Honorary Fellow and alumna, Professor Joanna MacGregor, was awarded a Honorary Degree from the University of Cambridge on 15 June 2016. The Head of Piano at the Royal Academy of Music was conferred a doctorate in music, Honorary Degrees are the highest honour that the University can bestow. She is one of seven distinguished individuals to receive the honour from the University this summer.
Professor Joanna MacGregor studied Music at our College from 1978-1981. She became an Honorary Fellow of the College in 2012 and was appointed an OBE in that year.
Professor Joanna MacGregor is a concert pianist, conductor, and composer who has performed in more than 70 countries. She is Professor of the University of London and Head of Piano at the Royal Academy of Music and Artistic Director of the Dartington International Summer School & Festival.
As a soloist she has appeared with the London and Sydney Symphony Orchestras, the Chicago, Melbourne and Oslo Philharmonic, the Berlin Symphonic and the Salzburg Camerata. A regular performer at the BBC Proms, she has made more than 40 solo recordings, founding her own record label in 1998.
Professor MacGregor was Artistic Director of the Bath International Music Festival 2006-12 and curated the multi-arts Deloitte Ignite Festival at the Royal Opera House in 2010, as well as Aventures, an orchestral series for Luxembourg Philharmonie in 2012-13. A Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music and of Trinity College of Music, she is a Visiting Musician at Oriel College, Oxford.
Find out more about the Honorary Degrees bestowed this year on the University of Cambridge website.