Classical music events in Oxford and Oxfordshire
We pick out some of the best classical music events in Oxford and across Oxfordshire that you can’t afford to miss in the weeks and months ahead. There is something for everyone, from splendid chamber music to superb operas – head to any of the performances below, and you’ll be in for a treat. You’ll find a growing diary of Classical Music, Opera & Ballet events in Oxford and across Oxfordshire in the ‘What’s on’ section.
Tchaikovsky and Brahms with Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra
When: 05 FebruaryWhere: Sheldonian TheatreView event Buy ticketsBefore Marios Papadopoulos conducts what is surely Johannes Brahms’s best-loved symphony, the astonishing prodigy Leia Zhu takes on Tchaikovsky’s powerful and poetic Violin Concerto.
Sir András Schiff in recital
When: 15 FebruaryWhere: Sheldonian TheatreView event Book ticketsAs a prelude to the 25th Anniversary of the Oxford Piano Festival, Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra presents the Festival’s President, Sir András Schiff, in recital at the Sheldonian Theatre. Having collaborated with the world’s leading orchestras and conductors, Sir András Schiff now focuses primarily on solo recitals, play-directing and conducting.
Discover more: Oxford Piano Festival
St Matthew Passion
When: 06 AprilWhere: Sheldonian TheatreView event Book ticketsBach’s great depiction of Jesus’s arrest and crucifixion, the St Matthew Passion, was unprecedented when it was first performed on Good Friday 1727. The Orchestra is joined by The Choir of The Queen’s College, The Boys of Radley College Choir and front-rank soloists for this Passiontide performance under The Queen’s College’s Owen Rees.
Discover more: Sheldonian Theatre
American Journey with Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra
When: 22 AprilWhere: Sheldonian TheatreView event Book ticketsBetween them, Aaron Copland and Samuel Barber defined the orchestral sound of America in the first half of the 20th century. But plenty of gems of American music remain undiscovered. Cayenna Ponchione-Bailey also brings us Florence Price’s astonishing Piano Concerto of 1934, played by Samantha Ege, and William Grant Still’s idyllic pastoral, Wood Notes.
Discover more: Classical Music, Opera & Ballet
The Creation with Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra
When: 29 AprilWhere: Sheldonian TheatreView event Book ticketsWhen The Creation was first performed, Haydn was overcome by his own achievements. In representing chaos and the creation of light, the oratorio’s elemental inspiration transcends the boundaries of its era. In the building where Haydn received his Oxford doctorate, the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra is joined by soloists and the Choir of Merton College for Haydn’s most inspired ‘creation’.
Discover more: Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra
French Pastoral with Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra
When: 18 MayWhere: Sheldonian TheatreView event Book ticketsNicolò Foron conducts French Pastoral with Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra alongside more beauteous music from France and Britten’s sparkling setting of French poetry, Les Illuminations.
Discover more: Sheldonian Theatre
Enigma Variations with Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra
When: 03 JuneWhere: Sheldonian TheatreView event Book ticketsThe ‘Enigma’ variations are uplifting and resigned, humorous and profound. Elgar’s dazzling, virtuosic orchestral showpiece comes after his acerbic, embittered and sorrowful Cello Concerto written in less happy times and the rediscovered gem that is Morfydd Llwyn Owen’s sumptuous Nocturne.
The Orchestral Music of Afghanistan
When: 15 JuneWhere: Sheldonian TheatreView event Book ticketsFeaturing new compositions by Afghan composers living in exile, this concert celebrates the rich history of traditional Afghan music and explores how that tradition can be maintained and expanded globally at a time when making music in Afghanistan is forbidden.
Bruckner Seven with Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra
When: 29 JuneWhere: Sheldonian TheatreView event Book ticketsFor this culmination of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra’s season at the Sheldonian Theatre, Marios Papadopoulos conducts Bruckner’s symphony here after Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 – actually the composer’s first full-length orchestral work, and an imposingly assertive one at that.
Oxford Piano Festival 2023
When: 29 July to 06 AugustWhere: VariousView event Festival websiteThe Oxford Piano Festival was founded in 1999 by Marios Papadopoulos, renowned pianist and Music Director of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra. Each year, the Festival welcomes piano players and pedagogues, experts and enthusiasts, to some of Oxford’s most historic venues, such as Sir Christopher Wren’s Sheldonian Theatre, the Holywell Music Room, and Christ Church Cathedral.
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