The Centre for Early Music Performance and Research at Birmingham (CEMPR for short), was founded in 1998 by Dr Mary O'Neill and Professor John Whenham. Their aim was to create a centre with international links which, uniquely in higher education institutions in this country, brings together academic and performance research in early music at the highest professional level.

CEMPR also exists to co-ordinate and encourage all kinds of early music activities within the Music Department and the University, from lessons for beginners on Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque instruments and in early vocal techniques, through workshops, master classes and concerts, to postgraduate programmes in performance practice, international symposia and research projects.

If you are interested in early music - by which we mean not just the music of a particular period, but an approach to performing and thinking about music which asks 'What can we learn about the performance of music of the past, and how can this knowledge be used to enhance our understanding of that music?' - then CEMPR has something to offer you, from undergraduate to postgraduate level and beyond.