Shebbear Music Immersion
Two weeks of one-to-one lessons, ensemble, choir, composition — and a final candle-lit concert in the chapel of one of England’s most musical boarding schools.
Shebbear College
Recital evening
A musical fortnight, the British boarding-school way.
Shebbear College has a music programme that punches several weight classes above its size: a 200-year-old chapel choir, a busy ensemble culture, and a Director of Music who quietly sends students to Cambridge choral scholarships every year.
For two weeks you become part of it. You take three one-to-one lessons a week on your principal instrument or voice; you sing in the daily chapel choir; you play in a small ensemble; you compose; and you rehearse a piece in your chosen idiom — classical, jazz, Indian classical fusion, music theatre — for the final-night concert.
Why this programme matters
Music students often live a strange double life: hours of solo practice at home, but few opportunities to play together at a serious level. This fortnight collapses that gap. You leave with the rare experience of being a musician inside a musical community — rehearsing in a beautiful chapel, performing to a real audience, eating breakfast with people who play their instruments at lunch. The musical confidence that comes from this is hard to manufacture any other way.
Programme structure
- Day01
Arrival & first sing
Heathrow pick-up, coach to Shebbear, room allocation. Evening: an informal chapel sing-through to break the ice and place voices.
- Day02–04
Lessons, theory & choir
Three one-to-one lessons in the first half-week, daily music theory, and a daily 45-minute choir rehearsal. Afternoons: ensemble assignment.
- Day05
Exeter Cathedral day
A morning rehearsal in Exeter Cathedral with the resident choirmaster, evensong attendance, and supper in the cathedral close.
- Day06–08
Ensemble & composition
Daily ensemble rehearsals. Composition workshop running alongside: a short piece for your own ensemble, premiered on the final night.
- Day09
Masterclass weekend
A Saturday masterclass with a visiting Royal Academy or Royal College tutor. Open lesson format, peers as audience, gentle critique culture.
- Day10–12
Programme building
Final lessons, sectional rehearsals, dress rehearsals. Tour-style intensive week with proper rest built in.
- Day13
Final concert in chapel
Candle-lit chapel concert: solos, ensembles, choir, composer’s pieces. Parents join by livestream; recording posted within 48 hours.
- Day14
Farewell & return
Sunday morning sing-out, packed lunch, coach back to Heathrow with our chaperones.
Why music students love it.
A fortnight that gives a musician everything they rarely get at home in a single fortnight: lessons, ensemble, performance and audience.
One-to-one tuition
Six private lessons across two weeks on your principal instrument or voice, with a UK conservatoire-trained teacher.
Daily chapel choir
Sing every day in a working chapel choir — SATB, sight-reading, the lot. Few experiences build a young singer faster.
Real ensemble experience
Placed in a small ensemble matched to your level, rehearsed daily, performed in the final concert.
Composition workshop
Write a short piece for your own ensemble — tonal, jazz, fusion, whatever you bring — and hear it premiered.
Cathedral masterclass
A morning rehearsal at Exeter Cathedral with the resident choirmaster — an experience usually reserved for music-scholarship hopefuls.
Final-night concert
A candle-lit chapel performance to a real audience, professionally recorded and shared home within 48 hours.
What you take home.
Specific, named outcomes a young musician can put on a music-school application, an audition CV or a conservatoire portfolio.
- Six recorded one-to-one lesson notes from your principal-study teacher.
- A signed reference letter useful for music scholarship and conservatoire applications.
- A composed and premiered short work, in your own idiom, with score and recording.
- Sight-singing fluency from two weeks of daily SATB choir.
- Ensemble experience — rehearsal etiquette, blending, listening, leading.
- Performance recording from the final chapel concert — perfect for audition tapes.
- Theory progression typically equivalent to a full term’s work at home.
- Certificate of completion co-issued by Shebbear College and Aspirational Editech.
For the working music student, 13–17.
Built for students who already play or sing at roughly Grade 4 / equivalent or above — though we look for musical curiosity, not credentials. We welcome strings, woodwind, brass, piano, voice and contemporary instruments.
