College bulletin: 17 November
This week in the Communications Office we’ve been unsuccessful in our attempts to get Glastonbury coach tickets and we are pinning our hopes on the general sale on Sunday – please have a long lie-in if you are also registered. To pass the time until then, we will be rummaging for treasure at the second College Swish event in Hall tomorrow and plan to arrive promptly at 11am so we can have first dibs on all the free clothes.
College news
Floating factories of artificial leaves could make green fuel for jets and ships
The pioneering work of Cambridge University scientists, including two Fellows of St John’s, has been spotlighted in The Observer.
Professor Erwin Reisner’s research group, which includes fellow St John’s academic Dr Virgil Andrei, has developed artificial leaves to ‘defossilise’ the economy using sunlight, water and carbon dioxide.
Solar-powered device produces clean water and clean fuel at the same time
Scientists from the Reisner Lab have developed a new floating solar device that can turn polluted or sea water into clean water and green hydrogen fuel.
The device could be a ‘game-changer’ in the bid to build a sustainable and healthier future, says Professor Erwin Reisner.
Tours of new Porters’ Lodge take off
The Capital Projects team welcomed nearly 100 students, Fellows and staff on drop-in tours of the College’s new Porters’ Lodge and staff offices yesterday.
The IT Department relocated to the two Grade-II-listed buildings on Northampton Street this week, which are part of the College’s Masterplan to improve and manage access to St John’s from the west of the site. Finance is due to move in soon and the Porters’ Lodge is expected to be in operational use by Lent Term.
Anybody who was unable to visit can view the premises online on this 3D virtual tour.
Chance to give 2024 May Ball the wow factor
Calling all artistic students – you have until midnight tomorrow to apply to help create the decorations and scenes for St John’s May Ball and get free entry to the biggest and best party of the year.
The May Ball Committee is looking for undergraduate and postgraduate students to join the Subscene and Centrepiece Committees. They are the teams that make the Ball’s decorative features and also help with set up and clear up. Members of Centrepiece create the bigger props so some experience of engineering and/or woodwork is preferable for that Committee.
There is little commitment until May Week when the decorations are made. As well as a free ticket to the Ball, perks include Committee socials throughout the year. These opportunities are open to all Cambridge students so St John’s members can invite friends at other Colleges to apply with them.
For more information, email K-M and Marina. The application deadline is 11.59pm tomorrow (18 November).
Full details and application form
Café service to close for morning maintenance
Caffeine drinkers who can’t wait for their morning cuppa will be provided with complimentary filter coffee on Thursday 23November when the Café food and drinks counter shuts for maintenance.
The Café is expected to reopen for service at around 1pm after undergoing its annual check, which is a compulsory part of the Catering Department’s legal compliance.
Choral recording makes shortlist in music awards
St John’s Voices has been nominated in the sacred choral category of the International Classical Music Awards 2024 for its latest album, a recording of music by Pavel Chesnokov.
The album also features the choir’s Director, Graham Walker, and Cambridge University Chamber Choir. The finalists will be revealed on 11 December and the winners announced on 18 January 2024.
Sunshine brings out volunteers for bulb planting
Blue, sunny skies saw volunteers from across the College community and beyond help the Gardens team plant an estimated 4,500 spring bulbs last Saturday.
Undergraduates and postgraduates, including members of the May Ball Committee, got stuck into the planting along with the Master, Heather Hancock, and her son, alumni and even some of Head Gardener David Austrin’s neighbours.
The Gardens team is now about halfway through planting the 57,120 bulbs bought for the display, which will burst into colour in spring.
Thanking all the volunteers, David said: “If anyone would still like to help they are still more than welcome to join us. We’ll be out on the lime Avenue planting bulbs most days – apart from weekends – until the end of the November.”
Photo credit: David Austrin
New album out today by group started at St John’s
A salsa album has been released today by Classico Latino, a musical ensemble formed at St John’s.
Salsa Classics is the group’s sixth recording and is a homage to Colombian salsa pioneer Fruko. Featuring Fruko himself playing bass, it offers new instrumental arrangements by Graham Walker, who is also Director of St John’s Voices.
