College bulletin: 28 October
A week is a long time in politics and in Cambridge.
The second biggest news story of the past seven days is that a new Prime Minister has been appointed, the first is that according to The Tab, St John’s has been twinned with Taylor Swift’s new song, Bejewelled. We are glad that we have been credited with making Cambridge shimmer.
Read on to find out about non-Taylor Swift related news including a series of concerts organised specially to mark the 40th anniversary of the admission of women to St John’s, the latest update on the bus routes facing the axe, and the newly launched Staff Photography Competition.
If you have any news, events or photographs that you’d like us to consider including, do email us.
College news
Concerts celebrate 40th anniversary of women at St John’s
A series of concerts featuring exceptional alumnae musicians from St John’s is taking place to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the admission of women to the College.
The four Annual Fund-supported concerts this term are part of a broader programme of events to mark the anniversary. Several alumnae are returning to College to present a snapshot of the musical careers they have forged since graduating from St John’s.
Tim Watts, College Associate Lecturer in Music and Fellow of St John’s, said: “During the last decade, the reputation of St John’s for choral excellence has been matched by a steady stream of exceptional instrumentalists and composers, many of whom have been women. As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the admission of women to St John’s, it is fitting to take stock of the extraordinary enrichment of the College’s musical life that was enabled by the ‘better late than never’ decision of 1982.”
This Sunday 30 October, Julia Hwang arrives back from Yale, where she is a Fulbright Scholar, to perform works for violin and piano and two colourful trios with the addition of clarinet. On Wednesday 2 November cellist Laura van der Heijden premieres a new work written by fellow Johnian Lara Weaver as part of a varied programme of strings and piano with her group Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective.
On 12 November Stephanie Childress, Assistant Musical Director of the St Louis Symphony Orchestra, follows Julia across the Atlantic to conduct two new works by fellow alumnae Victoria Pham and Katrina Toner (herself returning from New York for the event) for a virtuosic sinfonietta formed of student instrumentalists.
The final concert on 2 December features the Behn Quartet whose cellist is alumna Ghislaine McMullin.
The concerts each take place in the Old Divinity School from 8-10.30pm. Tickets are free but please register online.
Threatened bus routes saved
The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) has been working over the last month to negotiate with Stagecoach and other smaller bus operators to retain a number of threatened bus services.
On 25 October the CPCA announced the new operators for the routes under threat, and also confirmed other routes are no longer going to be scaled back.
Full details are on the CPCA website.
Staff can get snapping for College competition
Cameras and smart phones at the ready… the Staff Photography Competition has been relaunched after a three-year break.
The 2022 theme for the competition is ‘In the Details’ and staff can submit up to two photographs each between 1-30 November for the chance to win cash prizes. Contracted staff members who will be employed by the College on 1 December 2022 are eligible to enter and all submissions will be displayed in the Exhibition Area of the Library from 5 December 2022 to 10 January 2023. The winners will be revealed in the New Year.
The student Art and Photography competition will be held later this academic year.
Find full details on the staff intranet
All Souls’ Day service
A special service is being held in the College Chapel on the evening of Wednesday 2 November to remember lost loved ones.
In the Church calendar, All Souls’ Day is the day we pause to remember in love and prayer those who have died, especially loved ones and those who have helped to shape our lives.
The Eucharist service will take place in Chapel at 6.30pm and last just under an hour. The College Choir will sing the movingly beautiful Duruflé Requiem, and all are welcome.
Whether you are attending or not, those who would like a loved one remembered by name can email the name(s) to the College Chaplain, The Rev’d Andrew Hammond, or write them on the sheet in the Ante-Chapel, near the gates. The congregation attending the service will be invited to light a candle for the people they are remembering.
St John’s duo help build research CommuniTea
A successful science journal club initiative co-founded by a PhD student and a Fellow-Elect of St John’s has been profiled by the German website, Wissenschafts Kommunikation (‘Science Communication’).
Sophia Crüwell, a postgraduate in Philosophy of Science, set up ReproducibiliTea as a Master’s student in 2018 with Dr Amy Orben, who is group leader at MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge and will be joining St John’s as a Fellow next year, along with Sam Parsons, now a postdoctoral researcher in The Netherlands.
The initiative, which has spread to 101 universities and institutions in 25 countries, helps early career researchers set up their own ‘CommuniTea’ journal clubs to discuss issues around improving science and raising awareness for the Open Science movement.
Read the article, ‘Tea is the key to building a community’
Honorary Fellow puts pandemic collaboration under the microscope
A leading health expert and Honorary Fellow of St John’s features in a new short video partly filmed in College that looks at how scientific researchers and academics from the UK and Canada collaborated over Covid-19.
