Officers of CUMS
Links to Committee Members
- President and Vice Presidents
- Chair and Vice-Chair
- Chorus Director
- Secretary
- Senior Treasurer
- Treasurer
- Ensemble Conductors
- Orchestra Manager
- Chorus Manager
- Instrument Manager
- Librarian
- Publicity Secretary
- Webmaster
- Faculty of Music Representative
- Student Ensemble Representatives
- Development Committee
- Recruitment and Fund-Raising
- Co-opted Members
The President and Vice-Presidents
The President and Vice-Presidents support, advise and assist the running of the Society, but are not involved in its day-to-day administration.
Vice Presidents
Mr Richard Andrewes - Head of Cambridge University Library Music Department
Professor Sir John Meurig-Thomas - Former Master of Peterhouse
Sir David Willcocks - Formerly Conductor of CUMS, Director of Music at King's College and Director of the Royal College of Music.
The CUMS Committee
Members of CUMS are encouraged to get in touch with members of the Committee with any ideas, suggestions, concerns or positive feedback they may have. Please feel free to contact any of us using the email addresses below.
Executive Officers
Simon Fairclough
CUMS Chairman
Simon studied law and music at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he was a choral scholar. After periods with the vocal division at Hazard Chase, an artist management agency representing a roster of major international clients, and as General Manager of the Norwich-based Chamber Orchestra Anglia, Simon joined the Academy of Ancient Music as Marketing and Development Manager.
He succeeded Tim Brown as Chairman of CUMS in 2005, and is delighted to retain an active involvement in Cambridge music-making.
Contact email: Simon Fairclough (snf25@cam.ac.uk)
Jo Whitehead
CUMS Vice Chairman
Jo was born and raised in Cambridge and went to Emmanuel college where he was (briefly) in the chapel choir. After an MBA at Harvard Business School Jo has spent the last twenty years in management consulting, as a Vice President and Director of the Boston Consulting Group. He has joined the committee to assist in identifying and addressing strategic issues facing The Society. Jo is a keen member of the chorus.
Contact email: Jo Whitehead (Jo.Whitehead@ashridge.org.uk)
Stephen Cleobury
Principal Conductor, Chorus
Stephen Cleobury has been Conductor of CUMS since 1983, and is a musician of international renown. Stephen is Director of Music at King's College, Cambridge, Chief Conductor of the BBC Singers, Visiting Professor at the Royal College of Music, and is a past President of the Royal College of Organists. In the course of his freelance work, he has conducted many of the leading professional orchestras in the UK and elsewhere. He follows in the distinguished footsteps of Sir Charles Stanford, Boris Ord, Sir David Willcocks and Sir Philip Ledger, but is now the longest serving Conductor in The Society's history.
Under Stephen's direction, the orchestra has recently performed such works as Verdi's Requiem, Rachmaninov's The Bells, Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique, Elgar's Violin Concerto, Mahler's Symphony no. 2, Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra, Mahler's Symphony no. 8, Berlioz' Grande Messe des Morts, Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony and Beethoven's Egmont overture. Stephen has also led the Chorus through challenging, contemporary works such as Ferguson's The Dream of the Rood, Holloway's The Spacious Firmament, Simon Smith's Still and an "Opera Gala" which was one of a number of very successful concerts recorded live for CD.
Chris Ford
CUMS Senior Treasurer
Chris Ford is a Reader in Quantum Electronics at the Cavendish Laboratory (Department of Physics) and Fellow of Girton College. He joined the Chorus in 1983 as a bass, eventually progressing to tenor (after a year spent working in the USA after his PhD and singing in the Taghkanic Chorale). He also sang in Pembroke Chapel Choir for about ten years.
Contact email: Chris Ford (cjbf@cam.ac.uk)
Nicholas Shaw
CUMS Treasurer
Contact email: Nicholas Shaw (NickMShaw@aol.com)
Ensemble Conductors
Caroline Goulder
Chorus Manager
Simon Smart
CUMS Instrument Manager
07887 812841
01223 508587
Contact email: Simon Smart (timpani-manager@srcf.ucam.org)
Maggie Heywood
CUMS Librarian
Chloe Davidson
CUMS Secretary
Contact email: Chloe Davidson (secretary@cums.org.uk)
Chloe Davidson
CUMS Secretary
Contact email: Chloe Davidson (secretary@cums.org.uk)
Martin Ennis
CUMS Faculty Representative
Contact email: Martin Ennis (mwe20@cam.ac.uk)
CUMS Development Committee
Nigel Brown OBE
Sarah Chambre
David Charters
Simon Fairclough
Andy Swarbrick (Chairman)
Recruitment and fund-raising
Michael Sharp
CUMS Fund-Raising
Contact email: Michael Sharp (msharp@cambridge.org)
Co-opted Committee Members
John Barber
CUMS Co-opted Committee Member
John Barber is a Fellow and Director of Development of King's College, and Senior Lecturer in the Social and Political Sciences Faculty. Russian history and politics, music and literature feature prominently in his work and interests, and he spends as much time in St Petersburg as work permits. He sings Bass in CUMS Chorus.
Contact email: John Barber (jdb6@cam.ac.uk)