- Ages 13–17, with at least Grade 4 (ABRSM or equivalent) on your principal instrument or voice.
- Conversational English — able to follow a rehearsal direction in English.
- A genuine practice habit — we expect 30–60 minutes of personal practice daily.
- Considering serious music study — conservatoire, scholarship, university music.
- Open to choir even if voice isn’t your principal study.
Life on the programme
A look inside the campus, the classrooms and the moments in between.
Transparent, all-in pricing.
One fee covers every musical and logistical element. The list below makes that specific.
Programme fee
Covers every element of the programme — from arrival at Heathrow to your final farewell.
- Two weeks’ full board at Shebbear College
- Six one-to-one principal-study lessons
- Daily chapel choir rehearsals and theory
- Ensemble placement and daily rehearsals
- Composition workshop and score preparation
- Exeter Cathedral masterclass and evensong day
- Visiting RAM / RCM masterclass weekend
- Final chapel concert (recording shared with families)
- All meals on campus and out
- UK Standard Visitor visa support and submission
- Comprehensive student travel insurance
- our chaperones throughout and 24/7 parent support line
- Signed reference, certificate, and concert recording posted home
Optional extras
Items we don’t bundle in — either because they vary or because families prefer to choose.
- International flights (add-on from BLR, BOM or DEL)
- Hire fees for unusually large instruments (we cover hire for the rest)
- Personal pocket money (£150–£200 recommended)
- Optional pre/post-trip London extension (+£950)
Easy payments
Three-instalment plan at no extra cost. Pay in INR or GBP.
Sibling discount
5% off the second sibling on the same trip. School group rates available.
Refundable deposit
A £500 deposit secures your seat; balance due eight weeks before departure.
What sets this programme apart.
Lessons, not classes
You get private lessons with a conservatoire-trained teacher — not a group masterclass on its own.
A real working chapel
You sing daily in a beautiful 19th-century chapel — with the acoustic, lighting and emotion that a school hall cannot fake.
An ensemble culture
Shebbear is small enough that everyone plays in something. You become one of them, instantly.
Your journey, step by step.
From the first enquiry to the warm hug back at the airport — we walk every metre with you.
Enquire & speak
A 20-minute call. We talk principal study, grade level, repertoire interests and any audition deadlines you’re aiming at.
Audition & deposit
A short recorded audition (we’ll send a brief). On acceptance, a £500 refundable deposit secures your place.
Onboarding pack
Six weeks out: kit list, repertoire suggestions, instrument logistics, parent WhatsApp group, named contacts.
Programme & concert recording
Two weeks at Shebbear. Daily parent updates, final concert recording, signed reference and certificate.
Looked after, every step of the way.
Academic guidance, pastoral care and emotional wellbeing aren’t separate departments — they’re woven through every day of the programme.
Musical
A senior tutor oversees your lesson sequence and concert preparation. Mid-week one-to-ones built in.
Pastoral
our house parent on site at all times. Nightly check-ins. Quiet practice rooms always available.
Emotional
Performance nerves, practice plateaus and identity-as-musician questions all get a private space with our counsellor.
Pathways this programme opens.
A short programme that quietly compounds — the conversations, the projects and the references open doors years later.
Conservatoire applications
A signed reference and a recorded concert make for a compelling audition portfolio.
Music scholarships
UK schools at 13+, 14+ and 16+ value the credibility of a Shebbear-trained reference.
Cathedral & chapel choir traditions
A two-week exposure that often turns into Oxbridge choral scholarship interest a year later.
Music university study
A small but meaningful credential for music or musicology degree applications.
What students and parents tell us.
I have never practised so happily in my life. There were eight other violinists in the dining hall every morning. The chapel changes how you hear yourself.
Two weeks moved our son’s playing more than two terms at home. The recording from the final concert is now on his conservatoire application.
The composition workshop was the surprise. He wrote a tiny piece for clarinet and piano. Hearing it played, by his peers, in that chapel, was the moment I cried.
Questions, answered.
A fortnight inside one of England’s most musical schools.
Places are limited and tend to fill 6–8 weeks before departure. Speak to our team to walk through dates, paperwork and everything we handle on your behalf.
