Selwyn Alternative Prospectus

Music
“There are usually three or four music students (or ‘musos’) in a year at
Selwyn, and in your first year all of you live together on the same floor, as
you are given large ground-floor rooms with a piano in. This unique
room requirement has the added benefit of being able to skip the room
ballot system for next year’s accommodation, as you get to pick a ground
floor room (in D or E staircase, right next to the library) in Old Court for
the next two years (although you can choose to live elsewhere, if you
like!).
One of the main benefits of
studying music at Selwyn is its
close proximity to the music
faculty, which is only a threeminute
walk away from your
room: with the earliest lectures
beginning at 9:30am, you never
have to get up very early at all!
Music at Selwyn is a very social
subject: at the start of every year we all meet up for tea and cakes, along
with all the fellows (all of whom are incredibly friendly), and after exams
our Director of Studies takes us all on our annual punting trip to
Grantchester meadows for a picnic! The third years normally arrange for
all the undergraduate musos to meet for a formal at some point in
Michaelmas (first) term as well.
Aside from their degree, musos here are given the opportunity to run the
college music society (SCMS) in their second year, providing a brilliant
taster of arts administration, and enabling you to organise a weekly recital
series, plus the occasional (usually one a term) larger orchestral concert.
Recent highlights have included a performance of Vaughan Williams’
opera, Riders to the Sea, and the launch of the Female Composers’
Festival, in which we managed to fit around 80 performers into chapel!
48
Many music students also choose to sing in the chapel choir: this is a big
commitment, but immensely rewarding, with the opportunity to go on
heavily subsidised tours (most recently to the east coast of the US),
professionally record CDs, and sing alongside other very talented
performers.” - James