Cambridge University Chamber Choir aims to provide the best student singers with the opportunity to perform, to the highest possible standard, repertoire that is not usually undertaken by Cambridge chapel choirs. Directed by Martin Ennis, with associate conductors David Lowe and Nicholas Mulroy, it typically undertakes three or four projects a year.
2022-23 highlights include Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music, Schütz’s Musikalische Exequien directed by Robert Hollingworth, and Bach with Nicholas Mulroy and Margaret Faultless
Cambridge University Chamber Choir is a Centre for Music Performance ensemble run in partnership with the Cambridge University Musical Society.
The Chamber Choir offers fantastic opportunities to singers who are looking to work in a friendly but demanding environment. By choosing a complex and diverse range of repertoire, the ensemble takes the university’s best choral singers and helps them achieve standards that exceed their expectations.
CUCC often places an emphasis on secular music rather than sacred, and it often foregrounds repertoire that allows singers to appear as soloists or in small groups. However, the choir also performs on a regular basis with groups such as Cambridge University Orchestra and the Collegium Musicum (a period-instrument ensemble directed by Margaret Faultless). CUCC members are also frequently offered opportunities to take part in projects involving multiple choirs.
The chamber choir is a fantastic opportunity for experienced singers who are looking to work in a more intimate environment or on a project basis. Recent highlights have included participation in an international festival of sacred music in Yale, collaborations with the Cambridge University Orchestra in works by Vaughan Williams, Nielsen, Stravinsky and Brahms, pioneering performances of Venetian polychoral music, a semi-staged performance of Handel’s Acis and Galatea, and participation in The Cardinall’s Musick’s 25th-anniversary performance of Tallis’ Spem in Alium.
For more information on the choir, please contact Lizzie Hale.
Auditions for the Cambridge University Chamber Choir were held on 4, 5, 10, and 14 October 2022. Auditions are carried out by the CUCC Musical Director, Martin Ennis, and Co-Director, David Lowe, and held at Downing College. Singers who are new to the CUCC are asked to provide a reference from a Director of Music or singing teacher. Audition applications have now closed, but if you would like to register interest in joining, please email info@cmp.cam.ac.uk.
Standard audition format for CUCC:
- Prepare a short 3-5 minute solo (accompanist provided)
- Sight reading
- Ear tests
- Vocal exercises (such as scales etc)
Auditions will be approximately 15 minutes long.
Successful candidates will have the ability to read music well and hold their own in an ensemble.
Please direct any queries to Lizzie Hale.
CUCC performs a wide variety of repertoire. 2022-23 highlights include Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music, Schütz’s Musikalische Exequien directed by Robert Hollingworth, and Bach with Nicholas Mulroy and Margaret Faultless
Highlights from the 2021-22 season included pieces by Britten, Striggio, Gabrieli, Bach, Purcell, and Tallis' Spem in alium.
This ensemble has its own student committee, which runs the ensemble’s rehearsals, concerts and social events. They are supported by a team of industry professionals at the Centre for Music Performance. If you would like to get in touch or have a suggestion about the ensemble, the Ensemble President, Benedict Randall Shaw, is a good place to start. The full committee will be announced shortly.
