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Best Oxford college for extra-curricular music?

I am a grade 8 violinist looking to study a non-music course at Oxford, and was just wondering which college is best in terms of range of ensembles to join.

I also have a passion for musical theatre and would love to get involved playing in pit bands
- how much of this happens? Also, how much is determined by colleges - eg Queen’s put on a garden musical each year, is this only Queen’s students or is it open to all and could you join another college’s orchestra?
Hiya!

Fab that you hope to continue music-making at Oxford. The great thing about Oxford is that everything works at 2 levels: uni-wide and college-level. Even if it's a particular college putting on a musical, you can certainly join in (though you might need to get your skills/name known first, if you're a non-music student, as musos tend to ask favours from coursemates, etc.). I was there from 2007-2010 (as a music student at Worcester) and when Pembroke put on a production of Kiss Me Kate, I was asked to play violin for that. I was also a regular member of the Merton College orchestra, despite not being at Merton, joining them for their termly orchestral concerts (and occasionally their choir at last minute too :eek: ).

I think opera is more common than musicals at Oxford but the great thing is that if your college isn't doing anything, it's fairly easy for you to organise your own ventures and seek support from the college music society :biggrin:

Shameless plug for Worcester College, which is known for its extra-curriculars (sports, drama and music in particular) in general :ninja: Generally speaking the bigger the college, the bigger their music society - especially if they are a choral foundation (so New, Christ Church and Magdalen. Though being a choral foundation, they're a bit more traditional on the music front (i.e. operas as opposed to musical theatre.)) Merton has a very thriving music society these days, I hear :yep:

Tagging @OxMus as they'll be able to fill you in with the most up-to-date info possible :biggrin:
Reply 2
Original post by caitshaw
I am a grade 8 violinist looking to study a non-music course at Oxford, and was just wondering which college is best in terms of range of ensembles to join.

I also have a passion for musical theatre and would love to get involved playing in pit bands
- how much of this happens? Also, how much is determined by colleges - eg Queen’s put on a garden musical each year, is this only Queen’s students or is it open to all and could you join another college’s orchestra?

Hello. Thanks to @The_Lonely_Goatherd for the @.

You'd be able to participate in virtually any musical pursuit regardless of your college. College music societies generally welcome students from all colleges for their stuff.

Yep, Queen's has a garden musical each year (although not this year or last) which has been cast and directed variously by non-Queen's students, although organised by the Eglesfield Musical Society (EMS, Queen's music soc.)

I know that a lot of the musos at St. Anne's do music theatre, so I'd consider that? The music societies at Queen's, Merton, and Hertford are also very strong (to name a few).

I'm afraid I don't have a great deal of specific knowledge re which college music socs offer what, but they should all have websites/social media presence for you to look at. Actually, all of them will have significant social media presence since that's literally all they're able to do atm!

E.g. here is EMS:
https://www.eglesfieldmusic.org.
https://www.facebook.com/EglesfieldMusic
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwb-XRiF1aFsre9Kf1zroKg/videos

But, as I say, music theatre/opera etc. usually takes place at the university level. Hope this helps.
Reply 3
Original post by OxMus
I know that a lot of the musos at St. Anne's do music theatre, so I'd consider that? The music societies at Queen's, Merton, and Hertford are also very strong (to name a few).

Thank you so much for that - that’s more reassuring knowing its very flexible. Anne’s is one of my favourites at the minute, so that’s nice to hear - I don’t suppose you know whether they have a college orchestra?
Reply 4
Original post by caitshaw
Thank you so much for that - that’s more reassuring knowing its very flexible. Anne’s is one of my favourites at the minute, so that’s nice to hear - I don’t suppose you know whether they have a college orchestra?

Not currently, but one of the second year musicians is setting it up this term.

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