From jazz to jungle Last month, 20 pupils from schools around Oxfordshire attended Jazz @ Leckford Place - four days' worth of tuition, improvisation and culminating in a public concert.

Jazz @ Leckford aims to introduce younger players to the excitement and richness of jazz – exposing them to the possibilities (and the demands) of a freer, more improvisatory approach to music-making. Participating in the course also gives pupils the chance to learn new skills during the break from school, and to meet and bond with other children of various ages and musical abilities.

Music is a major part of school life for Leckford pupils, with a busy and varied programme of concerts and classes throughout the year – well as a major musical production every two years - 2008's will be Guys and Dolls.

The department aims to offer as rich and varied an array of opportunities as possible. "It's important that we expose the children to a broad range of music and give them plenty of opportunities to get involved in different ways.”

Leckford Place's musicians do not limit their endeavours to ensemble work alone: the school has attracted a number of extremely talented academic musicians and composers.

Sixteen-year-old Gidon Fineman, for instance, spent seven weeks of his holiday orchestrating and composing additional music for a stage version of Rudyard Kipling's famous Jungle Book.

Having opened in Oxford’s New Theatre last week, the show is now touring the UK. The music, an eclectic mixture with elements of pantomime, pop and musical theatre, was produced in Gidon’s own studio.

Not only this: Gidon also composed the solo cello score for A Tender Mother, currently showing at the OFS. Indeed, he found himself in the rare position of choosing between premieres as The Jungle Book and A Tender Mother opened on the same night.

After three years as a performing arts scholar at Leckford Place School, Gidon has this year moved on to study A-Levels in music, English, theatre studies and film studies – continuing to pursue his ambition: to study at a top music college and, ultimately, to work as a composer.

While at Leckford Place, Gidon studied music GCSE with Melanie Ward – herself a composer – although much of his advanced composition tuition took place at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

He also played a part in countless school musical and drama productions, among them, Little Shop of Horrors, Return to the Forbidden Planet and Grease.

Talented students are attracted to Leckford Place, in Gidon’s opinion, by “the small classes; the family atmosphere”.

It is an environment in which individuals’ strengths and passions are able to take centre stage.

Headmaster Mark Olejnik said: “There is a prevailing sense of mutual respect amongst pupils, which undoubtedly contributes to their eagerness to be involved, whether as performers or audience.

“Because they feel confident here, students aren’t afraid to express themselves and encourage others in turn.”