Jazz News

04 Jul 2025

Jazz Picnic

On Saturday 28th June, the Parents & Friends’ Association (PFA) together with the Jazz Department hosted their annual ‘Jazz Picnic’ in the marquee. The weather...

23 Jun 2025

The Jazz Disciples to perform at Glastonbury Festival

We are thrilled to announce that our Senior Jazz Combo; Charlie B, Alex S, Charlie D (Upper Sixth) and Barnaby D (Lower Sixth), AKA The...

13 Jun 2025

Senior Jazz Combo’s sizzling tunes at summer barbecue

The Senior Jazz Combo played for The Wells Twinning Association summer barbecue on Sunday 8th June at the Wells Museum. The sun shone and the...

24 Mar 2025

Session Orchestra Concert

We saw the first concert for our newly formed Wells Cathedral School Session Orchestra featuring pupils from the String, Jazz and Vocal Departments. The first...

03 Feb 2025

Senior Jazz Combo perform at The Art Bank

Our Senior Jazz Combo, known as the Jazz Disciples, performed at Somerset arts venue The Art Bank to a capacity audience. The ensemble presented a...

09 Dec 2024

Acoustic Night

We were treated to the second of what will become a regular ‘Acoustic Night’ featuring songwriters and ‘unplugged’ bands in the John Baxter Foyer of...

27 Sep 2024

Wells Cathedral School unveils new app

We are thrilled to announce that a new Wells Cathedral School app is available to download for free on the App Store and Google Play....

15 Jul 2024

Jazz Picnic

The 2024 Jazz Picnic was a roaring success with a record crowd and some outstanding performances. The Jazz Ensemble features some of our younger pupils...

28 Feb 2024

Jazz & Strings tour to New York City

The Jazz and String Departments took part in an action-packed and inspirational tour to New York City which included masterclasses, workshops and concerts across Manhattan...

26 Feb 2024

Charlie and Alex will travel to Italy for 2024 Berklee at Umbria Jazz Clinics

Charlie and Alexander (Lower Sixth) have both successfully auditioned for and gained places on the 2024 Berklee at Umbria Jazz Clinics which will be held...

27 Nov 2023

Henton Village Hall Jazz concert

The Jazz Orchestra and Senior Jazz Combo presented a concert at Henton Village Hall on Saturday 18th November to raise funds for the modernisation of...

27 Nov 2023

Musical Extravaganza

The first Musical Extravaganza of the year was a triumph. A full Cedars Hall heard a huge range of music showcasing pupils across the whole...

02 Nov 2023

Jazz in the Foyer

Our Senior Jazz Combo led the first ‘Jazz in the Foyer’ jam session of the year in the John Baxter Foyer. These sessions provide a wonderful opportunity for our...

10 Jul 2023

Senior Jazz Combo at St George’s, Bristol

The Senior Jazz Combo (known as the ‘Jazz Disciples’) performed at St George’s, Bristol, as part of their popular Swing concert series. The group performed...

19 Jun 2023

Musical Extravaganza

Thursday 8th June saw the final Extravaganza concert of the School year with a jam-packed concert showcasing a huge array of ensembles made up of...

09 May 2023

An inspiring and thought-provoking afternoon on careers in Music

Cedars Hall was full of our young musicians on Thursday 27th April to hear presentations on very different musical career paths given by Sophie Lewis,...

06 Mar 2023

BIG Jazz Day

On Saturday 25th February, Devon & Torbay Music Education Hubs hosted a ‘BIG Jazz Day’ at King Edward IV Community College in Totnes with the...

Stuttgart Concert WCS Wells Cathedral Independent School Somerset England

28 Nov 2022

Stuttgart Exchange

The Music Department were delighted to welcome 44 pupils and 4 members of staff from the Eberhard-Ludwig-Gymnasium in Stuttgart, a Specialist Music School very similar...

Dr Sarah Upjohn WCS Wells Cathedral Independent School Somerset England

11 Nov 2022

Dr Sarah Upjohn Gives Wellbeing Talk To Musicians

As part of our commitment to the wellbeing of our pupils and of our young musicians, Dr Sarah Upjohn visited the School to give a...

Wells Cathedral School Jazz Orchestra Mark Armstrong

29 Mar 2022

Jazz Orchestra Perform with Mark Armstrong

On Sunday 20th March, Wells Cathedral School Jazz Orchestra performed at Strode Theatre with ace trumpet player and bandleader Mark Armstrong. Mark is the Artistic...

