The Arts

Falmouth Academy boasts six unique music ensembles, which combine forces to present a major concert each trimester. The final concert of the year, held in early May, features seniors performing solos with their respective ensembles. The school year concludes with the Choruses and Orchestra providing music for Graduation. In the course of the year, student musicians also perform in a variety of settings in the community, sharing the joy of music with a wider audience, including our senior neighbors at the JML Care Center, Heritage at Falmouth, and the Atria-Woodbriar.

Jazz is offered to instrumentalists at both an introductory and advanced level. Within the class structure students learn ensemble playing, how to improve their reading skills and improvisation.  The essence of jazz is the improvised solo and each student is encouraged to spontaneously create a solo by using musical tools given in class.  This helps students find their “voices,” aids in personal confidence and self-expression and better prepares them for music and life. Student string and woodwind musicians audition to join Chamber Ensemble or Chamber Orchestra. These groups study and perform a variety of music for small ensemble, from the Renaissance through contemporary works.

Our combined Chorus is open to students of all levels of experience and perform a wide array of music, including classical, folk, popular, and world music.

Student musicians who are members of a school ensemble are eligible to audition for local, regional, and state music festivals: Cape and Islands, Southeast District (Junior High and High School), and All-State. Participation in the festivals gives them the exhilarating opportunity to apply the skills honed in FA’s small ensembles to perform with a full concert band, symphony orchestra, or large chorus.

The members of our music faculty are all professional performers. Our Advanced Jazz and Chamber Orchestra directors are members of the Cape Symphony Orchestra; our jazz teachers perform in a wide variety of venues across the Cape; and our choral director also directs the Falmouth Chorale, the Falmouth Children’s Chorus, and the Falmouth Chamber Players Orchestra.