Music
At the Belvedere Academy, we aim to make Music an enjoyable learning experience. We aim to build a musical curriculum which develops learning and results in the acquisition of knowledge and the improved well-being of all students, regardless of background or ability. The Music Department aims to go ‘the extra mile’ to promote the personal development of students, so that they have access to a rich set of experiences, through a creative curriculum, and through spectacular Enrichment activities. Students will experience and enjoy a wide range of musical topics throughout their time in Belvedere, and the ethos of making music (composing and or performing) lies at the heart of every lesson. Through our broad range of exciting topics, we encourage all students to participate in a variety of musical experiences, through which we aim to build up their confidence, knowledge and passion. Students will gain a thirst for Music and hopefully experience the many wonderful opportunities available to them, through the extensive Music Enrichment Programme.
The Belvedere Academy has an excellent reputation for Music and the provision is set within the crucial wider educational context so that non-specialist and specialist musicians can benefit from a comprehensive range of Enrichment activities, excellent instrumental teachers and visiting artists, and access to great facilities. Our aim is to enable students to realise their musical aspirations; students are open to extraordinary performance opportunities, which include numerous high-profile concerts each year and regular tours within the UK and overseas.
Ultimately, we aim for students’ experience of the Music Department to positively impact both their musical development and perspective of the world. In 2019, The Belvedere Academy Music Department won, “Outstanding Music Department UK” at the prestigious National Music Education Awards. From September 2021, the academy will adopt Music as its principal specialism and this will ensure that the department will continue to flourish for years to come. We live by our academy vision, “Be Brave. Be Bold. Be Belvedere”.

The Department
Where do I begin? Blink and you’ll miss it! The Music Department is 100 miles an hour, 25 hours a day, 8 days a week! A strange and wondrous place, where the air is filled to the brim with an eclectic cacophony of sounds - on certain days, you can even hear the printer ‘jamming’! Sorry. Enter if you dare?
In every nook and cranny of our department you can always hear weird and wonderful noises emanating from the various rooms; whether it's a brand new shiny Year 7 practising her favourite pop song, or an ancient Year 13 A Level musician, performing Bach studies from one of our five newly refurbished rehearsal rooms! Delve a little deeper and you might see and hear our 60 student-strong Orchestra rehearsing for their next concert, or our prize-winning Chamber Choir rehearsing for their upcoming tour to Italy! The department is a second home for many of our students and they really do rule the roost! Your teachers Mr O’Keeffe and Miss McGowan will make you feel immediately at home. That is, of course, if you can find them; Mr O’Keeffe can often be found in a rare quiet corner of the department, ‘binge listening’ to choral music and 80s Synth-Pop, whilst Miss McGowan can often be found standing on a table, holding a brush, rehearsing for her Britain’s Got Talent audition that’s never going to happen. Don’t upset her though; she has a ukulele and is not afraid to use it! I (Mr O’Keeffe) might be the Head of Music but I’m definitely not in charge! We don’t wish to sound like a broken ‘record’, and we have been known to blow our own ‘trumpet’ from time to time, but trust me; you can choose to start your musical journey from anywhere, but book your ticket with Belvedere, and watch how you travel to new musical heights!

Course organisation
Year 7 | ||
Half Terms 1 & 2 |
Rhythm and Pulse | Keyboard Skills |
Half Terms 3 & 4 |
World Music | Space and the Universe |
Half Terms 5 & 6 |
Superheroes |
Internet Sensations |
Year 8 | ||
Half Terms 1 & 2 |
Advanced Keyboard Skills | Cartoons |
Half Terms 3 & 4 |
Video Games | Adverts |
Half Terms 5 & 6 |
The Blues |
Rap |
Year 9 | ||
Half Terms 1 & 2 |
Musical Theatre | Christmas Number One |
Half Terms 3 & 4 |
Film Music 1 | Film Music 2 |
Half Terms 5 & 6 |
Reggae |
Summer Pops |
Year 10 | ||
Half Terms 1 & 2 |
Theory Booster | Free Composition |
Half Terms 3 & 4 |
Defying Gravity | Star Wars |
Half Terms 5 & 6 |
Killer Queen |
Music for a While |
Year 11 | ||
Half Terms 1 & 2 |
Brandenburg Concerto | Brief Composition |
Half Terms 3 & 4 |
Pathetique Sonata | Performance |
Half Terms 5 & 6 |
Release |
Samba em Preludio |
Year 12 | ||
Half Terms 1 & 2 |
Theory Booster | Free Composition |
Half Terms 3 & 4 |
Vivaldi | Bach |
Half Terms 5 & 6 |
Purcell |
Mozart |
Year 13 | ||
Half Terms 1 & 2 |
Brief Composition | Film Music |
Half Terms 3 & 4 |
Musical Theatre | Performances |
Half Terms 5 & 6 |
Exam Revision |
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Enrichment
Choir
Chamber Choir
Orchestra
Chamber Orchestra
The Ukuladies
The Belvlings
The Twelve
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Trips
Spring Concerts - ‘Awakening’, ‘This Shining Night’, ‘Night at the Movies’, ‘Reflections’, ‘Night at the Musicals’.
Academy Productions - ‘Oliver’, ‘Matilda’, ‘Mary Poppins’.
The Belvedere Academy annual ‘Prize Giving’ and ‘Carol Concert’.
Other regular local concerts and events include - ‘Liverpool Light Night’, ‘Liverpool Echo Carol Service’, ‘The Educate Awards’.
Numerous excursions and educational trips to ‘The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Hall’, ‘The Empire Theatre’, ‘Liverpool University’ and much more.
Past tours include - Barcelona, Prague, Venice and Rome (performing at St.
Peter’s Basilica).
Staffing
Mr M. O’Keeffe - Subject Leader of Music
Miss M. McGowan – Music and English Teacher
Mr R. Smith - Guitar Tutor
Mrs S. Francis - Flute Tutor
Mr H. Michalas - Clarinet and Saxophone Tutor
Mrs J. Cunningham - Singing Tutor
Mrs D. Paiano - Violin Tutor
Miss H. Milne - Piano Tutor
Mrs F. Vella-Johnson - Cello Tutor
Miss H. Dawson - Brass Tutor