There is a wide range of extra-curricular musical activities at
Bolton School Boys' Division, some of which are run as joint
ensembles with the Girls' Division. They include Percussion
Ensembles, Guitar Groups, String Quartets, Concert Bands,
Orchestras, Choirs, Jazz Band, Brass Group, Saxophone, Clarinet and
Flute groups, Rock Group and String Ensemble.
All of these ensembles perform regularly in a very busy concert
schedule throughout the year in school and also at local venues
such as the Bolton Albert Halls and the Victoria Hall. In the
summer of 2005, the Boys' and Girls' Division gave a sell-out Joint
Gala Concert at the world famous Bridgewater Hall, home of the
Halle Orchestra, in Manchester.
Joint concerts and major productions over recent years have
included: Mozart's Requiem, The Armed Man by Karl Jenkins, Carmina
Burana, Bach's St. John Passion, Westside Story and Grease.
Ensembles frequently take part in workshops. The Percussion
Ensemble has recently visited the Royal Northern College of Music,
the Guitar Groups have taken part in a guitar ensemble workshop run
by Craig Ogden, and the Joint Concert Band recently hosted a
workshop including local junior school children.
Alongside live performances, a number of CD recordings have been
made, all of which are available at School Concerts. The Joint
Chamber Choir has also appeared live on BBC Radio 4 singing in the
Daily Service programme.
The Joint Senior Guitar Group has entered three national
competitions since 2000. At the first they won Best Youth Group and
at the second and third, they came runners-up in the whole
competition. The Joint Concert Band has also won bronze and silver
awards at the National Concert Band Festival over the last two
years. They have also taken part in Music for Youth.
Ensembles regularly go on tour at the end of the summer term.
The Joint Chamber Choir, the Percussion Ensemble and the Joint
Concert Band have visited Italy, the Czech Republic, Holland and
Spain. Next summer, the Joint Senior Guitar Group will tour Belgium
and the Joint Concert Band is due to visit Paris.
Participation in school music is impressive. Over 400 students
take instrumental lessons in school. Year group concerts often
involve a large number of solo performances (no less than 65 in the
Year 8 production!) and the annual "Young Musician of the Year'"
competition attracts over 500 individual entries.