29 Jun 2021

The Jazz Picnic

This year’s Parents’ Association Jazz Picnic took place with a limited pre-booked audience in the Marquee on Cedars Lawn – a fabulous way to celebrate...

24 Jun 2021

Popular Music Showcase

Wells musicians presented a series of inspiring performances last Sunday at the Popular Music Showcase.A big thank you to Tim Walker and his team for...

21 Jun 2021

Jazz Evening

Last week’s Jazz Evening showcased the talents of jazz players and small group jazz from across the School. Introduced by Coordinator of Jazz Studies Edward...

02 May 2021

Event on the Lawn Online

This year’s Event on the Lawn, our very own popular annual mini music festival, organised and performed by Wells pupils and showcasing many of our...

07 Dec 2020

Sixth Form Jazz Day

The Wells Academic Music and Jazz departments teamed up last week to deliver a full Sixth Form Study Day covering all of the jazz elements...

10 Mar 2020

Event on the Lawn 2020

This year’s successful Event on the Lawn took place across the School site on Saturday evening, a musical extravaganza which showcased the dance and rock,...

25 Nov 2019

Saxophone Masterclass

Saxophonist Naomi Sullivan visited Wells in October to give a masterclass to specialist saxophone players. Naomi is Head of Saxophone at Birmingham Conservatoire and has...

27 Jun 2019

National Youth Jazz Collective

Congratulations to Year 10 percussionist, Luke, who has been accepted onto the National Youth Jazz Collective summer course for the second year running on drum...

23 May 2019

Jazz Outreach

On Friday the Wells Cathedral School Jazz Ensemble, featuring musicians from Years 7 to 9, visited St Michael’s Academy in Yeovil for a performance and...

27 Mar 2019

Wells Senior Jazz Combo at Jazz and Blues Festival

The Wells Senior Jazz Combo were invited to perform at the Bristol International Jazz and Blues Festival on Sunday, appearing on a roster alongside many...

07 Mar 2019

The Event on the Lawn 2019

The Event on the Lawn 2019 took place on the evening of Saturday 2nd March and proved a huge success.The night of live music involved...

06 Mar 2019

Jazz Skills Day

Led by the engaging and professional jazz maestro Iain Ballamy and Head of Jazz Ed Leaker, young musicians at this year’s Jazz Skills Day experimented...

07 Feb 2019

Musical Extravaganza

Monday evening’s Musical Extravaganza involved a wide range of talented young musicians from across the School, and featured vibrant performances from the Sinfonietta, Frigus Ensemble,...

08 May 2017

Farleigh Prep School Outreach Visit

The 6-piece Jazz Combo had a productive visit to Farleigh Prep School, near Andover last week. The sessions commenced with a workshop for a group...

04 May 2017

Jazz Combo in Hong Kong

Wells Senior Jazz Combo, comprising eight sixth form specialists, travelled to Hong Kong over Easter to present a programme of mainstream jazz standards and their...

27 Jan 2017

Jazz Trumpet Virtuosi’s First Visit to Wells

The brass department, in partnership with the jazz department, were delighted to welcome jazz trumpet virtuosi, Percy Pursglove, for a trumpet masterclass at the end...

21 Nov 2016

Jazz Skills Day

The first jazz instrumental day took place in Cedars Hall in November, when over 30 players enjoyed a fantastic day with tutors Iain Ballamy, Ed...

09 May 2016

Jazz on Cedars Hall Roof

As we wait patiently for the opening of our new concert venue Cedars Hall, woodwind and jazz students Sylvan, Luke and Peter were among the...

09 May 2016

Jazz Combo at Bristol International Jazz & Blues Festival

On 19th March 2016 the Wells Cathedral School Senior Jazz Combo performed a showcase set at The Colston Hall for Bristol International Jazz & Blues...

25 Apr 2016

Wells Big Band to Open Glastonbury Extravaganza

The Wells Cathedral School Big Band are headlining this year’s Glastonbury Abbey Extravaganza, along with the legendary Van Morrison and jazz-pop singer-songwriter Jamie Cullum. The...

23 Mar 2016

Mid Somerset Festival Awards

Wells musicians performed extremely well again at this year’s elite Mid Somerset Festival in Bath, winning a large number of categories across a range of...

03 Oct 2015

Jazz Masterclass with Julian Joseph

On 2nd October 2015, the Senior Jazz Combo travelled to Taunton having been invited to take part in a masterclass and performance with internationally acclaimed...

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