The Musical Environment

One of the most outstanding features of Cambridge is the richness and diversity of its music making at all levels. In addition to our professional concert series, we host a number of resident ensembles: the Endellion String Quartet, Britten Sinfonia and Academy of Ancient Music not only perform regularly but also offer masterclasses and composition workshops for students. Within the Faculty, performance opportunities range from our Collegium Musicum (a period-instrument ensemble), New Music Ensemble and Handel Opera Group to the gamelan orchestra. At college level, a lot of the musical activity centres on the Chapel choirs; these range from world-famous, quasi-professional ensembles directed by conductors with international reputations to much less ambitious groups led by students. Instrumental music is also well served: CUMS (the Cambridge University Music Society) works with conductors of the calibre of Sir Roger Norrington and composers such as Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, and CUCO (the Cambridge University Chamber Orchestra) also performs regularly with well-known guest conductors. But most of all it is the wealth of student-led music making that makes Cambridge so special. There are more than 60 music societies to join, including chamber music groups, opera, music theatre, jazz and world music societies, not to mention the various college societies. And beyond the university there is a wealth of musical activity of all kinds, including the Cambridge Rock Festival and Cambridge Folk Festival. The result of all this is one of the most vibrant musical environments in the world