Professor Laura Tunbridge FBA MAE gave her inaugural lecture as Heather Professor of Music

Professor Laura Tunbridge was appointed to the Heather Professorship of Music from 1 October 2025. This year, 2026, marks 400 years since the establishment of the Heather Professor, the first Chair of Music in the country. Professor Tunbridge joins a long line of distinguished scholars and composers and is the first woman to be elected to the Chair in its 400-year history.

Professor Tunbridge's inaugural lecture provided a fitting opportunity to celebrate the University’s contributions to music over the past four centuries and to affirm its continuing commitment to promoting the vital importance of music as an academic subject and in everyday life.

As the 200th anniversary of his death approaches in 2027, Ludwig van Beethoven remains ubiquitous: his music still dominates concerts, films and advertising, while his image continues to serve as shorthand for struggling male genius. Beethoven would not have come to prominence, however, without the composer establishing a network of friends and colleagues with whom he could collaborate, and by writing marketable as well as remarkable music.

Professor Tunbridge's fully-booked lecture, with musical excerpts performed by students, set Beethoven in the everyday, exploring the musical relationships that enabled him to come to prominence.