Cambridge, shaken, starts new vocal course

Rattled by the dismemberment of St John’s Voices at St John’s College, the University of Cambridge has created and inter-collegial Choral
Foundation Scheme – ‘a one-year training programme which will equip students who have had limited access to musical opportunity… with the skills and experience required to join a college choir’.

Here’s the blurb:
Participants will develop their singing technique and musicianship through weekly rehearsals and free fortnightly one-to-one singing lessons, and they will sing twice-termly services of Choral Evensong or Compline alongside college choirs. In 2024-25 the scheme will be co-directed by Louisa Denby, Director of Music at Downing College and St Edmund’s College, and James Potter, Precentor and Director of Music at MagdaleneCollege.

It is hoped that the scheme will provide a pathway for enthusiastic singers who wish to go on to sing in college choirs to develop the experience and skills necessary to do so. Centre for Music Performance Director Simon Fairclough commented “Cambridge has a thriving tradition of excellence in choral music, with most colleges maintaining professionally-led college choirs. But the great majority of students arrive at the University without having had the opportunity to experience this sort of singing earlier in life. We are thrilled to open the world of choral singing to a wider range of students through the launch of this new scheme.”

Louisa Denby added “This is an amazing opportunity for students who have not had access to musical education. Singing in a choir is such a good thing for anyone to do, and I’m so pleased that the Scheme has finally come to fruition and we can offer this as part of the University experience.” The Choral Foundation Scheme has been fully funded for 2024-25 thanks to generous philanthropic support from John Osborn CBE.