Our students encounter the creative and performing arts through three broad disciplines: Music, Visual Art and Drama. Each contributes to their holistic development, including the participation of the mind, body and spirit, along with the use of the mind. We draw on the knowledge and expertise of professional practitioners to expand the narrative.
Our students have an everyday relationship with the creative and performing arts, as classroom activities are complemented by day-to-day interactions such as regular on-campus performances, our Sculpture Walk and art galleries.
Music
We believe that if young people are introduced to music as a form of pleasure during their formative years, this inspiration will add an extra dimension to the way they live the rest of their lives. Melbourne Grammar offers instruction from expert practitioners in a wide variety of instruments and ensemble formats in world-class music practice and performance spaces.
Music also expands the emotional and cognitive skills of the individual and it is no accident that many mathematicians are also skilled musicians. The power of music to convey feelings and paint pictures without words helps open the soul. The teamwork built in participating in an ensemble to perform a piece of beauty is something many students cherish for the rest of their lives.
Visual art
From their first experiences in art classrooms at Grimwade House through to excellence in VCE studies, students are supported to gain an appreciation for the visual arts through the knowledge of teachers, all of whom are also professional artists, and in outstanding, well-resourced facilities.
By introducing the skills and methods that support visual art practice from day one, we gradually build students’ confidence to take risks and to critically analyse and evaluate their artistic projects.
We support classroom programmes with visiting artists-in-residence and art exhibitions across all levels in the School.
Drama
Grimwade House students (in Prep to Year 6) explore this discipline through a range of activities embedded in the core curriculum. Drama commences as a formal subject in Year 7.
Drama studies include examining aspects of cinema, radio, novels and theatrical texts to learn how different ideas influence theatre and dramatic forms. Through these studies, we offer students a space in which they can better understand themselves and others through participation and reflection, gaining creative and social confidence.
In addition, students are invited to participate in theatrical performances throughout each year.