, Chamber Orchestra, or Consort. Jazz Ensemble is open by audition and emphasizes the development of mainstream jazz skills through an exploration of styles from classic to contemporary.

   The school year at Saint Ann’s is filled with concert activity: voice recitals, chamber music concerts, jazz concerts, choral performances, and collaborations with poetry, dance and other theater classes. Master classes with distinguished guest artists inspire the entire school community. First Monday Concerts presents a series of evening performances featuring faculty, students, alumni, often collaborating with each other.