The study of early music, which involves close critical reading of musical and literary texts as well as technical ability, is particularly suited to a university context, and many leading figures in the flourishing world of professional early music performance, including a number of CEMPR's instrumental and vocal tutors, began their careers at university.
The Department of Music at Birmingham has a long tradition of belief that the academic study of music should be informed by the experience of performing, and vice versa.
CEMPR builds on this by bringing together students, academics and performers to provide a rich environment in which received and new ideas about the interpretation of music can be explored and expressed through performance, editions and research leading to various types of academic publication.
Students working within the centre may choose to go on to undertake research in early music, to pursue professional careers as performers or to mix the two.