St Anne’s prides itself on combining a friendly, open and encouraging atmosphere for our musicians with an attitude to study that is serious, rigorous and dedicated.

At the heart of what we do is an intellectual excitement in thinking about music, a willingness to explore new ideas and new ways of thinking, driven by a shared sense of both the richness and the importance of the music we study. Music at St Anne’s College is characterised by a vigorous and dynamic spirit of critical enquiry, as well as a lively involvement in contemporary music and live performance. Our tutors cover a broad range of musical interests from the 17th century until the present day, which accord strongly with the progressive and tolerant ethos at St Anne’s.

Music is also strongly supported within the college: there is a music bursary scheme, open to both music and non-music students and intended to help pay for instrumental lessons. Music students at St Anne’s have the advantage of an excellent collection of books and scores in the College Library (open 24 hours a day), as well as the use of a dedicated suite of four practice rooms, which can be booked and used until 10pm. One of these is used as an ensemble room and houses a new Yamaha grand piano.

The St Anne’s College Recital Series has grown from strength to strength in recent years under the direction of Dr John Traill and Dr Martyn Harry. Recitals take place weekly during term time in the Mary Ogilivie Lecture Theatre, which also has its own grand piano. These showcase young professional musicians, as well as some of our own students, who are encouraged to participate in these and make the most of the opportunity to perform in public.

St Anne’s students are also able to join the college orchestra (run jointly with St John’s) and the college choir, as well as making the most of the rich musical life of Oxford as a whole.

The St Anne’s tutorial fellow in Music, Dr Martyn Harry, is a composer and record producer. Dr Harry’s research interests include American minimalist music, music from the former Soviet Republics, German music and Instrumental Theatre. As a university lecturer Dr Harry gives tutorials in composition and contemporary music, 19th- and 20th-century music history, and analysis.

Dr Berta Joncus is St Anne’s stipendiary lecturer in music. She is a musicologist, writer and broadcaster specialising in vocal music of the mid-eighteenth-century, gender studies and popular music. Her own research focuses on how a star player's persona is constructed in the public sphere and how it may come to co-author that player's music. She gives tutorials on music history, analysis, and historiography.

Dr John Traill is the Director of Music at St Anne’s, in which capacity he directs musical performance and organises the highly acclaimed Recital Series there. He himself also co-founded and directs the Oxford University contemporary music group, Ensemble Isis, and lectures on orchestration within the Faculty. Dr Traill gives tutorials on analysis, orchestration, techniques of composition and keyboard skills.

Recent graduates of St Anne’s have gone on to a wide range of jobs and further study. Some have progressed to postgraduate study at the Royal Academy of Music and other conservatoires, as well as to Masters and DPhil programmes here at Oxford and elsewhere. Some have gone on to teach music, others to work in politics, business, law, and in the media.

Follow this link for a student's view of Music at St Anne's.