Music at the River
Music here is for everyone, whether you sing, play, or are picking up an instrument for the first time. It is a place to find your voice and to use it in ways you might not expect.
Music
More Than Notes on a Page
Music education here goes well beyond learning to play an instrument or sing a song. Students explore theory, melody, rhythm, and composition, and along the way they build a deeper appreciation for the arts and a real outlet for self-expression. Performances bring the whole school together, from the chapel choir and our signature Cantorion ensemble to student bands whose members come from Turkey, China, Vietnam, and the United States, joining to create a sound heard nowhere else.
Music as Memory
Music That Reaches Where Words Can't
Each year, music students visit a local memory-care community for residents living with Alzheimer's. Paired one-on-one, students first simply get to know their partner. Then they build a personalized playlist of songs that were popular when that resident was a teenager. When the music plays, something remarkable happens: many residents grow lucid, some for the first time in a long while.
Sing or Play
A Place for Every Musician
Most of our ensembles are open to all, with no audition or prior experience required, and room to grow into advanced study.
Sing
CCS Cantorion
Our signature non-auditioned choral ensemble, open to all, performing on and off campus.
Vocal Ensemble
Serious performance with a global, multilingual repertoire, from American Spirituals to songs in French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Hebrew.
Play
Instrumental Performance & Ensemble
Open to all instrumentalists, no prior experience needed. Learn your instrument and how it fits within an ensemble.
Music Ensemble & Advanced Music
A deeper dive into theory, composition, and recording for the growing musician, with regular performance.
Courses
Explore the Music Curriculum
Music is part of the Visual and Performing Arts program. The courses below are the ways students study and perform. You can see the full department, including visual art and theatre, on the Arts curriculum page.
- CCS Cantorion
- Vocal Ensemble
- Instrumental Performance & Ensemble
- Music Ensemble
- Advanced Music Ensemble
- Advanced Music
It's All Connected
Explore the Christchurch Experience
Music is one voice in a larger creative and spiritual life on campus.
Performing Arts
Theatre, the annual student-written musical, and Shakespeare across languages.
Episcopal Identity
The chapel life and worship where the choir and so much of our music live.