The story is set in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. Seiso Academy is the school where Kahoko and most of the characters attend.
The academy itself is separated into two departments: General Education and Music. Those in the General Education department study as regular students. Meanwhile, those in the Music department choose an instrument as their course of study. Students of the General Education and Music departments do not share classes. They are separated into two blocks, one for each department.
It seems to be a very prestigious and elite school as there are music rooms for those who wish to practice after school hours. The rooms are complete with either grand or upright pianos. There is also an auditorium, which is where the concours were held throughout the series.
[edit] Clothing
Students of the General Education department wear grey shirts and depending on their gender, they wear white pants or skirts. While, students of the Music Department wear cream blazers with grey pant or skirts.
For those of the Music department, boys wear kerchiefs while the girls wear ribbons. The students of the General Education department wear neckties and short scarves for males and females respectively.
To identify which year a student originates from, each year has been given a certain "color" on the kerchiefs, ribbons, neckties or short scarves. Those of the first year wear light indigo, those of the second year wear red and the third years wear dark green.