At the end of the twentieth century the wide-ranging activities in independent school music departments, as we have seen from the preceding chapters, can only be described as a success story. Concert programmes, showing not only ambitious choices of music but with performance standards only dreamt of fifty years before continued to grace the lives of independent schools year after year. Some schools, such as the various King's schools of Henry VIII foundation, those of Edward VI foundation, Harpur Trust schools, the Whitgift schools, Alleyn's foundation schools in Dulwich, and other groups, united at times when large forces from these schools staged performances of demanding works in venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, the Royal Festival Hall and Birmingham Symphony Hall. Of course, these music departments were better funded in most cases than their state-maintained counterparts because of the independent, and therefore fee-paying, nature of the schools concerned. The previous chapters in this book provide a clear understanding of the quantity and quality of what was produced in independent schools overall, although only through the eyes of individual schools. These schools are not untypical of the music education and performance in many independent schools and it should be understood that those not mentioned in these chapters have generally produced similar music programmes to those that are mentioned.

Many independent schools were and are affiliated to the MMA through membership of their directors of music and assistant staff.