Adolf Fredrik’s Music School is a general municipal junior high school in Stockholm, Sweden with a focus on choral music, and highly competitive admission based on audition in singing and musical ability. The school has two campuses and three youth choirs of high international standard. Many professional musicians are alumni.
This article is about the music school and its associated youth choirs. Adolf Fredrik’s Youth Choir is part of the Adolf Fredrik Church and has only its name in common with the school. Adolf Fredriks Madrigalkör used to be associated with the church, but is now independent from both the church and the school.
Academics
Adolf Fredrik’s Music School is a niche school, with heavy emphasis on music and choral singing, but without sacrificing academic rigor in other subjects. Admission to the school is based on audition in singing and musical ability before starting fourth grade, and admission is competitive with an acceptance rate of around 15%. 240 students are admitted annually, 180 for the City campus and 60 and for the Farsta campus, and attend the school from 4th to 9th grade. Two-thirds of the admitted students are girls. Over 1,000 students attend the City campus and when fully established the Farsta campus will have over 350 students. For the academic year 2013–2014 the school ranked number seven in Sweden for junior high school grade point average.
The twice-annual school newspaper Lyran was started in 1963, making it the oldest school newspaper in Sweden, according to the Swedish Patent and Registration Office.
Music
Each student belongs to a class-choir consisting of 30 to 60 students. Practices are held almost every school day, and each class-choir has a substantial concert program schedule (at churches and auditoriums and other venues). Additionally, the school has three official choirs, which represent the school in concerts and competitions: Adolf Fredrik’s Girls Choir, Boys Choir, and the mixed Chamber Choir. Membership in these choirs is based on auditions, held amongst the school’s students.
Students at the school will have sung in class choirs (often a cappella) for 1200 hours by the time they graduate at age 16. (Those who participate in one of the school’s competitive representation choirs and continue to a high school which also has emphasis in music, may accumulate 2000 hours of singing before university.) This training takes place during the students’ most formative years.
After graduating from the school, some students continue on to one of three high schools in Stockholm with heavy emphasis on music: Kungsholmens Musikgymnasium with mixed academic/choral singing emphasis, Södra Latin with mixed academic/individual musicianship emphasis, or Lilla Akademien with a heavy emhasis on fostering future professional musicians.
Parental involvement
Parents are very important for the school’s continued success. First, there is for all practical purposes mandatory parent participation in class based working groups for concerts, class excursions and other tasks. Parents of each class are assigned to one of six groups for one year at a time, so that by the time the student finishes his or her studies each parent has participated in each of the six working groups.
Second, the Parent Teacher Organization (AFFF – Adolf Fredriks Föräldraförening) is very active in different ways to promote the school and enhance its academic and musical curriculum. During the AF fight referred to above AFFF played a very important lobbying role (see external links).
Third, Föreningen Adolf Fredriks Musikklasser (English: the Adolf Fredrik’s Music School Association) works to promote child and youth choirs locally, nationally and internationally (see external links).