Music
Caius is known as a musical College, with a lot to get involved in, both formally and informally. There's a very active music society, a music and instrumental awards scheme, a fine performance venue, a good set of practice rooms, and our very popular and regular jazz nights and open mic nights in the College bar. In addition, the College Choir is amongst the very finest in Cambridge and Oxford.
The Caius Musical Society is a student-led organisation, receiving a generous annual budget. It runs a variety of events, but the principal venture each term is the College Concert, conducted by one or more undergraduates, which is usually a large-scale choral and orchestral concert. A recent concert consisted of the Swan Lake Suite by Tchaikovsky, the Metamorphosen for 23 solo strings by Richard Strauss, the Welcome Ode by Britten and the Gloria by Vivaldi. The summer term concert, known as the May Week Concert, normally contains a more light-hearted programme or takes the form of a Show, such as The Threepenny Opera, or Guys and Dolls, with champagne and strawberries served in the interval. The Musical Society also organises many other musical events, most notably a regular series of lunchtime concerts on Saturdays and also a series of full-length concerts on Sunday evenings. All these concerts offer a useful platform for the best instrumentalists in College, and often feature some of the finest musicians from other Colleges. Other concerts take place in venues outside college, such as a selection of music by Ibert, Satie, Poulenc, Martinu and Milhaud recently performed at Emmanuel Church, entitled 'Divertissement'. In contrast to these serious events there are also informal concerts arranged from time to time, known as the Scales Club Concerts (founded in the late 19th century).
The College offers two types of Instrumental Award: a University Instrumental Award, as advertised in the University Prospectus, and a College Instrumental Award. Thus instrumentalists may either apply for the University scheme, which brings the benefit of first-rate coaching for chamber music, or for a College award, which involves a greater commitment to music-making within the College. Not all instruments are included in the University scheme, but the College awards are open to all kinds of instruments. Details of the University scheme are available here; details of the College awards are posted at the beginning of each academic year, and auditions are held at the beginning of November. The College also awards sums of money to individuals to help with specific tuition needs.
The College's Bateman Auditorium is a fine venue for music and other events. This venue acts as the regular home for the chamber music activities within the College, centred around the fine full-size concert Steinway piano (formerly owned by the pianist Clifford Curzon), and a 2-manual harpsichord by Mackinnon and Waitzmann, based on a French model dating from 1711.
The College has several practice pianos both in the old part of College and the main undergraduate block at Harvey Court, including both upright and grand pianos. The rooms containing practice pianos also serve as practice rooms for other instrumentalists and chamber groups. The Chapel organ obviously receives most use by the Organ Scholars, but is also available to any member of College for regular practice (see under Organ Scholarships for further details).
Besides the academic music section of the College Library, which contains a large selection of music scores and literature on music, the Library also houses two other types of music collections. The first is the Chamber and Vocal Music collection. This contains scores and parts for many chamber works, such as string quartets, and is available to all members of College. The vocal stock contains double copies of most volumes to allow for both singer and accompanist to have a copy. The second is a CD collection, containing a broad range of classical repertoire. Both collections are maintained by specific endowments and new purchases are made regularly, often at the suggestion of students.
Each year the College awards a number of prizes for music. Three funds exist for this purpose - the 'Compton Wills Fund', the 'Sir Rudolph Peters Fund' and the 'H. L. Perry Fund'. The prizes are given in recognition of any particular or cumulative contribution made by individuals towards the musical life of the College, but the Perry Prize is reserved for the finest instrumental performance in a College concert during the course of the year. The awards are normally in the region of £100. In addition, the 'J. N. Pickard Fund' exists to support any worthy musical undertaking by an undergraduate, which might include special tuition for a College recital.