three performances a year
Recitals and performances
One small showcase in our own building, one music afternoon, and one real theatre with lights and a crew. All three, in the order they happen across the year.
Winter Showcase
12 December 2026 · Studio A · Fall Term 2026
An hour in our own building, in front of the families, with the mirrors covered.
The winter showcase is deliberately small. It happens in Studio A with about seventy chairs, it lasts an hour, and every class that wants to be in it is in it. There is no costume, no ticket and no fee — students wear what they wear to class. It exists so that the first time a six-year-old performs is not on a real stage in front of three hundred people.
Spring Music Concert
27 March 2027 · Studio A · Spring Term 2027
The music side's own afternoon: solos, the guitar groups and both ensembles.
A Saturday afternoon of playing rather than a concert in the formal sense. Piano and violin students play one piece each, the guitar groups play together, and both ensembles perform. It runs about ninety minutes with a break, and students may play or not play entirely as they choose — about three quarters do.
Summer Recital
26 June 2027 · A hired theatre in Queens · Summer Term 2027
The one real stage of the year, with lights, a crew and two shows.
The summer recital is in a hired theatre and it is the only time in the year that these students dance on a proper stage with proper lighting. It runs as two shows on the same day so that no class is waiting backstage for three hours. Taking part is optional and about seventy per cent of students do; those who do not still come to the dress rehearsal and are in the class photograph.
The recital, in one place
What it costs, what it does not, and what is compulsory
| Topic | What it means |
|---|---|
| What it costs | The recital fee is $45 per student and it is optional. It covers costume hire, which is hire and not purchase, and two seats. Additional seats are sold at cost. |
| What it does not cost | There is no separate costume bill, no compulsory photograph package, no DVD, and no fundraising obligation. If you have been asked for those things by a school before, that is why we list them here. |
| Rehearsal | One dress rehearsal, in the theatre, on the Saturday before. It is the only extra commitment and it is not optional for anyone performing. |
| Opting out | A student who does not want to perform carries on with the ordinary class and is not moved, spoken to about it, or put in a smaller part next term. |
| Time on stage | First Steps classes are on for about ninety seconds. Teen classes are on for three to four minutes. This is a judgement about nerves and attention and Grace will explain it to anybody who asks. |
| Photography | Photography and filming by the audience are not permitted during the show. There is a page explaining what we do instead and why. |
Fall Term 2026 · enrolment open · one free trial per student per discipline
See the summer recital's own class first
Taking part in any performance is optional, and the surest way to know whether it suits a child is a trial in the class itself rather than a decision made from this page.