Extra-curricular Music in UK Schools: Investigating the Aims, Experiences and Impact of Adolescent Musical Participation

This article uses contemporary and retrospective accounts of extra-curricular music-making in schools to evaluate the extent to which performance opportunities in the teenage years can shape lifelong engagement in music. Empirical evidence is presented from a two phase study: the first looking at a high school musical production through questionnaires and audio diaries; the second using written life history accounts to gather memories of school music and its lasting impact. The experiences of participants and non-participants are considered, and the benefits and costs of the large-scale performance events which characterise British secondary school music are evaluated in a discussion of the future of extra-curricular music in changing musical and educational times.