News
King's Choir heads new BBC Easter schedule
King's Choir will play a key part in a new Easter schedule from the BBC. BBC TV will broadcast Easter at King's, an Easter service sung by the Choir and filmed in the Chapel. The BBC hope the service will prove as popular as Carols from King's, which is broadcast on Christmas Eve on BBC2 and viewed by over two million people.
Aaqil Ahmed, commissioning editor for religion at BBC TV, says: 'Hopefully it’s going to be a returner. We’ll see how people take to it.'
On the radio, BBC Radio 3 is broadcasting two concerts from King's over the Easter period. MacMillan's St John, also sung by the Choir, will be broadcast live on 2 April 2010 at 7pm. A concert of sacred music played by the Britten Sinfonia will be broadcast on 6 April. For details of these concerts and all the Easter concerts and services at King's see Easter at King's. For more information about the Choir see the Choir pages.
The new BBC schedule is a response to criticism of last Easter's schedule, which church leaders claimed had little religious content. Apart from the broadcasts from King's, the new schedule will also include two religious documentaries (details to be announced) and a special edition of Songs of Praise from the Holy Land. The BBC have not yet announced when Easter at King's will be shown.
Posted: 9 February 2010
Archive of the month: Secular illuminations
Miniature portrait of Henry VIII, 1539
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February's Archive of the month from the Archive Centre shows exquisite illuminations drawn and painted on secular manuscripts. The manuscripts date from between 1393 and 1781.
During this period English religious illumination declined and illuminators instead turned to decorating secular documents such as Royal Charters and exemplifications (attested copies of records).
The illuminations include scrollwork, floral patterns, crests and royal portraits. These portraits became common on royal documents from the 16th century onwards, and were the precursor to the genre of miniature portrait painting.
See Archive of the month.
Posted: 8 February 2010
New Music Society plays classics
The Cambridge University New Music Society plays a selection of twentieth century classics in the Chapel on 24 February. The programme includes Takemitsu's Requiem for Strings, Hindemith's Viola Sonata and Vivier's Lonely Child.
The Society will also play three new pieces by student composers, including King's music students Kate Whitley and Tom Kimber.
The concert starts at 8pm and tickets cost £12 unreserved (£5 student standby). Tickets are available from The Cambridge Corn Exchange box office, Wheeler Street, Cambridge (tel: 01223 357851).
For details see the concert flyer.
Posted: 2 February 2010
King's welcomes a new Director of Development
Julie Bressor has just started as the College’s new Director of Development.
Julie will work closely with the Provost, Fellows, Development Board, King’s Members and Friends to raise funds in support of the College. She will also work with the Development Office team to manage alumni relations, King’s Members programmes, the Friends of King’s and a variety of other special events and activities.
'I am delighted to be at King’s', said Julie. 'The King’s community is remarkably open and welcoming, and the development programme enjoys a strong base of support from King’s Members, Fellows and Friends.'
Julie is from Montpelier, Vermont, and comes to King’s from the University of Buckingham, where she served as Director of Development. Prior to her move to the UK, Julie was a Museum Director, Archivist and Special Collections Librarian and then worked in fundraising for twelve years at Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont. There she served as Legacy Giving Officer, Director of Development and Associate Vice-President for Development and Alumni Relations.
The Provost of King's, Ross Harrison, said, 'I am very pleased to have Julie working with and for us in this important position. She has already made an impact.'
Julie has been elected an Ordinary Fellow of the College. To contact her, please email development.director@kings.cam.ac.uk or phone +44 (0)1233 331313.
Julie succeeds Joelle du Lac, now Director of External Relations at the Judge Business School, Cambridge.
Posted: 2 February 2010
Bryn Terfel sings in the Chapel
International opera star Bryn Terfel sang in a charity concert in the Chapel on Monday 1 February. Bryn is renowned for his charismatic performing style and the extraordinary breadth of his work.
He was joined by King’s College Choir, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Cambridge University Music Society Chorus, and the men of King’s Voices (the College’s mixed choir). Stephen Cleobury will conduct.
The evening’s programme included Faure’s Requiem, welsh folk songs, Mozart’s aria Io ti lascio, and excerpts from Mendelssohn’s oratorio Elijah. In addition, the Philharmonia played Mozart’s Symphony no. 29 and King’s College Choir sung Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus.
Bryn Terfel meets the College Choir
Proceeds from the evening went to Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust and Friends of King's, which supports the Chapel and work of the College. In addition, a donation has been made to the Bryn Terfel Foundation which supports artists in the early stages of their career.