Classico Latino was formed at St John’s by cellist Graham along with Colombian pianist Ivan Guevara and gave its first performance in the Master’s Lodge in 1998.
Tails of the unexpected
A stuffed mouse that escaped into the Chapel has been reunited with its young owner after its plight was highlighted in the College Bulletin.
The lost toy, which belongs to a chorister’s sibling, was collected from the safe care of the Porters and is now at home recovering from its adventures.
What’s on
Chapel
Student Communion – Sunday 19 November, 8.30am
Gather in the small chapel in the Ante-Chapel for a half-hour service of Holy Communion (aka the Eucharist) with sermon, then go to Hall for cooked breakfast (which is subsidised). This appeals to a real cross-section of the student community.
Organ recital – Sunday 19 November, 6pm
James Orford (St Paul’s Church, Knightsbridge) will be performing works by Bach and Hough.
Open to all, admission free.
Sunday Evensong with sermon – Sunday 12 November, 6.30pm
This term’s sermon series is Who do you say that I am? Different preachers are offering their own perspective on Jesus Christ: how they understand him, what he means today and what we might learn from what we know of Jesus and how he has been portrayed in the last two millennia. This evening The Rev’d Alice Jolley, Team Vicar, Langelei, will be preaching on Jesus the Feminist.
Farewell Evensong for The Rev’d Dr Mark Oakley – Thursday 23 November, 6.30pm
Advent Carol Services – Saturday 25 November, 6pm & Sunday 26 November, 3pm
Applications for tickets are closed.
Christmas concert – Friday 1 December, 6.30pm
A 50-minute concert of music for the Christmas Season sung by the College Choir and directed by Christopher Gray. Festive favourites including The Lamb, Sussex Carol and O Holy Night alongside the Three Carol-Anthems by Howells and works by Sweelinck, Victoria and Mendelssohn.
Not suitable for under-fives. Tickets £12 front of Chapel, £8 rear of Chapel, £5 Ante-Chapel (unsighted). Please note seating is unreserved. Tickets are selling fast and are on sale from the ADC Theatre Box Office and online (or use QR code below).
Mozart’s Requiem – Saturday 2 December, 7.30pm
St John’s Voices is joined by professional orchestra the London Mozart Players in a performance of Mozart’s ever-popular Requiem, alongside his motet Ave Verum Corpus and his exciting solo cantata Exsultate Jubilate. Soloists are drawn from the Choir.
Open to all, tickets from £5-£25, all seating is unreserved. Purchase tickets
For all other regular services, see the Chapel webpage.
The Chapel team is always keen to hear from more volunteers to read in services or assist in other ways: please contact Andrew.
Other events
‘Swish’ clothes swap event – Saturday 18 November, 10.30am, then 11am-noon
Hall.
St John’s College is holding its second ‘Swish’, a clothes swap party that helps you to refresh your wardrobe while going easy on the planet. Doors open at 10.30am for participants to bring their clothes to swap before the ‘swish’ starts at 11am.
Clothes can also be donated in advance, just drop them off in Forecourt Lodge. If you would like to volunteer to help on the day of the Swish, email Professor Jane Heal.
Open to all College members and their guests. Admission free.
Drop-in dissertation support group – Monday 20 November, 2.30-4pm
Library Seminar Room.
Weekly group run during term by Harriet Edwards, Library Graduate Trainee, offering an informal setting for students to work on their dissertations and other pieces of coursework alongside other students going through the same thing.
There is support, encouragement and the opportunity to ask questions about study skills such as researching, referencing and time management. The group is mostly for undergraduate students but postgraduates are also welcome if they think it would be helpful.
Email Harriet if you have any questions.
Short Book Club for postgraduates, English Faculty and College staff – Monday 20 November, 5.45pm
Merton Hall Cottage (behind the School of Pythagoras).
Join Vona Groarke, St John’s Writer-in-Residence, to discuss this month’s book, Gwendoline Riley's 2021 My Phantoms. This short novel is about a difficult mother-daughter relationship, reviewed in The Guardian as ‘a devastating, quietly brutal... bitterly funny novel’; in The Times as a ‘riveting, merciless little novel’.
