The Cambridge Buskers were a duo of British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 musicians, whose career began in the late 1970s and are now called The Classic Buskers, still going strong today.

Michael Copley

Michael Copley

Michael Copley is a virtuoso flautist and recorder player. He is a professional musician who, as well as playing the recorder and flute, is an exponent of other traditional, early and folk woodwind instruments, most notably the ocarina, an Anglo-Italian development of the ceramic vessel flute.-...

 and Dag Ingram met when they were students at Cambridge University

University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

. According to the liner notes of their first recording, their musical association began when they found themselves at the Blackfriars station

Blackfriars station

Blackfriars station, also known as London Blackfriars, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex in the City of London, England. Its platforms will eventually span the River Thames a short distance downstream from Blackfriars Bridge. The current entrance is located on the...

 without enough money for the fare to get home. In an attempt to raise the money from passers-by, they played The Entertainer

The Entertainer (rag)

"The Entertainer" is sub-titled "A rag time two step", which was a form of dance popular until about 1911, and a style which was common among rags written at the time.Its structure is: Intro AA BB A CC Intro2 DD....

and Eine kleine Nachtmusik

Eine kleine Nachtmusik

The Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major, K. 525 was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1787. The work is more commonly known by the title Eine kleine Nachtmusik. The German title means "a little serenade", though it is often rendered more literally but less accurately as "a little night music"...

for a while, until they were asked to leave by a London Transport

London Regional Transport

London Regional Transport was the organisation responsible for the public transport network in Greater London, UK from 1984-2000. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operational brand of the organisation was London Transport.The organisation was...

 official.

Subsequently, they gained international success with their performances and many recordings, and have performed in over 20 countries and in 15 languages. It is reported that at one point a Japanese

Japanese language

is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...

 comic strip was written about them.

The accordionist is no longer Dag Ingram, but Ian Moore, a talented organist, composer and singer (and a winner of the Doris Wookey Organ prize).

The Classic Buskers still write their own arrangements, primarily of classical works by famous composers. Ian Moore plays piano accordion

Accordion

The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....

, uses his voice, and occasionally other percussion instruments or props. Copley plays a variety of woodwind instruments, including flute

Flute

The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...

, recorder

Recorder

The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...

, ocarina

Ocarina

The ocarina is an ancient flute-like wind instrument. Variations do exist, but a typical ocarina is an enclosed space with four to twelve finger holes and a mouthpiece that projects from the body...

, and crumhorn

Crumhorn

The crumhorn is a musical instrument of the woodwind family, most commonly used during the Renaissance period. In modern times, there has been a revival of interest in Early Music, and crumhorns are being played again....

.

Discography

Some LPs were released under different titles in different countries.

• A Little Street Music (1977)
• Between Pub & Podium (1977)
• Not Live From New York (1979)
• Another Serious Album (1981)
• Soap Opera (1982)
• Music Abbreviation 101 (1983)
• The Cambridge Buskers Handel Bach (1985)
• The Explosive Sound of The Cambridge Buskers (1985)

• The Cambridge Buskers Collection (2007) ABC
  Australian Broadcasting Corporation
  The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
  
  (Aust) Classics 480 0136 (4 CD compilation. Over 130 Tracks - most material including above LPs content & some extras from 1977 to 1985)