King Edward's School, Birmingham

King Edward's School (KES) is an independent secondary school in Birmingham, England, founded by King Edward VI in 1552. It is part of the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham and one of the most academically successful schools in the country. It was ranked 10th for A-Level results http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4170185.stm and 40th for GCSE results http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4170183.stm out of all schools in England in 2004. The school has been located in Edgbaston since 1940, but this was not the original site; King Edward's used to be situated on New Street in Birmingham city centre.

Music School

There is a separate building on site housing the Music Department with facilities including a recital/rehearsal auditorium and a computer lab equipped with keyboard input. In addition, the school supports two orchestras (in association with King Edward's High School for Girls), conducted by Peter Bridle, MBE. There are also two wind/brass ensembles also in association with KEHS, and the senior members of both schools can join the Choral Society, a choir of 80-100 people which has sung such works as Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, Gabriel Fauré's Requiem, and performed Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms in March this year. KES also has its own Choir, which sings at the Founder's Day prizegiving, the Christmas Carol service held in St. Philip's Cathedral in the centre of Birmingham, and at the Christmas and Summer concerts.

Related Topics:
Carl Orff - Carmina Burana - Gabriel Fauré - Requiem - Leonard Bernstein

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The school holds four concerts every year. There are the popular Christmas Concerts, held over two days in mid-December at the Adrian Boult Hall, the Choral and Orchestral concert in mid-March (which features a large choral work by the Choral Society in the first half, and the Symphony Orchestra in the second half, with a solo provided by one of the schools' top musicians) which is also at the Adrian Boult Hall, and the Summer Concert in late April/early May, featuring all the ensembles from the school come together for the Summer Concert held at Symphony Hall, Birmingham.

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