‘The first of its kind and is still almost unique in this country’ (Education, 1965)
Founded by Miss Irene L. Forster, Headmistress and Rosemary Rapaport, a violin professor of the Royal Academy of Music, The Central Tutorial School for Young Musicians was born from a need that Miss Rapaport first noticed. In 1961 she realized that the children who came to her violin lessons were unable to practice enough because their other demands were so dominant. The solution seemed to be a school where the ordinary curriculum was ‘first class but so concentrated’ (Education, 1965) that the children could go to their own outside teachers for their instrumental lessons during the day and be given structured time within the school day for practising.
An ongoing project, ‘Purcell’ is a photo-documentary series covering the entire history of The Purcell School. The work takes the audience through all five locations that the school has been situated throughout its 43 year existence and focuses specifically on found pieces of writing, newspaper clippings and articles to help build an entire record of how the school became the great musical inspiration it is today. Accompanied by essay extracts, the photographs have more significance and come to life with the thoughts of music and teaching filling each building.