Christopher de Saram

Inspiring Durham’s musicians

Chris de Saram (Natural Sciences, Hatfield College, 1964 – 1967) had a truly life-changing student experience. He met his wife at Durham, and it was while he was a student here that he developed a love of live music.  He never forgot the awe-inspiring experience of seeing exceptional live musicians perform at Durham, such as Thelonius Monk, who performed at our newly opened Dunelm House.

Chris was passionate about educating and nurturing young talent and, after graduating, he worked as a Science Teacher and Head of Lower School at a secondary school in Pudsey.  Throughout his life, Chris dedicated a great deal of energy and enthusiasm to developing the jazz music scene, particularly in his corner of the world, West Yorkshire.  After retiring from his teaching role, he was for many years the promoter for Wakefield Jazz Club.  In this capacity he was a well-known figure who scoured the country for new talent and provided opportunities for burgeoning musicians to advance their career by playing at a club widely known for its inspirational live music and its sense of community.

Chris remembered his time at Durham fondly and wanted to help others have the same wonderful student experience that he enjoyed. Consequently, Chris left a gift in his will to our University.  Durham has a rich history of excellence in music, in both the formal academic study of music and also in live performance.  After working closely with his loved ones, we were pleased to direct Chris’ gift to student music.

His gift has been fundamental in encouraging and facilitating students’ live music by funding the purchase of new equipment and helping to develop our Masterclass series; a programme which enables students to have coaching from world class musicians throughout the year.  Durham’s live music scene is strong and growing, yet one of Durham Student Music’s major shortcomings was equipment.  With almost all college tech committees providing only event-focussed music tech alongside their lighting and stage provision, there were no sources of more studio-style equipment in Durham. Ensembles commonly had to rely on academic music students to borrow basic equipment from the Department of Music.

Thanks to Chris de Saram’s gift, Durham Student Music now has a fantastic library of equipment, which has made the realisation of musical projects more accessible for every musician at our University.  His gift has allowed Durham Student Music to form a Tech Initiative to provide free tech support to every musical student society at our University.  This helps events and jam sessions to take place more frequently, and additional masterclasses can be offered to provide invaluable advice and wisdom to nurture student talent.

The new equipment is a significant investment into Durham's music scene.  State-of-the-art recording equipment will allow Durham's ensembles and groups to make professional-standard recordings of their concerts and activities, enabling them to be shared with more people than ever.  Durham's ensembles encompass students from all colleges and subjects. Whether someone plays in the University's largest symphony orchestra or in a college string quartet, this donation is sure to improve the musical opportunities available for hundreds of Durham students well into years to come.

New lighting and PA equipment for concerts, available to hire at no cost, is set to dramatically improve the calibre of performances. Additionally, the ability to bring together musicians on high-quality digital recordings opens the doors to sharing Durham's musical activity further than ever before.

Michael Crilly, St John’s College Music Representative.