Student FAQ

All of them! Band students can enrol in jazz band, anyone can enrol in choir, and anyone in choir can take vocal jazz.

Yes! Concert band is a co-requisite course for jazz band enrolment. All foundational music skills and concepts are presented and developed in concert band. Jazz band expands on this learning, and applies skills and knowledge in a jazz context.

Not until you are ready and willing. In order to assess your progress in a meaningful way, instructors will need to hear your individual musical voice at times, but this can be done in a separate setting if needed. Solos in ensemble repertoire will only ever be assigned to those who volunteer. You will always be encouraged to take musical risks, but will never be forced into a situation that sets you apart from the group.

Yes. Ensemble music making is a team effort that takes extensive practice and preparation, and you are a required part of the team. Concert dates are published in the school calendar and on this website before school starts in September, and families are encouraged to note these dates in their calendars and plan around them.

Our Estonia concert grand piano is irreplaceable (replacement would cost $150,000 more than we originally paid for it). Check the piano page for why it's so special to all of us in the music program. The rules (1 player at a time, no food or drink near it, no banging on it, no leaning on it, closed and covered every time you finish playing, no moving it without a teacher present) are there to protect it and preserve it for you and future generations of KSS musicians.