Music

Wide-Ranging Opportunities

Brearley has a long history of fostering the development of musical skills, and our program provides students with a wide range of opportunities to demonstrate their expanding musical engagement. Our curriculum also promotes the understanding and appreciation of many different types of music by both performers and listeners.

A Strong Curriculum

Starting in Kindergarten and continuing through Class VIII, music is taught twice a week. Instruction is based on the Kodály curricular approach for all students in K through VIII; from Classes III through VIII, girls are also taught to play a variety of instruments. Private lessons are available for an extra fee to students in Classes II through XII.

Frequent Performances

One third of the approximately 680 students in Classes K through XII are enthusiastically involved in extracurricular music-making. Girls eagerly join the Middle School Singers, Middle School Orchestra, Middle School Jazz Band, Recorder Ensemble, Upper School Chorus, Upper School Orchestra, or the B-Naturals, our auditioned a cappella group; all perform several times throughout the year, both at School and elsewhere in the city–for their classmates or for neighborhood nursing homes, at schools elsewhere in the city or in other states, and at Lincoln Center or Carnegie Hall.

A Musical Community

Students are not the only ones making music at Brearley. We have a Brearley rock band and a pep band made up of faculty, staff and students, and a faculty-staff group of bell ringers who are conducted by an Upper School student. The Brearley Singers, an independent community group comprised of parents (past and present), alumnae and friends of the School, rehearses at the school on Monday nights. A faculty concert is presented by the Music Department each year.