In the video Professor Sharon Peacock CBE, who heads up the Covid-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) consortium and is Professor of Public Health and Microbiology at the University of Cambridge, shares why scientific collaboration between the UK and Canada and the international community is crucial to responding to global health threats like the pandemic.
The film forms part of the UKinCanada Science Diplomacy video series created by the British High Commission Ottawa.
Poppy Appeal poppies for sale in Great Gate Porters’ Lodge
Royal British Legion poppies are now available from the Great Gate Porters’ Lodge.
A limited number of poppies are available due to supply issues, pins are not included. The red poppy is a symbol of both Remembrance and hope for a peaceful future, with cash donations going to support the Armed Forces community.
What’s on
Chapel
Festal Evensong – Friday 28 October, 6.30pm
St Simon and St Jude, Apostles.
Open to all, admission free.
Evensong with electronic sound – Saturday 29 October, 6.30pm
Open to all, admission free.
Student communion – Sunday 30 October, 8.30am
Student Communion takes place every Sunday at 8.30am, followed by a subsidised cooked breakfast in Hall.
Sung Eucharist – Sunday 30 October, 10.30am
Open to all, admission free.
Organ recital – Sunday 30 October, 6pm
John Robinson of Blackburn Cathedral will be performing works by de Grigny, Duruflé and Bach.
Open to all, admission free.
Sunday Evensong with Sermon – Sunday 30 October, 6.30pm
The preacher this evening is The Rev’d Professor Jane Shaw, Principal of Harris Manchester College, Oxford, Professor of the History of Religion and Pro-Vice-Chancellor in the University of Oxford.
Open to all, admission free.
Morning prayer – weekdays, 8.30am
Taking place in Ante-Chapel every weekday morning, lasting about 15 minutes.
Eucharist sung by St John’s Voices – Monday 31 October, 6.30pm
Open to all, admission free.
Festal Evensong – Tuesday 1 November, 6.30pm
All Saints’ Day.
Open to all, admission free.
Chapel Late – Tuesday 1 November, 8.30pm
An Evening of Queer Voices with music and poetry, taking place in the Ante-Chapel.
Open to all, admission free.
Requiem for All Souls’ Day – Wednesday 2 November, 6.30pm
Special service to remember loved ones who have died.
Open to all, admission free.
Evensong – Thursday 3 November, Friday 4 November, 6.30pm
Open to all, admission free.
Advent Carol Services – Saturday 26 November, 6pm, and Sunday 27 November, 3pm
Organ music will be played by George Herbert, Assistant Organist, and Alex Robson, Herbert Howells Organ Scholar. Full programme to be confirmed.
The Sunday service will be broadcast live by BBC Radio 3.
Open to College members and up to two guests. Admission free, booking required. Deadline for applications is Monday 31 October.
Further details and registration
Follow the Facebook page, SJC Chaplain, for Chapel service updates; and Andrew is on TikTok @thedetoxpriest. The Chapel is always keen to hear from more volunteers to read in services or assist in other ways: please contact Andrew.
Other events
Ancient Persia: The decipherment of Linear Elamite writing – Saturday 29 October, 1.30pm
Palmerston Room, Fisher Building.
Organised by Cambridge-based Persian Wonders in collaboration with Cambridge University Persian Society, whose Treasurer is second-year St John’s undergraduate Amir Kadkhodaei, this conference will look at uncovering secrets of the past by breaking the code of an ancient writing system.
The guest speaker is archaeologist Dr François Desset, who has deciphered Linear Elamite along with Kambiz Tabibizadeh, Matthieu Kervran, Gian Pietro Basello and Gianni Marchesi.
There will be a small display of fine reproductions of Elamite writing and Jiroft-style objects and refreshments will be served. Anyone who is interested in ancient Persia, either academic or non-academic, can attend and there will also be the chance to take part in a Q&A.
Open to public, tickets are free but a limited number are available, so please book
Tour of the Fitzwilliam Museum – Saturday 29 October, 2pm
Fitzwilliam Museum.
With Professor Patrick Boyde, Fellow of St John’s. Meet at the museum’s public entrance.
Open to College postgraduate students, Fellows, visiting Fellows and their guests. Admission free, booking not required.
St John’s Picturehouse Halloween Special: Nope – Sunday 30 October, 6.45pm and 9.45pm
Palmerston Room, Fisher Building.
The Picturehouse film society relaunches this academic year by showing Jordan Peele’s neo-Western science fiction horror Nope as a pre-Halloween treat. Starring Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer as horse-wrangling siblings in California who discover something sinister in the skies above, there are two evening screenings.
