The Hills Are Alive With The Sound of Students | Music in St Andrews

With hundreds of studies showing a connection between high achieving students and musical ability, it's no wonder a large chunk of the St Andrews student body are in some way involved in music. From community orchestras, to student societies, to musical theatre productions, you don't have to look very hard in St Andrews to find someone with some musical ability. Music is found all over town but the main center of it has been the Younger Hall (Right). It will be soon be closing for refurbishment when the new Laidlaw Music Centre opens near St Regulus Hall.

Music Society

The main outlet for student music is the Music Society. Like any other society they are student run.
This leads to a diverse range of musical styles, ensembles and performances. The society runs six ensembles for its members. Some are auditioned, some aren't, and they play a range of styles and offer different sizes of ensemble.

When I reached out to her for comment, Kiara Mills - the society president - had this to say:

"As president, the main point I’d like to make to Freshers is that music society is totally inclusive. It has something for everyone, whether it be making music for fun each week with friends or performing in high standard auditioned groups with professional conductors. As well as making music each week, there are many social aspects of music society, from weekly group socials to whole society socials throughout the year which integrate the society and create a friendly community in university life."

St Andrews Symphony Orchestra

The flagship ensemble of the society is the Symphony Orchestra. They're fully auditioned and

professionally conducted. The orchestra features many of the most talented musicians in the university and plays a variety of repertoire including full sympohonies and concertos. 

Auditions are conducted in week 1 (the first week of classes after freshers week). Anyone looking to play with the orchestra should have a piece prepared that they are comfortable playing unaccompanied. They will also ask for a little sight reading. For more information see the music society website linked at the bottom of this post.

I reached out to Isla Cartney, one of the orchestral managers for comment about the orchestra:

"The symphony orchestra is a great ensemble as it lets musicians perform full orchestral works such as West Side Story and Rhapsody in Blue, and I feel that this certainly is a progression from a lot of people’s school orchestras. I would say the best part of the symphony orchestra is the social side- we have weekly socials after rehearsal and I certainly found that I made a lot of friends across years, subjects and halls which was great!"

St Andrews Strings

If you're a strings player who doesn't want to be bothered by the loudness of the Brass or Percussion sections (personally I don't get this but I play trumpet and tenor horn), you might be interested in the relatively new St Andrews Strings (formed in 2017). They're a small auditioned ensemble of around 20 players who perform without a conductor with a diverse repertoire from Bach to Vivaldi to Mahler. For more information about the ensemble check out the music society website.

I also reached out to St Andrews Strings for some more information which Izzy Rzym was happy to provide:

"We are an unconducted group and find this provides us with the unique opportunity for all members to contribute their own ideas and interpretations of the music we play. St Andrews Strings perform once a semester and have regular socials so that everyone gets to know each other well. If you enjoy playing music to a high level and are interested in joining a friendly and fun group, please do not hesitate to email me: ir51@st-andrews.ac.uk."

UoSA Concert Wind Band

If auditions aren't your thing and you're partial to a bit of wind and brass (or percussion) then it sounds like the Concert Wind Band is the place for you. As the largest unauditioned ensemble in St Andrews, we play a variety of music from wind band classics to film music. Last year featured music from The Theory of Everything, The Greatest Showman, and my personal favourite - Chicken Run!

Whatever your ability, you'll be welcome in the wind band! We perform two concerts in an academic year - one per semester - where we team up with the Big Band for A Night with the Bands. Wind Band is a welcoming, close knit group where no rehearsal is without some amount of hilarity.

This year the band is headed by band managers, Alice Martin and Amy Downie, who take over this year from Sam (their academic mum) and Chloe. They're both lovely people who are sure to make Wind Band brilliant this year.

Alice asked me to pass along these comments about the band:

"Hello there, and well done for choosing St. Andrews! It is an amazing university with so many things to offer, but a big part of that is Music Society. I am Alice and am one of the managers for the Wind Band this year (and a former Uni Haller too!). The Wind Band is the largest un-auditioned group in music society, and in my opinion, one of the friendliest groups too! We play a mix of traditional band music as well as film music, and focus on having a really fun time in rehearsals as well as playing some great music. We would love to have wind musicians who are passionate about playing fun music. We have one concert a semester together with Big BUStA, the university Big Band, and have weekly rehearsals on a Thursday evening from 7-9.15/9.30pm. We are a really sociable group too, and after rehearsals head over to the Main Bar in the union to chat, relax and listen to some live jazz from some of our friends in Big BUStA as well as jazz musicians throughout St. Andrews. If anyone has any questions, please send us a message (windbandmanagers@gmail.com) or follow us on facebook or Instagram!"

Big Band of the University of St Andrews (Big BUStA)

Speaking of A Night with the Bands, perhaps big band music is your thing. The Big Band of the University of St Andrews (or Big BUStA) is made up of about 20 auditioned members playing swing classics and more modern numbers (including some Disney). Big BUStA make up half of the Night with the Bands concerts and also perform as a band for hire at events such as Gin Soc's Prohibition Dinner this year.

At time of writing I haven't heard back from the Big BUStA managers yet but if I hear back from them I'll add their comments in.

UoSA Chamber Choir

Maybe you're not an instrumentalist, and more of a vocalist. In that case, the Chamber Choir might be
more your thing. The choir is made up of about 24 auditioned singers who perform a range of Western Classical music from the 18th century through to the present day and offers students the opportunity to sing in a secular context (as many other choirs are connected to the various churches and chapels in town) and performances are mostly done a Capella (unaccompanied). Music is scored for SATB choir with scores often subdividing into at least 8 parts.

