The Purcell School

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The Purcell School for Young Musicians is a specialist music school for children, located in the town of Bushey, south Hertfordshire, England, and is the oldest specialist music school in the UK. The school was awarded the UNESCO Mozart Medal in 2003, which was received on behalf of the school by Prince Charles, who is a patron of the school. Sir Simon Rattle is honorary president of the school. Many of the pupils subsequently study at the Royal College of Music or Royal Academy of Music. In 2015, the School became the very first Fazioli Pianoforti Centre of Excellence.The School‘s pupils are funded largely by the Government's Music and Dance Scheme, along with the School’s own scholarship funds. It has a consistent success in national and international competitions and has an extensive programme of outreach and community work. The majority of pupils progress to music conservatoires although a small number each year elect to go to University to study both music and non-musical subjects.HistoryRosemary Rapaport and Irene Forster founded the school in 1962 under the original name of the Central Tutorial School for Young Musicians, at Conway Hall in central London. The school later moved to Morley College, and subsequently to Hampstead, then a large Victorian house in Harrow on the Hill. The school changed its name to The Purcell School (after the English composer Henry Purcell) in 1973. In 1997, the School relocated to the site of the former Royal Caledonian School campus in Bushey, Hertfordshire.