Music
Prerequisites: Year 10 Music or Music Technology highly recommended
Course Structure: SL and HL
Course Description
IB Music is a folio-based course (there is no final written examination), which aims to develop emerging musicians across three core folios for Standard Level and an additional fourth folio for Higher Level students. Students will assume three different roles (Researcher, Creator and Performer) across three different contexts (Personal, Local and Global). Integrated Musical Processes include exploring, experimenting, and presenting music.
Prerequisites
• Minimum of Grade 1 Theory or equivalent
• Performance levels are not set – you come in as the performer you are
• Passionate & hard working
• Students MUST be enrolled in private music lessons on their instrument of choice
• Enthusiasm and a good work ethic
Three portfolios for SL and an additional portfolio for HL
Exploring Music in Context
Students will explore music of many different genres and experiment and create using ideas from the music studied. This folio will comprise of a 2400 word written submission and practical exercises in creating and performing.
Presenting Music
Students prepare a practical folio in solo and/or group while studying the compositional and contextual elements of the pieces chosen. This folio will comprise of programme notes – 600 words, composition and or improvisation, and a performance folio of 12 minutes.
Experimenting with Music
Students will explore and experiment with music from different contexts and cultures. This folio will comprise of a written experimentation report of 1500 words and practical music evidence, comprising of performance and composition.
Contemporary Music folio (HL students only)
High level students will undergo a fourth portfolio entitled ‘The Contemporary Music Maker’. In this portfolio, students need to run and manage a chosen ‘real life’ project that is music related. A 15 minute multimedia presentation is required to document and present this project for assessment. A project could be a concert at school, a competition, campaign, collaboration with others… the choice is yours.
Areas of Inquiry
Music is studied using four Areas of Inquiry:
1. Music for sociocultural and political expression
2. Music for listening and performances
3. Music for dramatic impact
4. Music technology in the electronic and digital age
Context
Music is studied in three contexts:
1. Personal
2. Local
3. Global
Integrated Musical Processes include:
4. Exploring
5. Experimenting
6. Presenting
ASSESSMENT Standard Level
1. Exploring Music in Context: 30% (external assessment)
2. Presenting Music: 40% (external assessment)
3. Experimenting with Music: 30% (internal assessment)
ASSESSMENT Higher Level
1. Exploring Music in Context: 20% (external assessment)
2. Presenting Music: 30% (external assessment)
3. Experimenting with Music: 20% (internal assessment)
4. The Contemporary Music Maker: 30% (internal assessment)
Theatre Arts
Prerequisites
Nil.
Course Structure: SL and HL
Course Description
Theatre is a composite art that is forever evolving in new forms. It nourishes, sustains and extends the human spirit. It is innately creative and experimental in its philosophy; in its practice, it demands collaboration, curiosity, resourcefulness and risk.
Theatre Arts emphasises the importance of working individually and as a member of an ensemble. Students are encouraged to develop the organisational and technical skills needed to express themselves creatively in theatre. A further challenge for students following this course is for them to become aware of their own perspectives and biases, and of the ways in which they function inside a creative group, and to learn to respect and appreciate cultural diversity – as it is communicated through world theatre – and to see the powerful role theatre plays in reflecting the cultural, political and historical prism of the world.
At the core of the theatre course lies a concern with clarity of understanding, critical thinking, reflective analysis, effective involvement and imaginative synthesis – all of which should be achieved through practical engagement with the theatre. The Theatre Arts student is a theatrical practitioner, engaged in all levels of theatrical conception and applied stagecraft.
Standard Level
1. Theatre in Context: The study of at least one stimulus – or play-text that will develop into an action plan for performance.
2. Theatre Processes: Participation in at least two performances in two different roles/capacities.
3. Presenting Theatre: Studies from an international perspective of selected texts and traditions. At least two contrasting practices are studied.
4. Independent Project: Creation and presentation of an original work inspired by any source, from any origin. Pursuit of a specialised interest with rigour and imagination.
ASSESSMENT
Internal Assessment
Collaborative Project
Students collaborate to create and present an original piece of theatre for and to a specified target audience, created from a starting point of their choice.
Standard Level 35%
Higher Level 25%
External Assessment
Task 1: Solo Theatre Piece (HL only)
Students research a theatre theorist, identify an aspect(s) of their theory and create and present a solo theatre piece based on this aspect(s) of theory.
