Student Music: An Evening of Pop and Jazz
5 November 2026, 8pm (doors open at 7.30pm)
Join us for an evening of original songs and jazz standards, performed by University of Cambridge musicians in the intimate setting of the Kettle’s Yard house.
Singer-songwriters Mahalia Nesbeth-Bain and Tom Neale share the programme with a trio from Cambridge University Jazz Orchestra, featuring Ved Kumar on saxophone, Eddie Chai on guitar and Callum Walsh on bass.
With performers from the University’s Advanced Popular Performance scheme, this concert offers a chance to discover new songs and hear student musicians up close, surrounded by art in Jim and Helen Ede’s former home.
About the Performers
Mahalia Nesbeth-Bain is a singer-songwriter who has performed as a vocalist with Cambridge University Jazz Orchestra. Her appearances include the 2023 Cambridge Jazz Festival, in a concert with saxophonist Emma Rawicz. She has also received the Susan Tomes Music Prize at King’s College, which recognises the contribution of music-making to the College community.
Tom Neale is an indie musician and musicologist whose songs bring together psychedelic rock and layered vocal harmonies. Drawing inspiration from Radiohead, Nick Drake and Thundercat, he makes music through his project OZE. His song Inner Space Blues won first prize in the 2026 Hook, Line and Lyric @ Jesus songwriting competition. His academic research explores multicultural collaboration and social activism in Italy’s musical underground.
The Cambridge University Jazz Orchestra (CUJO) brings together leading jazz musicians from across the University. The orchestra has performed in professional venues in the UK and overseas, won gold awards in national big band competitions, and collaborated with musicians, composers and arrangers including Steve Waterman, Mark Nightingale, Trish Clowes and Yazz Ahmed. Its repertoire spans standards, swing and funk, alongside arrangements performed by leading contemporary big bands.
Music at Kettle’s Yard
Music has always been an important part of Kettle’s Yard, and concerts have been played here since 1970, when the inaugural concert was given by Jacqueline du Pré accompanied by Daniel Barenboim. Kettle’s Yard creators, Jim and Helen Ede, made the new extension of Kettle’s Yard with music performances in mind and left instructions that there were to be ‘at least three really good concerts every year’.
Today we offer around twenty concerts a year.
What's On: Music
History of Music at Kettle’s Yard
