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I will miss hearing the psalms sung every night by Cambridge college choirs. The objects in the photo are not wash pots. Those are metallophones – gongs in the gamelan orchestra that has just performed in King’s College Chapel. This is a pretty rare sight so I had to snap the photo. This group was not as accomplished as my niece’s after school gamelan club ( yes, Ursula.) The piece was a premiere of Missa Gongso for choir and gamelan. The real problem is that you should really enjoy gamelan under the stars on a humid sweet-smelling night in Ubud,… Read More »Moab is my wash pot

One reason Cambridge is so peaceful is that students are not allowed to park a car within 5 miles of campus. That’s why there are thousands of bicycles in town. Students must live within 3 miles of Great St. Mary’s in the centre of town, so this is definitely not a commuter campus. You have to live here, so it’s easier to commit to the rowing team, the choir, the amateur dramatic society and to support your friends in their extra-curricular activities. Students are not allowed to work, so no part-time jobs on weekends. You’ll need that time for studying.… Read More »There are rules

There’s a lot of anxiety around campus about Lord Browne’s report which is going to attack the two most sacred elements of higher education. Money for research is going to be slashed, and tuition fees will go up. This is a shame since Cambridge is on top of the world for research right now, and any kid from a disadvantaged family can certainly get here if they have the marks. This will inevitably change. People are already talking about a “brain drain” to North America, and students who will be left in insurmountable debt. It’s not looking good. (P.S. Lord Browne’s… Read More »Cambridge conversations

Ely’s medieval lantern I handed off my Selwyn Service Magnificat today. Maybe I should have been able to write more than 4 minutes of music in three weeks? But there’s so much to look at. I went to Ely yesterday to see Sarah admitted to the Foundation of Ely Cathedral as Director of the Ely Cathedral Girls’ Choir. Then the choir sang Evensong for the feast of Saint Etheldreda and we processed down that huge nave in twilight with incense, singing the Patronal hymn for Etheldreda. It was a very medieval moment. There was a “drinks” reception in the Lady… Read More »3 weeks, 4 minutes

    Best coffee shop: Cristine’s along side Jet photo beside St. Bodolph Church. Pain aux chocolat baked fresh every morning, though her specialty is theme-decorated cakes for every occasion. Best museum shop: Fitzwilliam – beautiful christmas cards and lots of lovely art books. Best fish restaurant: Loch Fyne right across from the Fitz has fresh oysters, mussels, salmon from Scotland – you can take it away too. Best painted ceiling: Queen’s college dining hall. Best stone ceiling: King’s College Chapel. Best theatre: ADC Amateur dramatic club – going since the 19th century and you can take your drink to your seat.… Read More »Best of Cambridge

This was my last Sunday in Cambridge. Last night’s Bach cantata Evensong at St. John’s was absolutely packed. Chairs in the aisles, and still about 82 people standing in the narthex throughout the service. This would be a great thing for us to do in Toronto. My blind date lunch arranged by Renee turned out to be wonderful (of course.) My host’s spare time is spent as a “blue badge” Cambridge guide, so he took us for an insiders’ tour downtown. I attended Mass this morning at Little St. Mary’s (yes, Andrew) and then took a tour out to the… Read More »Bach Cantata. Real ale.

Official titles don’t always mean that much, but this one delivers very tangible (and edible) benefits. The governing body of Selwyn elected me a “Visiting Bye-Fellow”   and that means I can live here and have those tasty high table meals in Hall, and ultimately, take snuff. But seriously, it makes me feel part of the community and I’m very grateful to Sarah for making it all happen. Some rare music manuscripts are on display in one of the colleges.  They are the Peterhouse part books – hand written music which preserves compositions from the 16th century, and were used by choirs here… Read More »What did you call me?

    I was a guest at High Table at Selwyn tonight where I spoke to a Classics scholar about those Vindolanda tablets in the British museum. (He knew exactly what I was talking about.) Then a wine and cheese party for the chapel choir. You are wondering why I’ve posted this picture? I met a student who is from Abbey Town in the north-west of England (a village near Carlisle.) This is a building that survived dissolution by Henry VIII and bombing during WW II – but this 800 year old church succumbed to fire set by local kids… Read More »High Table

    Here’s the photo all my organ friends will want to see. I couldn’t take this during services, so I went on an official tour and was able to take lots of snaps of the interior of King’s. I’m adding new college choirs to my quiver every day, and will conduct Selwyn tonight. My new favourite museum is the Fitzwilliam. By mistake I found the original copy of the Fitzwilliam Virginal book. It’s in a glass case with a cover, quite unlabeled, and I would never have seen it had someone else not removed the cover of the case… Read More »Too much to tell

You might mistake this photo for sunny Italy with the vibrant market place and the Italian wine. With respect to Erasmus – you can find very nice French wine in Cambridge (though this particular bottle was not one.)  Some blog readers will remember Sarah MacDonald who visited SMM with her choir last month. I watched in awe as she entertained a group of visiting German church musicians, and I learned a lot about the inner workings of the college system. I’m to conduct the choir in Evensong on Tuesday (gulp) with one rehearsal. I’ve heard 4 college choirs now, King’s,… Read More »Cambridge or Calabria?