Governing Body Fellow, Director of Studies for Music
After reading music at the University of York, Nigel Yandell was awarded a Scholarship at the University of Oxford where he engaged in doctoral studies in music at Wadham College. His research interests were principally in the field of eighteenth-century keyboard music and related performance practice. During his time at Oxford he also taught for Wadham, Magdalene and Brasenose colleges.
After Oxford Nigel maintained a wide variety of musical interests while pursuing a professional career in investment banking and fund management. He initially joined Enskilda Securities where in 1988 he became head of Nordic Research, and the bank’s youngest partner. His publications won numerous professional awards, including the top award for three successive years from Extel, widely considered the industry benchmark for research excellence in investment banking. He held senior positions in a number of city firms, including directorships at Barclays de Zoette Wedd and BZW International. For Hill Samuel Asset Management and Creditanstalt he managed the top-performing Central and Eastern European Fund – one of the first public funds to invest in Eastern Europe and Russia. As Chief Investment Officer for BNP Paribas, he was responsible for establishing the bank’s international asset management business in London.
From 2001 to 2010 Nigel was Bursar of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and then Senior Researcher in Music. A contributor to the most recent edition of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, his research interests include European instrumental music (1750-1830), music publishing, dissemination and reception, the history of European music institutions, as well as strategic issues in present day music education. He became Honorary Director of Music at Hughes Hall in 2014 and is also Director of Studies in Music.
Nigel Yandell has lectured in the UK and internationally and is an experienced solo pianist, accompanist, teacher and examiner. In the Faculty of Music he teaches aural skills and also offers undergraduate supervisions in keyboard skills. He has been a Director of the London Sinfonietta, the William Alwyn Foundation and Procorda. Currently he is a Trustee of the Cambridge University Music Society, the Cambridge Union Society and the Stradivari Trust.
