For more than two decades, Lesley Hunter has brought boundless energy and unmistakable musical flair to life at The Downs Malvern.
A stalwart in the purest sense of the word, Lesley has left an indelible mark on the musical culture of The Downs Malvern, broadening horizons and helping countless children of all abilities find joy and belonging through music.
As she draws a final double bar line across her illustrious teaching career, we took the opportunity to sit down with Lesley and reflect on an extraordinary 44 years in education.
Music Belongs to Everyone
“I just hope that anyone who felt music was elitist, or simply not for them, left The Downs realising how wrong they were!”, she says, when asked what she hopes her legacy will be.
That approach is reflected in everyday school life. Asked what role music plays at TDM, Lesley’s answer is immediate: “Integral!”
“You can go to many other schools and you won’t hear the children sing, but we start every week with singing in assembly,” she says. “It wakes the children up and ushers in the week properly.”
Music also helps pupils grow in confidence. Lesley remembers children arriving from other schools and saying, “I don’t play an instrument. I don’t do music.” Her response is simple: “Well, that’s lovely, but you’re here now and we do it!”
An inevitable path
That belief, that music is for everybody, has been at the heart of Lesley’s career, although her own love of music began much earlier. She recalls visiting her grandmother’s house as a toddler, clambering out of her pram and making her way to the piano, “banging the keys instead of sleeping!”
Music was an inevitable path. Piano lessons began at the ripe age of four, and at seven Lesley was encouraged to audition for the Saturday school at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Though considered too young to make the weekly journey from the Wirral, she was put in touch with Heather Slade-Lipkin, a distinguished piano and harpsichord teacher who became a great influence on her life.
At home, music was ever-present. Classical music became a deep part of Lesley’s musical life, with Bach, Mozart and Debussy among her favourite composers to play but, as she is quick to point out, her tastes were never narrow.
Teenage rebellion came in the form of English progressive rock band Barclay James Harvest, with Lesley embracing flower power, kaftans and Jesus sandals on frequent trips to London’s Carnaby Street, back when, as she fondly insists, it was “nothing like it is today!”
From the Tropics to the Malverns
Although she briefly considered following her mother into nursing, music was always the real path. “It was always going to be music,” she says. “I didn’t want to perform though, I wanted to teach.”
Lesley began her teaching career in state schools, working with pupils from 11 to 18 and eventually becoming Head of Department near Dudley. She loved the musical challenge of senior teaching, including tackling pieces such as a Mozart horn concerto with her sixth formers, before family life took an unexpected turn: five years in Singapore. “Not my choice,” she laughs, “my husband’s!”
Taking it in her stride, she took a job at the British International School, Tanglin, teaching Reception and Years 3 and 4, before becoming Head of Infant Music. A world away from A Level music, she admits there was a degree of improvisation involved. “I didn’t want to admit that I didn’t know what I was doing,” she laughs. “My children loved watching Play School on television, so I thought, ‘I’ll just do it like that. I’ll jump around and teach songs.’”
It worked. More than that, it helped her discover a love of teaching younger children. After returning to the UK, she briefly went back into senior teaching and “just knew it wasn’t for me anymore.”
Having joined Hillstone Prep School, Lesley came “over the hill” when it merged with The Downs in 2008 and has been part of the musical life of the school ever since.
During that time, music at TDM has grown tremendously in both range and ambition, and Lesley is justly proud of the many concerts, productions and collaborative projects that she has been instrumental in driving.
Community Champion
She has also nurtured important links with the wider community, from pupil performances in nursing homes to welcoming local musicians to perform alongside the children. Naturally self-effacing, Lesley is quick to play down her own achievements. Yet one particularly memorable example came in 2025, when she organised a concert bringing together pupils, staff, parents, alumni and members of the local community to raise money for the Macmillan Renton Unit at Hereford County Hospital, in honour of former French teacher Stéphanie Ingram. Lesley’s exceptional effort contributed to more than £12,000 being raised.
Memories and Melodies
Perhaps the most evocative story of Lesley’s time at TDM comes from 2004, when she took the school choir to Amsterdam. During a canal trip, the captain offered to take the group out into the main harbour to see the giant ocean ships, but only if they sang! The choir performed Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God in harmony, with the windows wide open and people along the banks listening. Later, on their return to England, customs staff realised they were a choir and playfully refused to let the group through until they performed once more. Naturally, they chose Seek Ye First.
“I will always think of The Downs if I hear that,” Lesley says.
As she leaves TDM, it is, unsurprisingly, the children she will miss most. “If I could, I’d be here until I’m 100! I will miss them hugely.”
Lesley’s legacy will endure in the musical culture she spent years crafting, fostering a deep belief in our pupils that music belongs to everyone. Teaching for Lesley was never just a job; it was a means to give children confidence and to pass on the pure joy that music brought her. As the children of today become the adults of tomorrow, they will join the ranks of Old Downians who will look back on their school days and still hear, and feel, the melodies she shared with them.
Doug Norton, Marketing Officer
Discover more about our music curriculum here.