Music at Pembroke College, Cambridge
Organ Scholarships
The Organ Scholars at Pembroke work directly with the Director of Music, taking on responsibility for planning the music of the Chapel Services and for recruiting and training the Choir. The College sets considerable store on allowing the scholars the opportunity to shape the musical life of the Chapel, ensuring a degree of autonomy in making musical decisions and extensive experience in conducting.
Organ scholars are expected to attend all choral services, resulting in a commitment of three services a week. Sunday Eucharist is entirely the responsibility of the organ scholars, who put together a choir of volunteers, rehearse the music and conduct the service.
To find out more about applying, please get in touch with the Director of Music, Anna Lapwood, at arel2@cam.ac.uk.
The Organs
The Chapel has two organs. The main organ was provided by Charles Quarles in 1708, although there is a long-standing tradition that it was actually built by Bernard Smith. After many changes, it was rebuilt by N.P. Mander in 1980, using the old cases and some ranks of pipes to recreate an organ in historic style. When completed, this was for some time the only serious attempt made to recreate an early English church organ (as opposed to a chamber organ). It has generated a great deal of interest into this genre and has been the subject of considerable discussion.
The Chamber Organ was built by Bernard Aubertin and arrived in the College in 2008. The Chapel also houses a two-manual harpsichord, a gift from David (Galbraith) Woods to the College in 2016. It was built in 1976 by Anthony Holbrook in the French Style.
Click and drag below to enjoy the view from the organ loft, or to take a closer look at the main organ.