In this centenary year, ACE Cultural Tours explores the impact of the First World War on the University of Cambridge through music and literature, in a brand new tour spanning Remembrance Day 100 years after the outbreak of the conflict.

On the eve of the First World War Cambridge University was a hotbed of creativity, where gifted students promised to become the great composers and poets of the 20th century. Many never saw their genius come to light as they died on the battlefields and their early work was often forgotten.

This new tour follows in the footsteps of key composers and poets such as William Denis Browne and Rupert Brooke, examining their words and music through archival material not normally available to the public.

We take in music performances and a masterclass, enjoy special access to restricted parts of Cambridge Colleges, and gain insights into collections held by the University Library of trench journals and soldiers' letters. We will also be privileged to see the first performance of Denis Browne's short opera, The Comic Spirit, since its one and only performance at Cambridge with the composer's undergraduate friends just before the war.

This new tour is led by Dr Kate Kennedy, who presents for Radio 3 and is their advisor for the centenary of the First World War. Her publications include a biography of Ivor Gurney, and she has edited Literary Britten and The Silent Morning: Culture and Memory After the Armistice.

World War One Cambridge: Music & Poetry, 10–13 Nov 2014; £945

For more information and a full itinerary please see our website:

http://www.aceculturaltours.co.uk/tourdetails/4225

-ENDS-

NOTES TO EDITORS

Established in 1958, ACE Cultural Tours is the most experienced cultural tours travel operator in the UK, offering more than 200 worldwide tours annually.

Owned by the charitable organisation, the ACE Foundation, all of our surplus is used to support educational projects in the UK and worldwide.

Our ATOL number is 10204, and our ABTOT number is 5237.

Visit the ACE Cultural Tours website here: www.aceculturaltours.co.uk

Visit the ACE Foundation website here: http://www.acefoundation.org.uk

Contact: Kate Price Thomas, kate@aceculturaltours.co.uk