All films are shown with a cinema-grade DCP projector and events are open to all University students and staff.
Julia Hwang and friends in concert – Sunday 30 October, 8pm
Main Lecture Theatre, Old Divinity School.
In the first of this term’s concerts by alumnae marking the 40th anniversary of the admission of women to St John’s, multi-prize-winning violinist Julia Hwang returns to St John’s with a programme of music for violin, clarinet (Lloyd Van’t Hoff) and piano (James Drinkwater) including works by Poulenc, Beach, Bartok and Khatchaturian.
All welcome. Register for free tickets
Live lunchtime meditation – Monday to Thursday, 1.15-1.30pm
Via Zoom.
Spend 15 mindful minutes relaxing or meditating with the University’s mindfulness practitioner, Dr Elizabeth English, in these weekday sessions, free to students and staff.
Drop-in dissertation support group – Monday 31 October, 2pm
Via Zoom.
Weekly online group run during term time by the Library, offering a structured study space, support and encouragement for any undergraduate student who is taking on a dissertation next academic year.
Email Rebecca for the Zoom link or if you have any questions.
Maths for Everyone lecture series: Symmetry – Monday 31 October, 5.30pm
Boys Smith Room, Fisher Building.
St John’s Fellow Professor Nick Manton presents the fourth in a series of eight maths refresher lectures aiming to broaden and deepen understanding of what maths can do and how it works. This lecture looks at symmetry (permutation symmetry, geometrical symmetry and groups).
It will help if you have some familiarity with A-Level maths topics.
Open to all College members. Admission free, booking not required.
Careers Service fairs – Tuesday 1 November, Wednesday 2 November and Thursday 24 November
The Careers Service is holding three more Career Fairs this term to help with applications and preparation. You can speak with employers directly or go to their group talks and ask questions. There are careers panels, discussions and employer-led skills sessions.
Next week there are two Engineering Fairs – the first is in person (1 November, 1-5pm) and the second is virtual (2 November, 1-3pm). There will also be an in-person Barrister Fair on 24 November, 12.30-3.30pm.
Registration for each opens a week in advance at 9am. Further details and to register
Visit the Careers Service website for more information.
Tour of Chapel – Wednesday 2 November, 2pm
Meet in the Ante-Chapel.
With an introduction by The Rev’d Dr Mark Oakley followed by a 95-minute tour with Stephen Stokes, Chapel Clerk.
Open to College postgraduate students, Fellows, visiting Fellows and their guests. Admission free, booking not required.
View Old Library collections – Wednesday 2 November, 2-4pm
Old Library.
Explore the College's historic 17th century Library; highlights from the collections will be on display including medieval manuscripts, pioneering photography and books that changed the world.
Open to all College members and their guests, admission free. Entry is via E staircase, Second Court.
UniVox rehearsals – every Wednesday during term, 5.15-6.30pm
Palmerston Room, Fisher Building.
UniVox is a non-auditioned contemporary choir for students across the University run by the new Centre for Music Performance (CMP) and hosted by St John’s.
Places are limited so must be booked via the UniVox page of the CMP website.
Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective concert – Wednesday 2 November, 8pm
Main Lecture Theatre, Old Divinity School.
Marking the 40th anniversary of the admission of women to St John’s, the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective performs romantic music for strings and piano by Fanny Mendelssohn, Gabriel Fauré, and Florence Price. The programme also features the premiere of a new celebratory commission by alumna Lara Weaver, composed for another alumna, cellist Laura van der Heijden.
All welcome. Register for free tickets
St John's College Music Society (SJCMS) lunchtime recital – Thursday 3 November, 1.15pm
Lightfoot Room, Old Divinity School.
Performed by the Beethoven Piano Trio.
Open to all, admission free, booking is not required.
Andrew Chamblin Memorial Lecture 2022 – Friday 4 November, 5pm
Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge CB3 0WA.
The 16th Andrew Chamblin Memorial Lecture, Black Holes, Thermodynamics and Information Loss, will be given by Professor Robert Wald, professor of Physics at the University of Chicago.
Admission is free but booking is required via the Faculty of Mathematics Events page.
Jonathan Gilmour memorial service – Saturday 5 November, 12pm
St John’s College Chapel.
A memorial service is being held for postgraduate student Jonathan Gilmour, who died in April.
All welcome to attend. Please register in advance to assist with planning seating and refreshments.
Full details and registration form
The Waste Land – Wednesday 9 November to Saturday 12 November, 11pm (Wed-Fri), 2.30pm (Sat)
ADC Theatre.
Second-year English undergraduate Kacper Rybiński, from St John’s, is Assistant Producer on this new and experimental response to T.S Eliot’s The Waste Land, marking the poem’s 100th anniversary.
