Oxford and Cambridge Musical Club

The Oxford and Cambridge Musical Club was founded in 1899 by members of the two universities who wished to continue in London the musical activities which they had enjoyed as undergraduates. The Gentlemen’s Club which they formed, with spacious premises in the West End, rapidly acquired a distinguished membership including many of the leading composers and musicians of the day as well as leading figures in public life.

That privileged era ended forever with the second World War. The loss of the Club’s premises in 1940 can in retrospect be seen as a liberation. When concerts began again in 1948 the Club was able to devote all its efforts to what had always been its first objective - the pleasure of making music. Since 1959 the Club’s main concert venue has been at University College, London.

The Club’s members comprise a wide range of musical talents. 15 or 16 concerts are given each year , ranging from orchestral and chamber music to song and piano recitals. Two regular annual events which have become established in recent years are a concert performance of an opera (often a rarely performed work) and a concert of music by present-day Club composers.