The concert was in memory of Margaret, Lady Thomas and Andrew O’Neill, made possible by the generosity of Sir John Meurig Thomas, former fellow of King's and Master of Peterhouse College.
Educational projects
The College organised two educational projects allied with the evening. On the morning of 1 February members of the Philharmonia Orchestra ran a workshop for children at Addenbrooke’s hospital. Music is shown to be beneficial to physical and mental health as well as providing an enjoyable and stimulating morning for children who are in hospital long term. John Lewis generously agreed to sponsor this work.
In the afternoon, 12 specially selected teenaged boy singers from around the county attended the rehearsal and had a chance to meet Bryn. These boys are already committed singers and we hope that this will be an inspiring afternoon for them.
Posted: 28 January 2010; updated 2 February 2010
New Bloomsbury papers at the Archives
Rosamond Lehmann in the Caribbean, 1933
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The Archive Centre has added to its already impressive collection of papers relating to the Bloomsbury Group. It has acquired and catalogued the letters of novelist Rosamond Lehmann (1901-1990) and the diaries and photo albums of writer Frances Partridge (1900-2004).
Both women were members of the Bloomsbury Group, the group of writers, artists and intellectuals who met informally and had a major impact on literature, art and politics in the 20th century.
The Rosamond Lehmann collection includes letters from Dora Carrington, EM Forster, Siegfried Sassoon, Virginia Woolf, and her lover Cecil Day Lewis.
Frances Partridge's papers include diaries recording her life with her Bloomsbury Group friends, and letters from Clive and Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant, John Maynard Keynes, Dadie Rylands and the Woolfs. The collection also includes 30 photograph albums, including four kept by Dora Carrington and Lytton Strachey. The photos give an intimate glimpse of Bloomsbury at play.
(Click images to enlarge)
The new acquisitions provide invaluable source material for students of art, literature, European history, and the life of of educated women in the twentieth century. Both Lehmann and Partridge attended Cambridge Colleges just after the First World War.
If you would like to look at any of the collections, please contact the College Archivist (archivist@kings.cam.ac.uk) or see the Archive Centre pages for opening hours and visitor information.
Posted: 25 January 2010
The Revd Ian Thompson 1959-2009
A memorial service of thanksgiving for the life of the Revd Ian Thompson, late Dean of King's College, will be held at 2.30pm on Saturday 13 February 2010 in King's College Chapel, followed by refreshments in Hall. All are welcome. No tickets are required.
Posted: 21 January 2010
Mark Pigott admitted as a Fellow Commoner
In a ceremony in the Chapel on 19 January the Provost admitted Mark Pigott as a Fellow Commoner of the College. Mr. Pigott is Chairman and CEO of PACCAR, a multinational technology company based in Seattle. Last year he established an innovative fund to support two scholarships a year for members of the College.
The Pigott Scholarships will support graduate students at King's who are studying for Masters degrees and were previously undergraduates at the College. The first scholarships will be awarded this year.
Details of the scholarships were announced in a previous news item.
Posted: 21 January 2010
Student Union launches a new website
The King's College Student Union (KCSU) has just launched a new website. The site was planned by the members of KCSU's Executive Committee and created by King's undergraduate Fred Brewin. It aims to make the life of students at the College easier, and gives information about sports, societies, health, as well as the names of KCSU committee members to contact for support in a range of problems, from accommodation issues to stress.
The website also gives College students a place to interact. There is a 'Marketplace' to buy and sell things, a discussion forum and a DVD borrowing service. Any student can add a story and contribute to the site. See the KCSU website.
King's graduate students already have their own website.
Posted: 14 January 2010
King's in the spotlight at the 800th Finale
A light show projected onto King's this weekend at the University of Cambridge's 800th Anniversary Finale. The show was designed by light artist Ross Ashton and projected onto the Gibbs' Building and the Chapel, as well as the University's Senate House and Old Schools buildings.
A year ago, the 800th Anniversary celebrations started with a light show about the University's past achievements. The light show for the Finale was bigger and used images from the transformative research happening now at the University. It also included a laser show in the First Court of the College.
The head of the 800th anniversary celebrations Geoff Morris said, 'Eight centuries of achievement have left Cambridge with plenty to celebrate, but the best way to bring the anniversary programme to a close is by looking forward to the next 800 years.'
The show ran 16 - 18 January (Saturday - Monday) and visitors followed a walk from Senate House Yard, down Senate House Passage and into King’s College to see all the show. See the route map for the Finale.
For more information about the other 800th celebrations that took place throughout 2009, see the 800th Anniversary website.
Click on an image below to enlarge it or to start a slideshow:
Posted: 11 January 2010
