I started to focus seriously on singing in secondary school, beginning in my school choir before gaining a place at the Junior Department at the Royal College of Music. I knew that I wanted to study music at university, and in my final year at the RCMJD they encouraged me to apply for a choral scholarship at Cambridge. While I was excited to give it a go, I didn’t think I stood a chance. My sight-reading at the piano was shaky at best, and I had limited experience of harmony and counterpoint. Waiting outside the interview room I was more nervous than I’d ever been, and I was delighted and surprised in equal measure when I was offered a place at Newnham with a choral scholarship in Selwyn Chapel Choir.
Singing in the choir was one of the most enriching experiences of my life, and undoubtedly led me to my current role as CEO of Tenebrae, one of the world’s finest professional chamber choirs. Unlike many choral scholars, I had never sung in a church or chapel choir before, so it was a steep learning curve to get on top of the liturgical elements as well as the music itself. My sight-reading improved dramatically in just a few months, as did my ensemble singing. From my second year I was also President of the Raleigh Music Society at Newnham, organising weekly recitals in the Old Labs and chairing the committee who presented larger termly concerts in Clough Hall.
Academically, I found the first year quite tough. The practical modules such as harmony, counterpoint and keyboard skills were all pretty new to me, and they didn’t come naturally. It might sound strange to acknowledge these challenges in an alumna profile, but I think it’s important that current students and prospective applicants know it’s OK to find things difficult; it’s not meant to be easy! The people who interview you know what they are looking for, and if you are offered a place then you are meant to be at Cambridge. Although it’s easier said than done, if you embrace the parts you find challenging then you will grow as a person as well as a musician.
In my third year I started to think about my career choices. Back then I was only dimly aware of arts administration as a sector, so instead I took up a graduate position in the fashion retail sector. Fast forward a few years and I realised that I missed working in a musical environment, so I did an early career swerve and took on a basic admin role at The Mozartists – a specialist opera company focussing on Mozart and his contemporaries. Three years later, Tenebrae advertised for a General Manager, and the combination of my music degree, the commercial acumen I’d gained in retail, and the practical administrative skills I’d honed at The Mozartists meant that I was lucky to get my dream job.
With hindsight, the elements of the Cambridge experience which have been most key to my career development weren’t actually the directly musical ones. The supervision system at Oxbridge, for example, is unique and extremely special. At first I found it daunting to share my opinions with professors and PhD students, but looking back I can see that this helped me to become comfortable interacting with my seniors in the workplace – something which was hugely valuable in the early years of my career, and which continues to serve me well in board meetings today. The discipline required to get through those trickier modules also helped me to realise that if you work hard, you will see results. Crucially, while at the time I would never have described the Raleigh Music Society as “arts administration”, in reality that’s exactly what it was. Whether you are presenting a college concert or touring a professional ensemble all over the world, you need to cover off the same bases: booking your artists, securing a venue, setting and monitoring a budget, and marketing the event so that you attract an audience.
Being able to write a fugue is only a small part of what the Cambridge music degree has to offer. If you are interested in working in the arts, I would warmly encourage you to seize every opportunity that comes your way. You will learn and benefit from all of them – especially the more challenging ones.
Alexandra Davies read music at Newnham College from 2008-2011, while also singing in Selwyn Chapel Choir. After graduating she spent three years working in the head office of a well-known high street brand before deciding to move into arts administration in 2015. She is currently the Chief Executive of the professional chamber choir Tenebrae.
Photo credit: Eleanor Jackson-Smith
