Meet our new Director of Music, Catherine Frew
Music has long been part of life at Loretto School. Walk through the corridors during term time, and you’re likely to hear the distant sounds of choirs, strings, pipes, and drums – a familiar soundtrack to school life here.
Nearly half of our 450 pupils take music lessons, building on a strong tradition that includes a renowned Pipe Band and former pupils who have gone on to forge successful music careers. Beyond these achievements, music profoundly impacts pupils’ emotional wellbeing and personal development, fostering confident, curious and passionate young people.
Loretto’s new Director of Music, Catherine Frew, hopes to strengthen this vibrant musical legacy and inspire even more pupils to discover the joys of music.
We caught up with Catherine to learn how she began her music teaching career, why music deserves its place on the curriculum and what’s next on the score for music at Loretto.
Can you tell us a little about your career so far and some of the highlights along the way?
I have just done the maths and realised that I’ve been teaching for 27 years. Hard to believe! I was a youth worker for a while between degrees and found the experience energising. That helped me decide to combine my love of music with working with young people.
My first teaching post was a happy five-year stint at St Kentigern’s Academy in West Lothian. Unfortunately, I left before Lewis Capaldi was a pupil there, so I cannot claim any credit for his rise to fame!
I then moved to the City of Edinburgh Music School at Broughton High School in Edinburgh. I never imagined I’d be there for 22 years, but I loved it! There were many highlights, most often involving the Senior Chamber Choir, which I founded in 2004.
What attracted you to Loretto?
I’ve heard so many positive things about Loretto over the years; it’s Scotland’s oldest boarding school, with a respected music department. There were many reasons I was drawn to apply: the opportunity for leadership, the choral tradition, whole-school singing and the mind, body and spirit ethos, and the beautiful surroundings and great facilities.
How important was your own musical education in shaping the performer and teacher you are today?
I remember all my music teachers with fondness and an appreciation that goes far beyond their musicianship.
Manchester was an amazing place to grow up, and opportunities for quality music-making were plentiful through the Manchester Music Service: individual and group tuition, bands, orchestras, choirs and ensembles.
And now I’m in the business of ‘paying it forward’. If I can have a fraction of the impact that my music teachers had on me, that would be wonderful!
Recent figures have revealed that fewer pupils in England are choosing music as an A Level subject. What does it take to encourage and nurture musical talent in young people?
Young people enjoy developing their musical talent for many reasons: it’s creative, immersive, inspiring, and goes hand in hand with personal growth.
As an academic subject, it’s vast, stimulating, and challenging, drawing on a wide range of skills and abilities. An A Level in Music carries the same UCAS points as other A Levels at the same grade and develops a wide range of transferable skills.
It’s not for everyone, that’s true, but I hope to grow uptake and buck the national trend.
I think it starts with nurturing talent from an early age, encouraging curiosity and providing a wide range of opportunities to get ‘stuck in’. It’s about the sense of achievement that all of this brings, encouraging pupils to become so involved in music that they can’t imagine their timetable without it.
Music has been shown to boost creativity, confidence and emotional wellbeing. What can studying music offer pupils, both academically and more broadly?
Music is a must throughout Junior School and Senior School education, in one form or another. Learning about different styles of music and developing music literacy and aural awareness, as well as picking up some performance skills, is part of a broad and general education. This is vital to lifelong involvement in music, whatever that looks like.
And taking instrumental or vocal lessons, or singing in a choir, encourages independent learning, good coordination and posture, and enhances cognitive development. But it also contributes to good mental health, promotes a sense of belonging and opens up valuable opportunities for teamwork at school and beyond.
And for pupils who don’t continue studying Music as an academic subject, how can they stay involved?
Whether you’re a well-informed concertgoer, a performer, someone listening to a new track or an employee in the creative arts industry, music is always there and incredibly important to you.
So, when you no longer have room on your timetable for music as a subject, you can still engage with instrumental tuition and ensemble music-making, with all the life-enhancing value this adds to your school experience.
It’s a springboard for music-making for life!
Looking ahead, what are your ambitions for music at Loretto, and what are you most excited about developing?
Maintaining and further developing whole-school singing is something I’m very excited about. Indeed, it perfectly encapsulates the mind, body and spirit ethos of Loretto.
In addition, I’d like to build curriculum pathways with content that is engaging for all and broaden the qualifications on offer.
And I’d love to build more capacity for learning to play instruments with Visiting Music Teachers, especially orchestral instruments, and see ensembles grow in size and number.
Most of all, I’m excited to encourage and support ambition, nurture talent and provide a supportive context for excellence, both individually and collectively.
At Loretto, we want every pupil to have the chance to discover what music can bring to their lives. This approach reflects our ethos as Scotland’s oldest boarding school, where we encourage every child to explore their interests and develop their talents, both in and out of the classroom.
And with Catherine at the helm, that familiar soundtrack to school life looks set to welcome plenty of new voices.
Is your child interested in studying music in one of Edinburgh’s leading independent schools? Find out more about music at Loretto and the opportunities available to our pupils.