Navigating the Cambridge Application Process for a Pathway in Music

Archie (Powell House) left Sedbergh in 2023 and took up a place reading music at the University of Cambridge. At Cambridge, he has discovered an inspiring ‘home’ for his passion for music. Throughout his Cambridge application, he received invaluable support and guidance from Ms. Hartley, Mr. Seymour, and Mr. Allinson in the Music Department, while Ms. Roland, Head of Year 13, and other teachers provided essential interview practice.

Inspired by mentors like Current Director of Music, Archie envisions a future that integrates academia, research, and musical performance. After his undergraduate degree, he aims to pursue a Master’s and eventually a PhD.

A lot of pupils aspire to follow in your footsteps; what do you remember about the process of applying to Cambridge?

I started preparations around Easter of year 12 – so a good 16 months before the end of A levels. A lot of people helped with the process and steps. I was supported extensively by Ms. Hartley; she helped with the whole application process, taught me about interview technique and about the skills for first year music students which would be examined in the interview. Mr. Seymour and Mr. Allinson, among others, worked with me to hone my personal statement. 

I had mock interviews set up by Ms. Roland – who was really helpful -as well as with other teachers who could advise me on the Cambridge applications. It was all really helpful. I had to write quite a great deal for my actual application itself; I had to submit quite a long essay and then small theory tasks which are short questions that test skills and knowledge of style. Two tasks were given to me, and had to be submitted on the day before the interview; a mere 24 hours after receiving the tasks!

The interview was in the December of 2022. I remember because it was the week before Jesus Christ Superstar and I was involved in that as Judas. The interview itself (there were actually two, half an hour apart) was really challenging and I took most of the day off to do it. It was at 2pm on a random Thursday and I came in at about eight in the morning and just prepared myself. The first interview was a practical discussion, talking about theory, my involvement here at Sedbergh and my instrumental skills and ambitions. The second interview was about half an hour later and they sent me a task to do in that half an hour. There was a long passage of quite dense reading, which I then had to discuss in the interview itself. 

It was very intimidating, but it’s also a very friendly process. They don’t let you feel completely out of your depth; they really help you with guiding questions. They try their best to make you feel at home – even though it is practically impossible. I made some very silly errors and had to correct myself, but I think they expect that. After that second interview, I was so drained that I needed to zone out for about two and a half hours! Then the Christmas holiday rolled around and I basically forgot about my application until January. It was mock week and I was in my room in Powell House preparing for my chemistry exam and when I saw I’d been successful I was screaming and shouting in my room; I was over the moon. 

You play multiple instruments and you sing; was there also an audition performance?

Cambridge doesn’t make that compulsory; it’s an academic application. You are invited to play if you want to, but I thought that since the application and interview was online I decided that I wasn’t going to gain anything from playing through my microphone. But at the end of the term, I auditioned for a spot as a choral scholar. I went down and I had four auditions in a day for different colleges; I gained a choral award at Trinity Hall and I met my new head of music.

What subjects did you study at A level?

I studied chemistry, maths, and music. I started with Latin, but I dropped it and I shouldn’t have done! For some reason, in year 12, part of me wasn’t completely sure on what I was going to do at uni. So I wanted to keep my options open. If I’d known I was definitely doing music, I would’ve kept going because now I’m doing a lot of language study as part of my degree.

How prepared did you feel for life at Cambridge?

I was kind of a step ahead of most other people with the whole experience of university due to boarding at Sedbergh. I remember everyone feeling very homesick and I was cruising. 

It sounds weird to say this, but it’s strange to be studying the thing which you love the most! Some people will study maths (for example) and still be heavily involved in the choral scene and the orchestral scene and the whole music scene itself. But if you’re studying music and only doing music you are surrounded by the same people every day and in the same faculty every day. I learned you’ve got to draw the line between academic music and music for pleasure. Otherwise I’d feel like everything was work and I’d be burnt out. 

You are kept very busy. The music course has lectures in the morning until 12 and the afternoon is free for practice or supervisions and the like. So, I’m normally done by 12 and then I will maybe have one supervision in the afternoon, which is at most three-on-one. Then several days a week I have choir and I sing evensong quite a lot; that love of choral music was definitely founded at Sedbergh, with no small thanks to Mr. Seymour. I then spend the rest of my day either writing, reading, conducting, playing and socialising.

You’ve talked about having to learn to keep music for pleasure and music for study separate; do you have different musical interests for pleasure versus study?

No, if I’m listening for pleasure, I’ll listen to pieces I’m studying, which is an issue because you start to think about it too much and you begin to interact with music a different way. That interaction with music is a large part of the course; how we interact with music and how we talk about music. I found, even in my first two weeks, that the music in the lecture halls and in the supervisions was exactly the thing I was interested in. So, I’ve had to counterbalance listening to course related and unrelated musics to stay intellectually curious – which for me is early music and music of the Renaissance. 

I’ve started reading much more fiction since I’ve been at Cambridge. Last year [during A levels] I was reading lots of autobiographical stuff and history of analysis stuff and that was outside of the course, but now [at Cambridge] that is very much part of the whole course. In one way has been very helpful, because I was well prepared, but it meant I needed to find something else to read for intellectual escapism.

What would you like to do next; what’s your plan for after university?

I’d like to do a master’s and then a PhD. I’ve been very lucky to have lots of very good supervisors who have been very inspiring to me in terms of what they’re doing. Some of them are also directors of music. The Director of Music at Trinity, in particular, is a very big inspiration to me as he holds the position in college as a fellow and he researches early music, but he also holds a busy performing career. He’s very grounded in academia and teaching and conducting and student life as well.

What advice would you give to other pupils who are looking to go on and study music?

Read as much as you can; literally anything at all. If you have the skill to read quickly and formulate ideas and argue them, then you’ll be absolutely fine because if work is going to pile up, it’s going to be the reading and not the writing. 

The other thing is being able to argue; being competent at summarising your arguments in a concise, clear, personal, and authentic way. Not being afraid to have your own view and being able to summarise your thoughts in a way which is clear to the reader. Of course the best way to learn to do that, of course, is to read.

Listen as well! Obtaining a rounded musical palette is essential to engaging with the course. You’d also do well to become familiar with the musical and extra-musical issue of the long 19th century.