Music at Cambridge
Over recent decades many of the most significant figures in British music have studied or taught at Cambridge: composers such as Judith Weir, Errollyn Wallen, Thomas Adès and Academy Award-winning film composer, Steven Price; performers like Joanna MacGregor and Mark Padmore; conductors including John Eliot Gardiner and Nicholas Collon; writers and broadcasters, including Sara Mohr-Pietsch (Radio 3) and crossover artists such as Delia Derbyshire and Clean Bandit.
Our undergraduate course has a strong academic component, particularly focusing on history, analysis, composition (including screen and media composition) and performance, but also offering a range of other topics (see the course outline).
Facilities and resources
As well as providing a location for lectures, seminars and research activities, the modern Faculty building also houses:
- a professional concert hall (seating 500)
- an extensive library of music, books, periodicals and recordings
- a purpose-built studio
- music computing laboratories
The Faculty also houses the Centre for Music Performance.
Students can borrow period instruments and make use of the Faculty’s Javanese gamelan, and the Faculty organises a weekly Composers’ Workshop, and regular Practising Performance Masterclasses that are open to all students.
In addition, the Faculty hosts several resident ensembles (the New Music Ensemble, Collegium Musicum, Britten Sinfonia, and The Academy of Ancient Music), which perform regularly and offer masterclasses, coaching and further composition workshops for students.
These facilities and resources are complemented by the University Library and by the libraries, practice rooms and computer suites available in Colleges. College funds are available for instrumental or vocal lessons for those taking a performance paper. Support varies between Colleges – please request details from individual Colleges.
Course costs
Tuition fees
Information on tuition fee rates for Music is available on the tuition fees page.
Additional course costs
There are no compulsory additional course costs. Students taking performance options will require instrumental/vocal teaching, for which financial support is guaranteed through the Colleges at the following minimum levels: Year 1 - £420;Year 2 - £540; Year 3 - £700.
Music books and scores are available in the libraries in Cambridge (in the Faculty, Colleges, and/or University Library). Students may purchase their own copies of some books and study scores to have to hand when needed, but this is not compulsory Fieldwork may be undertaken by students, typically in support of dissertations in Years 2 and 3, but this remains optional. Limited financial support is usually available through Colleges for purchases or fieldwork.
Changing course
Though it is possible to take another subject after either one or two years of studying Music, transfer into Part IB or II of the Tripos is unusual and subject to satisfaction of the Faculty Board of Music that the requisite skills in Music have been obtained.
To be able to change course, you need the agreement of your College that any change is in your educational interests, and you must have the necessary background in the subject to which you wish to change – in some cases you may be required to undertake some catch-up work or take up the new course from the start/an earlier year. If you think you may wish to change course, we encourage you to contact a College admissions office for advice. You should also consider if/how changing course may affect any financial support arrangements.
Careers
Music graduates are extremely attractive to employers and can follow a career in a wide range of fields thanks to the transferable skills they acquire on our course. In recent years, graduates have pursued successful careers in publishing and the media, academia, arts administration, banking, law, public service and the charity sector.
Many of our students do enter the music profession in one guise or another. Recent graduates include pianist Tom Poster, Royal Harpist Anne Denholm, composer Cheryl Frances-Hoad, jazz musician Misha Mullov-Abbado, and record producer and audio engineer Myles Eastwood.
