Bedford School

:Bedford School is not to be confused with Bedford Modern School

Music

Bedford School has a rich tradition of music and one of the largest school Music Departments in the UK.

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Every year, there is a full and active programme of music concerts culminating in a series of summer concerts at the end of the academic year. There are a number of senior music groups including the School First (Symphony) Orchestra, School Band, Choral Society, Chapel Choir and a large number of chamber groups. In addition, there is a Second Orchestra, a Chamber Orchestra, Dance Band and Jazz and Rock Groups. There is a Composer-in-Residence at the School, called the Eileen Norris Fellow.

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During the war in 1941 the BBC Symphony and Theatre Orchestras made the school their home, from where a large number of broadcasts were made, under the batons of Adrian Boult, Clarence Raybould and Stanford Robinson.

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Prominent Old Bedfordian Musicians

• Peter Freyhan (OB 50-57); principal cellist B.B.C. Symphony Orchestra (Retd.)
• Ian Fox (OB 56-64); Director of Music of The King?s School, Gloucester (Retd.)
• Richard Kerr (OB 58-62); songwriter, for Elkie Brookes, Dionne Warwick, Frank Sinatra and Andy Williams.
• Michael Freyhan (OB 51-58); pianist and harpsichordist.
• Alisdair MacRae Birch (OB 67-76); jazz guitarist, bassist and arranger
• Alec Dankworth (OB 68-77); jazz bassist
• Andrew Manze (OB 75-82); violin soloist and Musical Director of The English Concert
• Philip Stopford (OB 90-95); Director of Music at Belfast Cathedral.

External links

• Bedford School Music Department
• BBC in Bedford