Higher Level 35%
Task 2: Director’s Notebook (SL and HL)
Students choose a published play 0r text and develop ideas regarding how it could be staged for an audience.
Standard Level 35%
Higher Level 20%
Task 3: Research Presentation (SL and HL)
Students plan and deliver an individual presentation to their peers in which they outline and physically demonstrate their research into a convention of a theatre tradition they have not previously studied.
Standard Level 30%
Higher Level 20%
Visual Arts
Prerequisites
Taking any of the 10 Visual Arts subjects is highly advisable
Course Structure: SL and HL
Course Description
The Visual Arts course at SL and HL aims to enable students to create artwork that is influenced by personal and cultural contexts; to become informed and critical observers and makers of visual culture and media; and to develop skills, techniques and processes in order to communicate concepts and ideas.
The course encourages students to challenge their own creative and cultural expectations and boundaries. It is a thought-provoking course in which students develop analytical skills in problem-solving and divergent thinking, while working towards technical proficiency and confidence as art-makers. In addition to exploring and comparing visual arts from different perspectives and in different contexts, students are expected to engage in, experiment with and critically reflect upon a wide range of contemporary practices and media. The course is designed for students who want to go on to study visual arts in higher education as well as for those who are seeking lifelong enrichment through visual arts.
Students are expected to: examine and compare the work of artists from different times, places and cultures, using a range of critical methodologies; consider in more depth the cultural contexts (historical, geographical, political, social and technological factors) influencing their own work and the work of others; submit carefully selected materials which evidence their experimentation, exploration, manipulation and and refinement of a variety of visual arts activities during the two year course; and lastly, present a selection of resolved artworks from their exhibition. The selected pieces are chosen to show evidence of their technical accomplishment during the visual arts course and an understanding of the use of materials, ideas and practices appropriate to visual communication.
The Visual Arts core syllabus at SL and HL consists of three equal interrelated areas: Comparative Study; Process portfolio; Exhibition. Students are required to understand the relationship between these areas and how each area informs and impacts their work in visual arts.
Standard Level
Throughout the course students are expected to experience working with a variety of different art-making and conceptual forms. SL students should, as a minimum, experience working with at least two art-making mediums/techniques, each selected from one of the following forms: Two-dimensional forms (drawing, painting, printing, communication design); Three-dimensional forms (sculpture, designed objects, site specific/ephemeral, textiles); and Lens based, electronic and screen-based forms.
SL ASSESSMENT
Internal assessment
Exhibition (40%): presentation of a selection of resolved artworks (4–7 pieces), with exhibition text for each and a curatorial rationale (400 words maximum)
External assessment
Comparative Study (20%): comparison of at least 3 different artworks, by at least 2 different artists, with commentary over 10–15 screens (demonstrating the exploration of perspectives, theories and cultures that inform and influence visual arts practice)
Process portfolio (40%): presentation of 9–18 screens from the folio demonstrating the exploration and acquisition of skills, techniques and processes, through engagement with a variety of media and methods. The submitted work should be in at least two different art-making forms.
Higher Level
Throughout the course students are expected to experience working with a variety of different art-making and conceptual forms. HL students should, as a minimum, experience working with at least three art-making mediums/techniques, selected from a minimum of two of the following forms: Two-dimensional forms (drawing, painting, printing, communication design); Three-dimensional forms (sculpture, designed objects, site specific/ephemeral, textiles); and Lens based, electronic and screen-based forms.
HL ASSESSMENT
Internal assessment
Exhibition (40%): presentation of a selection of resolved artworks (8–11 pieces), with exhibition text for each, and a curatorial rationale (700 words maximum)
External assessment
Comparative Study (20%): comparison of at least 3 different artworks, by at least 2 different artists, with commentary over 10–15 screens (demonstrating the exploration of perspectives, theories and cultures that inform and influence visual arts practice) and a reflection on the extent to which their work and practices have been influenced by any of the art/artists examined (3–5 screens).
Process portfolio (40%): presentation of 13–25 screens from the portfolio demonstrating the exploration and acquisition of skills, techniques and processes, through engagement with a variety of media and methods. The submitted work should be in at least three different art-making forms.