Music at Pembroke College, Cambridge
WHO'S WHO
LUKE FITZGERALD
DIRECTOR OF MUSIC
Luke joined Pembroke as Director of Music in Summer 2025 from Coventry Cathedral, where he worked as Assistant Director and Acting Director of Music (Maternity Cover).
Luke joined Coventry Cathedral as Assistant Director of Music in Easter 2021, working closely with Rachel Mahon during a busy period in the Cathedral’s life, which included Coventry’s year as City of Culture, the Cathedral’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
Coventry Cathedral has two choirs, the Cathedral Choir (with two treble lines of boy and girl choristers) and a Chamber Choir. Luke has accompanied the Cathedral Choir for BBC Television and Radio broadcasts, and has led the choirs on a number of tours including most recently to Romania. He is also the Assistant Conductor of Coventry Cathedral Chorus.
Prior to joining Coventry Cathedral as Assistant Director of Music in Easter 2021, Luke held organ posts at Gonville and Caius, Trinity and Jesus Colleges. He holds BA and MPhil degrees in Music from the University of Cambridge.
He has wide-ranging musical interests, with a background in innovative programming of music from across centuries, disciplines and continents. He has particular expertise in Opera, Baroque and Contemporary Classical music, with more recent opportunities at Coventry to explore new choral music by a range of composers worldwide, including from Nigeria and South Africa.
‘We are thrilled to welcome Luke Fitzgerald as the new Director of Music’ said Professor Sam Barrett, Pembroke’s Director of Studies in Music. ‘He arrives at an exciting time for music at Pembroke with new possibilities afforded by the opening of the Auditorium and our choirs riding high on the back of recent high-profile recordings, media appearances and concerts. Luke brings a wealth of experience and a compelling vision for developing music across all aspects of college life. We look forward to supporting him as he seeks to build on Pembroke’s reputation for musical excellence and open-minded musicianship.’
DR SAM BARRETT - DIRECTOR OF STUDIES
Dr Barrett is Reader in Early Medieval Music and Fellow, Tutor and Director of Studies in Music at Pembroke College. He is a specialist in early medieval music, with a particular interest in Latin song and issues in notation, transmission and performance. He also researches and teaches jazz and related genres of popular music.
JOSEPH MIDDLETON - COLLEGE MUSICIAN
Pianist Joseph Middleton is the College Musician at Pembroke. He assists Anna, Sam and the PCMS in the furthering of musical activities within the College and curates and plays for the College's highly regarded song recitals. He graduated from the University of Birmingham with an Mphil in Performance Practice and studied piano at the Royal Academy of Music, where he is now a Professor. He is also Director of Leeds Lieder. Joseph performs and records in the world's major music centres including London's Wigmore Hall and Royal Festival Hall, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, Vienna's Konzerthaus, New York's Lincoln Centre and at the Aix-en-Provence, Aldeburgh, BBC Proms, Brighton, Edinburgh, Ravinia, Toronto and Vancouver Festivals. He records and programmes recitals frequently for the BBC and has a fast growing and critically acclaimed discography.
Dr Kim Ashton - Teaching Associate
Dr Kim Ashton is a Teaching Associate in Music at Pembroke College. He has an active career as a professional composer and lectures in 20th-century analysis at the Faculty of Music. He provides small-group and individual supervision at Pembroke in the areas of composition, analysis, 20th-century music history, and harmony & counterpoint.