Written and devised by University students, the production will explore the broken fragments of our culture, examine the nature of human connection, and seek to push the boundaries of theatrical conventions. It translates the stylistic and thematic features of Eliot's poem to a visual medium, aiming to demonstrate that theatre can communicate before it is understood.
This amateur production is presented by an arrangement with Faber and Faber on behalf of the Eliot Estate and is proudly supported by The Mighty Players.
SBR’s Postgraduate Research Symposium – Saturday 12 November
Palmerston Room and Fisher Building Foyer.
Details to be confirmed.
Open to College postgraduate students, Fellows, visiting Fellows and their guests. Admission free, booking not required.
Stephanie Childress Conducts St John’s Sinfonietta – Saturday 12 November, 8pm
Main Lecture Theatre, Old Divinity School.
Marking the 40th anniversary of the admission of women to St John’s, Stephanie Childress, Assistant Musical Director of the St Louis Symphony Orchestra in Missouri and currently conducting Glyndebourne’s touring production of The Marriage of Figaro, returns to St John’s to conduct a sinfonietta ensemble of talented student musicians.
The programme includes the world premieres of two new celebratory new works commissioned from Johnian alumnae Victoria Pham and Katrina Toner.
All welcome. Register for free tickets
Postgraduates Dine with Fellows – Wednesday 16 November, 7.30pm
Hall.
Open to College postgraduates. Free of charge, limited places, register via Upay after 20 October.
Dramatisation from The Divine Comedy – Wednesday 16 & Thursday 17 November, 7.30pm
Main Lecture Theatre, Old Divinity School.
Fellow Professor Patrick Boyde presents Dante’s Virgil: the Tragedy of a More-than-Father, a semi-staging of scenes from Dante’s Divine Comedy.
In Italian with subtitles, images and music.
Open to College postgraduate students, Fellows, visiting Fellows and their guests as part of this term’s Sans Frontières events programme.
Admission free, booking recommended.
Book for Wednesday 16 November performance or Thursday 17 November performance
Mya-Rose Craig, ‘Birdgirl’, at Cambridge Literary Festival – Saturday 19 November, 2-3pm
Palmerston Room, Fisher Building.
Mya-Rose Craig, author of Birdgirl and second-year BA student at St John’s, will be appearing at the Winter Festival in conversation with fellow birder and nature writer Helen Mcdonald.
Full-price tickets are £12; concs tickets are available to under 25s, the unwaged ‘and those feeling the pinch’.
Ghost walk – Thursday 24 November, 5.45pm
Meet in the Third Court Cloister by the Bridge of Sighs.
With Fellow Dr Mark Nicholls.
Open to College postgraduate students, Fellows, visiting Fellows and their guests. Admission free, booking not required.
Precarious lives: inequalities in health through the lens of the film maker – Wednesday 30 November, 1.15pm for 1.45pm start
Palmerston Room, Fisher Building.
Director Ken Loach is due to appear at this rare afternoon workshop and screening of his acclaimed 2019 film Sorry We Missed You.
St John’s Reading Group on Health Inequalities has organised the event, which comes at a time of deep concern about the impact of rising poverty on child health and development, in association with the University’s Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH).
Free of charge. Donations will be collected at the event for Cambridge City Foodbank and Cambridge Aid.
Book your place via the CRASSH events page
Behn Quartet concert – Friday 2 December, 8pm
Main Lecture Theatre, Old Divinity School.
In this term’s final concert to mark the 40th anniversary of the admission of women to St John’s, the Behn Quartet – whose cellist is Johnian alumna Ghislaine McMullin – takes its name from the 17th-century playwright, political activist and philanthropist of the arts, Aphra Behn.
Its recital places two refined Neoclassical string quartets from the 20th century alongside one of Haydn’s most effervescent and soulful contributions to the medium. Tailleferre’s only string quartet gained her an invitation to the group of young composers that became known as Les Six, while the fourth and most widely performed of Bacewicz’s seven quartets draws eloquently on elements of Polish folklore.
All welcome. Register for free tickets
Ghost stories – Wednesday 7 December, 8.45pm
Combination Room.
With Professor Patrick Boyde.
Open to College postgraduate students, Fellows, visiting Fellows and their guests. Admission free, booking not required.
And finally…
Martin Bond, the photographer behind A Cambridge Diary, snapped this image of Professor John Kerrigan as he walked over the Bridge of Sighs yesterday.
Professor Kerrigan, College Supervisor in English and one of the world’s leading authorities on Shakespeare, was caught on camera as he made his exit from College, hopefully not pursued by a bear.