Like with the other groups, I reached out to the students who run the Chamber Choir, Sophie McMeikan - the choir manager - had this to say:

"The Chamber Choir is a fairly small auditioned choir and we have rehearsals once a week. The choir has a relaxed, non-judgemental atmosphere and everybody is very friendly. We hold regular socials and are hoping to do our first choir tour this year to Germany! The choir sings at a high standard but we really welcome anyone and everyone to give it a go. 

My message to incoming freshers is not to be afraid to audition for ensembles like the chamber choir - you never know what you might otherwise miss out on."

Ukelear Fusion

Music Society's final ensemble is St Andrews' resident Ukulele Band - Ukelear Fusion (which is a brilliant name as far as I'm concerned. Then again I'm a physicist)! Formed back in 2013, they consist of about 10 auditioned members and play a variety of covers at everything from charity events, to evening concerts, some of the many balls held throughout the year. The group also has their own YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO9hdAMlQivIDgnaimiXdUw/featured) featuring some of their covers (my personal favourite being Dead Sea by The Lumineers) so go check them out. If you're at all interested then go check them out because they're awesome.

The outgoing manager of Ukelear Fusion, Tom Conti-Leslie, was happy to tell me a little more about the group:

"We’re quite a laid-back band: we often pair our rehearsals with socials, movie nights or discussions about memes, and this makes us a tight-knit little group of friends. We play small gigs in town throughout the semester, as well as two larger dedicated concerts per year. This summer, we are also playing a show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for the second year in a row – it’s called “Knowing Me, Knowing Uke”!"

Music Centre

The Music Society is not the only way to get involved in music in St Andrews. There's also the Music Centre, run by the university, who organise their own ensembles. They run groups for both vocalists and instrumentalists and to be quite honest there are too many to fit into one blog post with the wealth of music available in St Andrews so I would suggest checking out their website.

One of the many vocal ensembles the Music Centre offers is the renowned St Salvator's Chapel Choir. An institution of the University, it dates back to the time of the University's founding when students were obliged to sing in the university's chapel. Today it is made up of around 30 singers that sing at official university events, chapel services, the Raisin Monday foam fight and on an annual tours. Recent years have seen the choir tour several European countries such as France, Sweden and Germany as well as the United States. 

The music centre also runs several instrumental ensembles, the flagship of which is St Andrews' orchestra in residence - The St Andrews Chamber Orchestra. The orchestra brings together the best instrumentalists in St Andrews to perform music from the Baroque era through to the present day. It's conducted by the University's director of music and Head of Instrumental Studies. The programme for Semester 1 this year will feature music by Mozart and Sibelius among others. The orchestra holds regular concerts in St Andrews and Edinburgh and has also toured in Northern Ireland and the rest of Scotland.

Perhaps the most accessible of the Music Centre's ensembles is the St Andrews and Fife Community Orchestra (or StAFCO). StAFCO is an orchestra for all standards and as such requires no auditions. It's conducted by Gillian Craig and works in close collaboration with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (who often provide soloists to perform with StAFCO).

Musical Theatre

St Andrews is also home to a healthy variety of musical theatre. Two societies instrumental in this (please pardon the pun) are the Gilbert and Sullivan Society (who as you might expect put on performances of Gilbert and Sullivan works) and the Just So Society.

The Gilbert and Sullivan Society pride themselves on being a friendly (and eccentric) society. Unlike a lot of performance based groups they are unauditioned for general membership so anyone interested in joining the society is welcome to. Their shows are auditioned however and are done to a very high standard. I went to see a performance of The Mikado this year and was laughing out loud at the performance so even if you're not interested in performing I'd recommend paying attention to the society for show tickets going on sale.

The Just So Society is a subcommittee of Mermaids - the Union's Performing Arts fund - and is a hub for musical theatre in St Andrews. They aim to put on at least one musical every semester but also socialise together with trips to see musicals both in and around St Andrews and in their own words "belting out Les Miserables whenever [they] can". They also help aspiring directors put on musicals by offering funding and help with anything else musical theatre related.

A Cappella

In a post about music in St Andrews it would be sacrilege to forget about the wealth of A Cappella groups in St Andrews. There are six groups that make up the A Cappella Society in St Andrews. These groups perform across St Andrews and even across the country in everything from charity events to national competitions. The society also runs an annual Christmas concert and Top of the Scots showcase.

All-Female Groups

• The Accidentals
• The Hummingbirds

All Male Groups (well group)

• The Other Guys

Mixed Groups

• The Alleycats
• BELLS
• Vocal Bandits (Unauditioned)

Jazz Works

Jazz Works is your one stop shop for anything Jazz, Swing and Soul. They host weekly jam nights where anyone can come and play music of their choice and they welcome everyone. Members of the Wind Band are known to head to their weekly Jam Nights after rehearsals because they can't get enough of music on a Thursday night. As someone who cannot improvise to save himself, I find it all extremely impressive.


Now I have most likely missed a lot of groups or societies in St Andrews that are involved in music but that's more a testament to how much music there is in St Andrews. If you're at all interested in music and want to get involved in it at St Andrews then I'm sure you'll find something you're into And if not then there's still room for more ensembles.