Upper School Music
The Philosophy
The Arts & Design Department plays a vital role in helping students make sense of the world and their place within it. Through visual art, design, music, and performance, students explore how human beings communicate ideas, emotions, and experiences—often in ways that words alone cannot. Artistic and design practices teach students how ideas are formed, expressed, tested, and revised, building skills that extend far beyond the studio or stage and into every academic discipline and future pathway.
The Goal
Our courses provide structured opportunities for students to create, perform, reflect, and refine. Students learn to work through uncertainty, take creative risks, and develop confidence in their ability to shape meaning—whether through an image, a performance, a composition, or a designed solution. These experiences cultivate empathy, adaptability, and voice, helping students become thoughtful makers, collaborators, and communicators who engage the human experience with intention and care.
The Arts & Design department provides opportunities for students to practice:
- Creative Self-Expression & Exposure to the Arts: Courses that invite students to explore and communicate their ideas through artistic practice, while also engaging with artistic traditions, histories, and cultures. Instruction balances training techniques with experimentation, ensuring students both build discipline and discover their voices.
- Design Thinking: Courses that cultivate problem-solving as a creative habit of mind, emphasizing iteration, research, testing, and collaboration. Instruction balances structured frameworks with emergent learning in a sandbox environment, where experimentation and play allow students to adapt and innovate.
Note: Students may enroll in a seventh course in the Arts & Design department. Students may also carry an Arts & Design course as their sixth course.
Concert Choir (F, S)
Open to: Grades 9-12
Graduation Requirement: Arts
This choral ensemble is for any student who has a
desire to sing (no previous experience required). Concert Choir offers a comprehensive musical education emphasizing vocal technique, music literacy, expressiveness, and the development of rehearsal and performance skills. Through vocal training, music theory, rehearsals, performances, and diverse musical activities, students will enhance their vocal abilities, deepen their musical understanding, and connect their personal interests to their growth as musicians. The course fosters a strong sense of community centered on ensemble and collaboration.
Students are required to perform in the end-of-term concert and have opportunities for additional performances and to audition for the NH All-State Chorus. Instrumental Ensemble and Concert Choir meet during the same block. Students may enroll in this course multiple times over their time at Derryfield with permission of the instructor.
Instrumental Ensemble (F, S)
Open to: Grades 9-12
Graduation Requirement: Arts or Design
This course is designed to improve your skill as an ensemble and solo performer. Students will have lessons emphasizing music literature from various periods of history. The ultimate goal of the ensemble course is for all students to perform at a high level while being exposed to a variety of musical literature. The course is designed to be flexible with the opportunity for student-driven small group ensembles. Through mentorship, leadership, and musicianship, this community grows together and prepares music for All School Assemblies, talent shows, school concerts, and other on and off-campus activities. Individual attention will be given to students in preparation for music festivals, solo, and small ensemble performances. Instrumental Ensemble and Concert Choir meet during the same block. Students may enroll in this course multiple times over their time at Derryfield with permission of the instructor.
Instrumental Composition Honors (F, S)
Open to: Grades 9-12
Graduation Requirement: Arts
Prerequisite: Audition with the ensemble director. Students must be enrolled in Instrumental Ensemble.
Taught concurrently with Instrumental Ensemble, students enrolled will be expected to create warm up routines for the regular ensemble and to lead these routines. These students will be assigned as section leaders and lead sectional rehearsals. They will be expected to create original compositions and/or musical arrangements appropriate for the full ensemble, or as a collaboration with their fellow honors students in a separate ensemble. Students are required to keep a practice log and to commit to 90 minutes of personal practice time per week. Students may enroll in this course multiple times over their time at Derryfield with permission of the instructor.
Concert Choir/Instrumental Ensemble Combined (F, S)
Open to: Grades 9-12
Graduation Requirement: Arts
The Combined Concert Choir/Instrumental Ensemble program allows ninth through twelfth grade students, beginner through advanced, to all meet during the same period, and learn about and make music together. Throughout the week, there are large ensemble rehearsals, small group coaching sessions, and the opportunity for student driven small group ensembles. Through mentorship, leadership, and musicianship, this community grows together and prepares music for All School Assemblies, talent shows, concerts in the winter and spring, and other on and off campus activities. US Instrumental Ensemble and Concert Choir meet during the same block. Students may enroll in this course multiple times over their time at Derryfield with permission of the instructor.
