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Choral Exhibitioners

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INFORMATION FOR POTENTIAL CHORAL EXHIBITIONERS AND POSTGRADUATE LAY CLERKS

POSTGRADUATE LAY CLERKS - FOR TENORS, BARITONES, AND BASSES ONLY IN 2022-2023

We are delighted to announce new positions for the academical year 2022-23. Post-graduate Lay Clerks must be following an official postgraduate degree at either Cambridge (any college) or at Anglia Ruskin. Both full- and part-time students are eligible. Four positions are available (two each of tenor/bass), for one year in the first instance. These are generously remunerated at £1500 per year; free weekly singing lessons are provided free of charge. An application form can be found here, and further information is available by contacting Sarah MacDonald on seam100.


CHORAL EXHIBITIONS (SELWYN STUDENTS)

Choral Exhibitioners are appointed by the College Council for three years, through the Inter-Collegiate Awards Scheme, and are expected to give a full commitment to the choir. They are also encouraged to participate in music in the college in general (many Choral Exhibitioners are on the committee of the College Music Society, for example). All Selwyn and Newnham academic offer-holders will be invited to apply for a choral award. The deadline for applying is 15 February each year, and auditions for offer-holders take place after the end of the Lent Term (March). Further information on applying and an online application form are available from the University Undergraduate Admissions Prospectus.

As well as an annual financial stipend, all Choral Exhibitioners receive free singing lessons each week, which can be taken with any of the University’s fine visiting teachers. Most Selwyn choir members study with Anita Morrison, Stuart MacIntyre, and Bradley Smith; additional vocal coaching is also offered every term. Various other teachers visit Cambridge regularly, and choir members may study with them if they wish. The annual music lesson subsidy can also be used towards instrumental and Alexander Technique lessons. Choral Exhibitioners reading Music will be given a piano in their room, and an increased lesson budget to allow for lessons on more than one instrument.

CHORAL EXHIBITIONS (NEWNHAM STUDENTS)

Newnham College Choral Exhibitions are held in Selwyn College Chapel Choir. The Colleges share the Chapel and the Chaplain, and there is a long tradition of Newnham women singing in Selwyn Chapel Choir. Newnham Choral Awards are tenable for three years, and there are normally between six and eight Newnham Choral Scholars in the choir at any one time. The Award is equivalent in financial value to that at Selwyn, and the application procedure is the same as for Selwyn students, and when space permits, auditions for Newnham students already in residence are held during the first week of the Michaelmas Term, and awards are made by the College Council on the recommendation of the Director of Music at Selwyn. Newnham Choral Exhibitioners are expected to play a leading role in music-making at Newnham as well.


WHERE NEXT FOR CHORAL AND ORGAN SCHOLARS

Alumni Choral and Organ Scholars have gone on to various careers, both musical and non-musical. Former members of the choir include singers in Stile Antico, Exaudi, the Holst Singers, as well as lay-clerks and assistant organists in many cathedral choirs, including the first ever women layclerks at Peterborough and Derby Cathedrals. Others are instrumentalists, chamber and orchestral players, conductors, and well-known BBC presenters. Even those who do not pursue music as a career continue to sing in serious choirs, inspired by their experience as members of Selwyn choir.

Choir