The music department at St John’s Beaumont caters for musical talent of all kinds and the different activities on offer allow pupils to explore and develop their overall musicianship.

Over 200 music lessons are taught each week by 17 dedicated instrumental teachers who cover every orchestral instrument in addition to singing, guitar, drums, piano and even the bagpipes. The instrumental ensembles on offer include the school orchestra, rock bands, jazz band, flute ensemble, drum corps plus numerous smaller ensembles and choirs.

It is an important part of the musical life of St John's that each and every boy who learns an instrument should have the opportunity to perform in public. To this end, there are a large number of performances during the year, including 6 informal, 3 Junior school, 2 formal and 1 Charity Christmas Concert. Every boy who learns the piano whether inside school our outside will perform in the annual ‘Piano Platform’ concerts. The highlight of the year for many of the boys in the annual Animal (House) music competition.

We have an outstanding choral tradition at St John’s Beaumont and the Chapel Choir of around 30 pupils is central to the school’s religious ethos. The choir performed at a Papal Mass in St Peter’s Basilica in 2007 and are embarking on a concert tour of Cologne this summer. The Choir have also recently worked with the composer Gabriel Jackson on a recent BBC composition project. In March of this year the Chapel Choir played a leading role in a Joint Jesuit Schools’ Concert at St Ignatius Church, Stamford Hill along with 7 other choirs from Jesuit Schools’ in the UK. Other choirs in the school include the junior school choir and Community Choir for pupils, staff and parents.

The music department offers an enjoyable and rewarding curriculum in class music lessons with outstanding facilities. The music department uses iMac computers for composition and recording / editing projects, enabling the teaching of music technology which is so fundamental to their musical education at secondary schools.

The music department has a very successful programme that prepares boys for music scholarships to their next schools. In recent years we have had boys awarded scholarships and exhibitions to schools including; Winchester, Wellington, Charterhouse and Eton.