Big Sips
Mid-century cocktail lounge ensemble
Big Sips is a six-piece ensemble exploring the forgotten world of mid-century lounge and cocktail music from the 1930s-60s. Inspired by the golden age of hotel bars and cocktail lounges, this is music that was originally written to create a relaxed and stylish soundtrack for bars, hotels and restaurants, yet far more imaginative than the background music we tend to associate with those spaces today. Composers of the period blended jazz, Latin American rhythms, classical orchestration, film music, and popular song into a distinctive musical language. Our original arrangements and compositions draw on the playful, cinematic, and often surprising soundworld that defined this era, with repertoire including Raymond Scott, Les Baxter, Martin Denny, Esquivel, Arthur Lyman, and George Gershwin.
St John's College May Ball, June 2026
St Catharine's College May Ball, June 2026
Peterhouse College May Ball, June 2026
Jesus College May Ball, June 2026
Master of St John's College June Garden Party, May 2026
Lady Margaret Boat Club Annual Dinner, May 2026
Clare Cellars, May 2026
St John's College Bar, April 2026
Trinity Music Society Garden Party, May 2026
Selected Performances
Trinity College Bar, April 2026
Magdelene College Music Society Dinner, April 2026
King's College Affair, June 2026
Kings College Bar, April 2026
Players
Sohan Kalirai, creative director
Sohan Kalirai is a pianist, composer and violinist. Alongside Big Lips, he currently works as manager of the Cambridge New Music Network, a hub for student-led contemporary music making in Cambridge University. His work focuses on music in a theatrical environment, directing and composing for productions including Shakespeare's Measure for Measure (2026), Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale (2024), Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George (2023), and collaborative projects with the Cambridge School of Visual and Performing Arts. He founded Big Lips in 2022, whilst studying music at St John's College Cambridge, where he was President of John's Music Society (2024). He held joint first studies in Piano and Composition at the Junior Royal Academy of Music, studying with Graham Caskie and John Cooney. He was awarded the JRAM Piano Prize (2022), first Prize in the East Anglian Young Composer Competition (2019 & 2021), and the International Clementi Keyboard Award at the Dulwich Music Festival (2019).
Adah Charles, clarinet/alto sax
Adah Charles is a music student at St John’s College, Cambridge. She attends the Guildhall School, studying with Joy Farrall, where she has a scholarship to study a masters degree next year. During her time at Sheffield music academy she was a member of several award schemes, including Young Sounds UK; the Christine Brown Trust; and the Universal Music UK Sound Foundation. She was a finalist in the Cambridge University Concerto Competition in 2025 and now in her third year, she plays in the Cambridge University Orchestra.
Ed Hinchliff, trumpet
Ed Hinchliff started playing the trumpet aged 9, and after playing in local youth orchestras, started studying at Junior Guildhall in 2018. From there, Ed joined the National Youth orchestra for the 2023 season, staying for two years. Since coming to Cambridge, Ed has enjoyed playing in the University orchestra, and putting on projects including Stravinsky’s Soldiers Tale and Copland’s Quiet City. Starting in September, Ed will be attending the Guildhall school for a postgrad on the Orchestral Artistry scheme.
Claudio Gaete, trumpet
Claudio Gaete is a trumpet player who performs regularly in classical and jazz ensembles across Cambridge where he studies Architecture at Magdalene College. Alongside Big Lips, he performs in the function band Half Orange and the Cambridge University Symphony Orchestra.
Alex Jones, bass
Alex is an electric bassist who grew up playing in rock/pop bands before getting involved with funk, hip-hop and jazz at university. More recently he's been moving away from the standard cover bands for more exciting projects such as Pulsar, an electronic/hiphop/jazz fusion band writing originals, who have won the Take It To The Bridge competition at Cambridge in 2026.
Jude Ellacott, percussion
Jude is an orchestral and Latin percussionist studying music at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He is currently principal percussionist in Cambridge University Orchestra and gives both ensemble and solo performances across the university.
