Music at Dover College

The Music Department occupies spacious, purpose-built accommodation away from the main campus, in nearby Saxon Street. This comprises a large classroom, ten practice rooms, a study for the Director of Music and a theatre which can be used for Concerts.

 

The Staff

Paul Young BA was born in Kent and was a chorister in Exeter Cathedral whilst reading music at Exeter University. He first taught at Ampleforth College in Yorkshire before becoming Director of Music at Junior Kings' School Canterbury in 1993 where he remained in post for 13 years. After a family year out in Spain with his wife and two sons he was appointed Director of Music at Dover College in 2007. Throughout his career he has sang professionaly as a Tenor. He has sung for the Queen, the Pope and appeared on television and radio. His musical favorites aside from Medieval music are Mozart, Bach and Debussy. Outside music he enjoys reading crime fiction, Dickens, Medieval works, walking and cooking.

Chris Lockyer, the Assistant Director of Music, went to Christ's Hospital (The Bluecoat School), Horsham then to Birmingham University to do his BMus Hons degree. He decided to do a year's Community Service Voluntary work in Edinburgh and liked Scotland so much that he did teacher training there and then taught for four years at a High School in the Scottish borders. Following this, he went into special education teaching for over ten years at Dorton House School for blind and partically sighted children in Sevenoaks, Kent, which included a year's job exchange with a similar school in Melbourne, Australia. In 1998 Chris went to teach music at the British School, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where during the four years he was there he met his wife, Ana-Lucia. Chris is an organist, and apart from music enjoys acting, hiking, jogging and adventurous travel!

The department is run in a firm but friendly fashion by the two full-time members of staff, who are assisted by twelve peripatetic staff and many members of the Common Room.

Dover College staff gets involved in Music

The Curriculum

In the classroom, music is studied by all pupils in years 7, 8 & 9 using a variety of source material, including Music Matters II, an excellent set of graded projects covering rudiments, singing, listening, composing and a knowledge of world music.

Around half a dozen pupils typically take GCSE Music in years 10 & 11. We sit the AQA exam, which neatly provides an extension to knowledge already gained in previous years. To be a good instrumentalist almost ensures a top grade being reached. A few pupils, who are usually committed to studying music once they leave school, sit A.S. & A2 levels. At present, we use the new EDEXCEL examination.

Other activities

Private instrumental lessons are popular and are taken by nearly a quarter of the pupils. Every instrument can be learnt and in some cases the school owns sufficient instruments to enable pupils to borrow one to get them started. Individual lessons are arranged with the peripatetic teachers and thecost is paid directly to the teacher at the start of each term. We encourage pupils to take graded exams as soon as they are able, at the rate of about one each year.

Dover College pupil mixes music

Extra curricular activities are numerous. The main one is the Chapel Choir, which meets three times a week and is the backbone of most concerts and services, but there are weekly rehearsals for the Choral Society,

Dover College Choir

String Group, Sax Group, and Madrigal Group. The latter is probably our most prestigious group of singers. There is a Concert at the end of each term, held in the Refectory, and three Services a term, held in the Chapel.