Refurbished Pembroke Auditorium opens in Cambridge

A newly refurbished venue at Cambridge’s Pembroke College, is set to open next month. Opening with a season launch concert on 5 October, Pembroke Auditorium will be the new home of the Bliss International Song Series as well as hosting a range of performances including concerts with the Cambridge Summer Music Festival.

The new auditorium, formerly the college’s Emmanuel United Reform Church, comprises a 200-seater chamber hall and new Steinway piano. Christening the new space as part of the Bliss International Song Series on 5 October will be baritone Sir Simon Keenlyside who will perform Schubert’s Winterreise song cycle alongside pianist and Leeds Lieder director Joseph Middleton, who is also the artistic director of the new venue.

Middleton said: ‘Pembroke College remains the single most important place for song recitals in the region, attracting the world’s finest singers to perform the greatest repertoire in front of a warm and discerning audience. The opening of the superb new Pembroke Auditorium is the icing on the cake. Cambridge now boasts a stunning chamber music hall, perfect for this intimate art-form.’

Following this opening recital, Middleton will be joined by mezzo soprano Dame Sarah Connolly on 1 November for an evening of Brahms Lieder, Mahler Kindertotenlieder, and songs by Frank Bridge and Edmund Rubbra alongside Leeds Lieder commission Night Thoughts by Errollyn Wallen following the work's premiere on 2 October.