Choirs
Training Choir
A high-voice choir for our youngest students in school year 6 and below.
Treble Choir
A high-voice choir for younger students in school years 7 and 8.
Concert Choir
A mixed-voice choir for students in school years 9 to 11, sometimes working as separate boys’ and girls’ ensembles.
Senior Choir
A mixed-voice choir for students in school years 11 to 13.
Girls’ Choir
A female-voice choir for students in school years 10 to 13. Membership by invitation only.
Chamber Choir
A mixed-voice choir for our older and most advanced singers. Membership by invitation and audition for those in school years 11 to 13.
Parry Voices
A flagship vocal ensemble, membership by invitation for our oldest and most advanced singers.
Orchestras
Sinfonietta & String Orchestra
Orchestras of violins, violas, cellos and basses for our younger students aged 8 to 13.
Symphonic Wind Orchestra
An orchestra of wind/brass/percussion instruments for students aged 8 to 17.
Sinfonia
A full symphonic orchestra (strings/harps/wind/brass/perc) for students aged 11 to 18.
Symphony Orchestra
A full symphonic orchestra (instruments as Sinfonia) for older students, aged 15 to 18.
Chamber Orchestra
A flagship string orchestra, membership by invitation for our oldest and most advanced string players.
Seating placements
Seating plans are made after careful discussion between the Head of Junior Programmes, relevant conductors, tutors and teachers. They are not based only on ability. It is important to have players of all abilities placed throughout a section and throughout our various ensembles so please do not view your ensemble placement competitively or negatively. Remember that we always have the best interests of our students at heart.
Ensemble placings can change at any time due to need, or to give players different experiences. If you are unhappy with your placement you should speak to your section tutor in the first instance.
Ensemble guidelines
The PDF below is relevant for participants of all RCMJD ensembles, including chamber groups, choirs and orchestras. All JD students are encouraged to read them carefully.
Concert dress
Part of being a good performer is looking like a good performer so please make sure you dress carefully and appropriately for concerts, taking care to look neat, tidy and professional before you step onto the stage.
We have different concert dress for different ensembles and it is your responsibility to make sure you are wearing the correct clothes depending on which group you are performing in.
Please click on the links below to find out the concert dress requirements for each ensemble.
Dress code for orchestras
Performers in the following large ensembles should adopt our white-shirt dress code:
- Sinfonietta
- String Orchestra
- Symphonic Wind Orchestra
- Sinfonia
Dress code: white top & black bottom
All-black dress code:
- Chamber Orchestra
- Symphony Orchestra
Dress code: all black
Dress code for chamber groups
Chamber Groups will normally wear the same concert dress as they would for orchestra concerts (please see 'dress code for orchestras' above). As a general rule this means older students wear all black/younger students wear black and white. However, groups wishing to wear something different for their performance should first discuss this with their tutor, who will then liaise with the RCMJD Performance Manager.