Newcomers welcome. Refreshments available. If you are interested in attending, email Vona.
Physics for Everyone: Elementary Particles – Successes and Incompleteness of the Standard Model – Monday 20 November, 6pm
Boys Smith Room, Fisher Building.
The penultimate lecture in a series of eight by Fellow Prof Nick Manton, giving an overview of the world of physics for everyone at St John’s. Physics investigates the observable phenomena in our Universe, from the very large to the very small. Elegant theories have emerged, accurately describing a broad range of these phenomena. These lectures cover the key concepts of space, time, particles, matter, energy, forces and fields.
Open to College members and their guests. Admission free, no booking required.
St John's Linguistics Society talk: How do Syntax Trees Develop? Insights from Multilingual Child Data and ‘Categorial Granularity – Monday 20 November, 6pm
Teaching Room 2, Old Divinity School.
Núria Bosch, St John’s’ PhD student, will give a talk on her recent MPhil thesis and will discuss her findings and their implications for theories of child language acquisition. The talk is aimed at anybody interested in language acquisition, regardless of your level of experience with the topic.
Open to all College members and their guests, admission free, no booking required.
St John’s Christian Union ‘message-a-mince-pie’ – Monday 20 November, from 8pm
Your College room.
St John’s Christian Union is organising its yearly ‘message-a-mince-pie’. If you have any questions about faith, Christianity or life itself, you find yourself looking for more from life, or you simply want to talk, then a Union member will knock on your door with a warm mince pie to have a friendly half-hour chat.
To arrange, please complete the form with any questions you may have, your address and your time availability. For further information email Nanya or Ffion.
College Bar quiz – Monday 20 November, 8.30pm
Bar.
Open to all, admission free.
Aquila rehearsal – Tuesday 21 November, 5.15-6.45pm
New Music Room.
Aquila is a friendly a cappella singing group for female and non-binary students, Fellows and staff, led by Music Director Dr Chloe Allison. It welcomes new members – no audition is necessary, simply drop in to one of its weekly Tuesday evening rehearsals to try before joining.
For more information and events, visit Aquila’s Facebook or Instagram @johnsaquila
Upper Library opening – Wednesday 22 November, 2-4pm
Enter via E staircase, Second Court.
Open every Wednesday afternoon in term time, view manuscripts and rare printed books from the collections in the Upper Library. Requests for material to be exhibited can be emailed to Special Collections and they will do their best to accommodate these during the term.
Open to College members and their guests. Admission free, no booking required.
Quantitative Pub Quiz – Wednesday 22 November, 7-9pm
The Grain & Hope Store (next to Parker’s Piece).
Join St John’s members of the Polish Society for this pub quiz aimed at riddle and puzzle enthusiasts. There will be estimation games, fermi problems and logical riddles.
Sign up as a team, or go along individually and join an existing team. Drinks and prizes provided. Sponsored by G-Research, the event is free and open to all students, including non-members of the society.
Dramatisation: Bérénice (1670) – Wednesday 22 November, 7.30pm
Main Lecture Theatre, Old Divinity School.
A true-life story of royal love and renunciation in 1st-century Rome, brought to life at the 17th-century royal court of Versailles by one of the greatest tragedians, Jean Racine, in one of his best-loved dramas.
Directed by Prof Patrick Boyde, Emeritus Professor of Italian and Fellow of St John’s, this is an abridged, semi-staged performance in the original French. With English subtitles, images, and incidental music by Chopin.
Open to College postgraduate students, Fellows, Visiting Fellows and their guests as part of this term’s Sans Frontières events programme.
Admission free, booking required. Places are fully booked for Wednesday’s performance but a second performance is now taking place on Thursday 23 November at 9am – see below.
Pantomime: Dick Whittington and his Cat – Wednesday 22 November to Saturday 2 December, 7.45pm, plus matinees
ADC Theatre.
St John’s student Isabella Bottle has designed and painted the set for this year’s Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club and Cambridge Footlights’ pantomime. Follow Dick Whittington as he journeys to London to find success where the streets are allegedly paved with gold.
