About Us
Waits were groups of official musicians who worked in cities and towns from medieval times to the 18th Century. They would play for the Mayor and civic occasions, but could also knock out some popular music for the people. So that is what we do.
Elizabeth Gutteridge
Lizzie took up playing shawm as a part of the historical re-enactment movement to re-form Waits bands, then decided to pursue it further and make it her main occupation. She plays a wide range of historical instruments, including bagpipes, recorders, curtals and fiddles.
Lizzie now performs up and down the country, in and out of historical costume, as a member of Blondel and The York Waits. Freelance engagements have included the Globe's “Nell Gwynn”, both on tour and in the West End, “The Knight of the Burning Pestle” at the Wanamaker Theatre, performances in Morocco and London with Passamezzo, large scale events at Hampton Court and the Tower of London as well as TV appearances on “Thronecast – Gameshow of Thrones” and “A Merry Tudor Christmas with Lucy Worsley” and live & recorded performances on bagpipe of Gregory Rose’s “Dance Macabre”.
Amy Keller
Amy is studying music at Pembrook College, Cambridge where she is a choral scholar. Mainly playing keyboards, she also plays the viola and trombone (or sackbut in the Waits). She is a keen member of the Tudor enactors at Kentwell Hall where among the ancient skills she has learned she spends many hours turning things on a pole lathe.
Terry Mann (Musical Director)
Terry studied early woodwind instrument making at the London College of Furniture in the 1980s, and then took up composition at Goldsmiths where he got his PhD and also taught composition. For many years he played percussion as a dance accompanist at the Royal School of Ballet, The English National Ballet School, The Laban Centre and The Place (Home of the London Contemporary School of Dance). He now makes early woodwind instruments in his workshop near Cambridge. Meeting various like-minded players through the early music world, he decided to form the New Cambridge Waits in 2021 after enthusiastic encouragement from the
Mayor of Cambridge's office.
He plays early reeds, pipe and tabor and sackbut in the Waits, but is a multi-instrumentalist.
His instrument making site is www.terrymann.net
Emma Mordue
Having had a varied career over the last 20 years Emma could be described as a multidisciplinary artist. Her work spans music and performing arts, as well as visual media. Despite this variety, a love of early music and early modern performance is a common thread throughout. Recent projects have included taking a 16th century travelling player to schools, a mythical musical woodland sprite walkabout to festivals, and musical directing and co-producing an adaptation of The Tailor of Gloucester where she got to also feature as a musical Simpkin the cat.
She blames her love of early music on a workshop with the York Waits in the mid 90s, and so is delighted to now play with The New Cambridge Waits.