Music

All About Music Enrichment

We offer a wide range of enrichment activities and encourage students to get involved in as much as they can. Our ensembles regularly have national success, performing in the National Festival and the Mrs Sunderland Festival.

Yorkshire and its surrounding area has a rich and diverse musical history and opportunities to become involved with the local musical community are offered to students. The department works closely with Opera North, The Halle Orchestra, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Huddersfield University, Ricky’s School of Rock and Musica Kirklees in arranging and attending performances and workshops.

Music is at the heart of college life at Greenhead and as a student, you have a huge range of opportunities available to you. You might be interested in studying music as an academic subject or you might want to keep going with the music enrichment (like extra-curricular activities) you’ve been involved with during your time at secondary school. The Music Department welcomes students from across the college community, whatever their previous musical experience to come and be involved in any of our exciting array of music making opportunities; whilst there are currently over 100 students studying on music courses at Greenhead, there are many more involved in music enrichment.

Which Activities are on Offer?

In recent years, we have offered the following activities as enrichment:

· College choir

· Chamber choir

· Big band

· Jazz ensemble

· String ensemble

· Wind ensemble

· Piano duet ensemble

· Grade V music theory

· Advanced (VI+) music theory

· Folk group

· Production sound crew

· Experimental noise

· Greenhead record label

· Introduction to Logic Pro

· Remix competition

· Music tour (to Paris and Berlin)

Don’t see anything that takes your fancy? Every year we are happy to support students in starting up their own student-led ensembles by helping with equipment and rehearsal space; a variety of student bands and groups perform at the annual Charity Day in November from soul bands to indie bands.

Performance Opportunities

The highlights of the college performance calendar involve a concert every term at venues across the area including St. Paul’s Hall at the University of Huddersfield, Holy Trinity Church and Slaithwaite Civic Hall.

The department organises a fortnightly live lunch concert – an informal opportunity for music students to perform to members of staff and their peers on the top floor of college with panoramic views across Huddersfield and the Pennines. We also have a close relationship with the &Piano Music Festival based in Slaithwaite and run by Chris Pulleyn. The festival has previously provided opportunities for our students to perform alongside professional performers in their annual Young Musician Showcase.

We also run a fortnightly big gig in the college main hall where bands and more contemporary performers play to the rest of college on a Friday lunchtime.

We are also committed to finding opportunities for our students to perform outside of college. Recent external performances include those at Marsden Jazz Festival, the National Festival of Music for Youth in Birmingham, the Royal Albert Hall and in our biannual music tours which in the past have headed to Paris and Berlin.