Matinees are on Saturday 25 November, Sunday 26 November, Tuesday 28 November, Thursday 30 November and Saturday 2 December.
Suitable for all ages. Tickets: Tue-Thu, £13.50-£17.50; Fri- Sat, £15.50-£19.50.
Dramatisation: Bérénice (1670) – Thursday 23 November, 9am
Main Lecture Theatre, Old Divinity School.
A true-life story of royal love and renunciation in 1st-century Rome, brought to life at the 17th-century royal court of Versailles. Directed by Prof Patrick Boyde.
Admission free, booking required
St John's College Music Society (SJCMS) lunchtime recital – Thursday 23 November, 1pm
New Music Room.
With Tabitha Appel on violin and viola, Alma Vink on violin and viola, Butterfly Patterson on cello, and Daniel Liu on piano.
Open to all, admission free, no booking required.
Ghost walk – Thursday 23 November, 5.45pm
Meet in Third Court Cloister by the Bridge of Sighs.
With Dr Mark Nicholls, Fellow of St John’s.
Open to College postgraduate students, Fellows, Visiting Fellows and their guests as part of this term’s Sans Frontières events programme. Admission free.
Evening soloists concert – Thursday 23 November, 8pm
Main Lecture Theatre, Old Divinity School.
St John’s College Music Society (SJCMS) concert of solo performances.
Open to all, admission free.
Palaeography for beginners – Friday 24 November, 3pm
Via Zoom (link below). Please note change of time for this week only.
Weekly sessions for anyone interested in reading handwriting from c1500-c1700, using documents from the College’s institutional archives. Sessions are informal and aimed at beginners, or those with a little experience who wish to practise their skills.
Sessions are held on Fridays at 3pm and take place online using photographs of the documents. If you would like to join, or have any queries, please email the archivist, Dr Lynsey Darby. If you aren’t sure until the last minute, please join anyway.
Open to all, admission free.
What’s On in the coming weeks
Festive Halls – Monday 27 November to Thursday 30 November, 7.30pm
Hall.
Open to undergraduates and postgraduates, and guests.
Tickets: £22.50 for College members, £27 for guests. Register via Upay.
Bin end wine sale – Wednesday 29 November, 2pm
Bar.
Open to all College members.
Christmas come-and-sing with the College Choir –Thursday 30 November, 6.30-7.15pm
Chapel.
Informal event for the whole St John’s community and their guests to sing carols with the College Choir. All levels of ability welcome.
Optional rehearsals are on offer in the Chapel with Christopher Gray, Director of Music, on 20 and 29 November, 8-9pm.
Admission free. Email the Choir Office if you wish to attend.
Aquila lunchtime concert – Friday 1 December, 1.15-1.45pm
Main Lecture Theatre, Old Divinity School.
Aquila, the College’s female a cappella group, will perform arrangements of traditional and folk songs. Donations welcomed for the British Red Cross to support their work responding to emergencies worldwide.
Open to all, admission free, no booking required.
Ghost stories – Wednesday 6 December, 8.30pm
Combination Room.
With Prof Patrick Boyde, Fellow of St John’s.
Open to College postgraduate students, Fellows, Visiting Fellows and their guests as part of this term’s Sans Frontières events programme. Admission free.
Staff photography exhibition – Monday 11 December to Wednesday 10 January
Library Exhibition Area.
An exhibition of all submissions to the 2023 staff photography competition.
Full details and how to enter (staff intranet)
Short Book Club for postgraduates, English Faculty and College staff – Tuesday 12 December, 5.45pm
Merton Hall Cottage (behind the School of Pythagoras).
Join Vona Groarke, St John’s Writer-in-Residence, to discuss this month’s short book, Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach, set in July 1962, just before 'the Swinging Sixties changed the notion of innocence forever’.
Newcomers always welcome. If you are interested in attending, email Vona.
And finally
Somewhere under the rainbow you may spot Folly the dog frolicking in the Master’s garden after an unexpected downpour earlier this week.
There’s no pot of gold for finding her but we all know she’s a ray of sunshine.
