We're lucky to have such an active Music Society (CCMS) at Christ's. Membership is free and open to all members of the College (you don't have to be studying Music or play an instrument to join).
The Music Society hosts a weekly Friday recital series and organises a variety of ensembles, all of which are open to students of any ability, including the non-auditioned choir Christ’s Voices, the College Orchestra, Chamber Music, Jazz, Pop and Folk Group.
College members are welcome to join the society, whether signing up to play or simply going to an event.
If you have questions about music at Christ's, please contact the CCMS president at chair@christsmusic.org.uk.
- Recitals and Masterclasses
- Ensembles
- Christ's College Choir
- Female Composers Festival
- University-wide Music Societies
Recitals and masterclasses
In the first two terms of the year (Michaelmas and Lent), CCMS has a Friday recital series which takes place at 6pm in either the College Chapel or the Bill Fitzgerald Music Room.
Students are welcome to take part in or attend the recitals, and there are normally a few masterclasses with visiting musicians each year too. The society arranges events to suit a range of interests and organises an annual Christmas Concert, the Charles Blackham Competition and other events. Previous events include Songs in the Key of Love and a Baroque concert.
For recitals and masterclasses, priority is given to students involved with CCMS, but professional musicians from all Cambridge Colleges and externally are also welcome.
In Easter term the society organises a series of fun "Squash o'clock" recitals on Fridays (with squash and biscuits). Students are encouraged to come along to these short recitals to get a break during exam revision, and this initiative has been very successful.
Students who are interested in giving a recital are encourage to contact concerts@christsmusic.org.uk, and you can find highlights of CCMS from Michaelmas term 2022 on youtube
Ensembles
Voices
Christ’s Voices is the college’s non-auditioned choir - everyone is welcome to sing, whether or not you have prior singing experience. The choir performs a range of repertoire, including musical theatre, film, pop, contemporary composers and more. Rehearsals are always relaxed and fun, so it's worth giving it a go!
Voices performs in recitals and other events accross the university, but the highlight is perhaps the CCMS Christmas concert held in the Chapel, where the group normally performs Christmas classics as well as carols, including some audience participation.
Contact voices@christsmusic.org.uk.
Orchestra
The Christ’s College Orchestra is a non-auditioned ensemble, open to instrumentalists of all abilities from across the university. Rehearsals are always relaxed and fun. They take place towards the middle-to-end of Michaelmas term in preparation for the Christmas Concert (collaborating with Christ's Voices) and similarly in Lent term for the end of term concert.
The orchestra has a wide repertoire, including, in recent years, extracts from Bizet’s Carmen Suite No.1, the Overture to Rossini’s Barber of Seville and Vaughan Williams’ English Folk Song Suite, as well as selections from popular film scores such as Pirates of the Caribbean and The Lord of the Rings.
The orchestra can also help musicians to set up smaller chamber groups and provides further opportunities for students to perform.
Contact: orchestra@christsmusic.org.uk
Jazz
Christ’s Jazz provides opportunities for students to get involved with small jazz ensembles, with performances at the Christ’s Week 5 Blues nights, held in Michaelmas and Lent terms in the Function Room. These are always very well attended events that provide a great opportunity to relax with cocktails and music.
The group is very relaxed, with no commitment to weekly rehearsals, and there are opportunities to form ensembles to play at garden parties and May Balls at the end of the academic year. Anyone from accross the university is welcome to join in, from seasoned professionals to first time improvisors.
Contact jazz@christsmusic.org.uk.
Pop
Christ’s Pop Group is a relaxed, fun and sociable group. It was set up in 2021 and the group gets together once a week to have a jam session and rehearse for various performances such as open mic nights in the Buttery. All instruments and abilities are welcome.
Contact pop@christs.cam.ac.uk.
Folk
Christ’s Folk Group runs informal folk nights where students share songs with each other, jam, and sit back and listen (with some tea and snacks!). There are a few performances scheduled throughout the year in spaces such as the Buttery for those who want to share their music, whether alone or in a group. Anyone is welcome to join Christ’s Folk Group - you do not have to perform.
Contact folk@christsmusic.org.
Christ's College Choir
Christ's College Choir is 
a mixed voice choir. You can apply for a Choral Award once you have an offer to study at Christ's, and there are auditions held at the beginning of each new academic year too.
Choral scholars at Christ's sing in services on Thursdays and Sundays, and attend a free formal dinner following each service they perform in. The choir goes on a three-week international tour each summer. Recent destinations include North America, Canada, Singapore, and New Zealand (the picture shows them singing at the Victoria Concert Hall in Singapore).
"When I get to choir I forget about everything outside and just focus on the music – it’s a real antidote to the manic Cambridge experience."
Female Composers Festival
The Cambridge Female Composers Festival is an annual celebration of music composed by women which runs from January to March. It was launched in 2019 by a committee including music students at Christ's. The festival includes recitals and Evensong services, comprised entirely of music composed by women, held in the Chapel at Christ's.
Laura and Claire, who both studied at Christ's, were co-chairs of the festival in its first year:
"Events like this, we hope, can quite literally change music history – both our perception of the past and the shaping of the future, in which women have and take up as many opportunities as men to compose. We want to help create a more inclusive musical world, where women and other minority groups have their voices heard and respected. We warmly invite you to engage with this festival in any way you can" - Laura and Claire
"It was great to hear some fantastic music that has been ignored until quite recently."
University-wide Music
Plenty of students also get involved in university music groups and societies. If you want to get involved in any of the university-wide music, the easiest thing to do is to go and talk to students at the relevant stand at the University Freshers' Fair, which takes place in the first week. There are lots of opportunities. Cambridge University Musical Society (CUMS) is the university-wide equivalent of Christ's College Music Society (CCMS), and organises a number of ensembles at university level, but there are many other groups too. The following list is not comprehensive but gives you a taste of the range of music students can get involved in:
- Cambridge University Brass Band
- Cambridge University Baroque Ensemble
- Cambridge University Ceilidh Band
- Cambridge University Chamber Choir
- Cambridge University Chamber Orchestra
- Cambridge University Chinese Orchestra
- Cambridge University Concert Band
- Cambridge University Flute Choir
- Cambridge University Folk Society
- Cambridge University Gamelan Society
- Cambridge University Gilbert and Sullivan Society
- Cambridge University Gospel Choir
- Cambridge University Hip Hop Collective
- Cambridge University Jazz Orchestra
- Cambridge University K-Pop Society (Korean pop)
- Cambridge University VetMed Music Society
- Cambridge University Musical Theatre
- Cambridge University New Music Group
- Cambridge University Opera
- Cambridge University Orchestra
- Cambridge University Outreach Choir
- Cambridge University Percussion Ensemble
- Cambridge University Philharmonic Orchestra
- Cambridge University Recorder Ensemble
- Cambridge University Samulnori (Korean percussion)
- Cambridge University Sea Shanty Society
- Cambridge University Show Choir
- Cambridge University Sinfonia
- Cambridge University Steelpan Society
- Cambridge University String Ensemble
- Cambridge University Symphony Chorus
- Cambridge University Symphony Orchestra
- Cambridge University Techno Society
- Cambridge University Trombone Ensemble
- Cambridge University Wind Orchestra
- Cadenza (close harmony a capella group)
- Notorious (all female a capella group)
- Vox Cantab (fundraising)
- Wren choir (vacation choir for those in Cambridge out of term)
