Teenagers and their music: who would dare to separate the two?  At Middleburg Academy, we actively encourage this attachment through a music curriculum geared especially to this age group.  The result is a program that is growing both in popularity and in the range of its offerings. In the past year alone, participation in Glee nearly tripled thanks to the enthusiastic leadership of Choral and Music Director Laurelyn Morrison.

Using students’ own music culture as a bridge to learning more about music generally is a tactic our music educators happily endorse.  For Mrs. Morrison the teenage brain has been a particular fascination and focus throughout her own undergraduate and graduate school training in music education: how it learns, how it interacts with others, and how it changes during these years.  “I tailor our curriculum and lessons to blend the best of recent research and cultural changes with classical theory and studies,” says Morrison.  “The joy of working in a small, independent liberal arts school setting is that our musical milestones can be adjusted to fit exactly what makes sense for each high school student, within standards that are overall more challenging than those of the public schools.” 

The results are as diverse as music itself: an outstanding pianist and 2011 graduate was recently accepted at Juilliard (read more); a freshman had the courage to sing for the first time on stage in last year’s Charlie Brown musical; a senior whose guitar collection rivals any in the region is a regular on the local concert and coffee house circuit; and a trio of fifteen-year-old boys unveiled their own compositions during last spring’s “Rock Through the Ages” concert.

Music Department courses & opportunities include: Men’s Glee; Women’s Glee; Music Theory; and Troubadours.  See 2011-2012 Course Selection Guide for complete descriptions.