Oxford Festival of the Arts got under way with the spectacular light and sound installation Luxmuralis at University Church in Oxford High Street.

There was also a striking art exhibition contrasting light and night, and old with new, by Oxford-based artist James Gemmill, with easels juxtaposed against the 14-century stained glass in the antechapel at New College.

"Oxford Festival of the Arts has been off on a terrific start – with hundreds of audiences already through the doors. 

"Epic is the word on the street!" said festival director Dr Michelle Castelletti.

"Across history, humanity has always created memories and searched for things to commemorate.

"2023 is packed with possibilities. It is always about the people. It is about us – our stories – our histories.

"I hope that this year’s festival will help you make your own connections,your own anniversary commemorations, your own stories… in the Cathedral, or in the Tiltyard!

"I hope that OFA 2023 will bring you enjoyment, laughter, enrichment, moments of reflection; and, above all, a sense of community.

"Oxford is your city. This is your festival. It is a joy to present this year’s edition of Oxford Festival of the Arts to you."

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Highlights coming up this week include Sir Willard White and the Brodsky Quartet at the Sheldonian Theatre on Wednesday night at 7.30pm. 

One of the best-loved and most versatile opera stars of the last 40 years, Sir Willard White – as dazzling when performing Songbook standards as he is on the stages of the world’s great opera houses – in a wonderful collaboration with the acclaimed Brodsky Quartet.

The programme will feature highlights from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, and Kern’s Show Boat Massenet’s Elegy, Copland’s Hoedown, and the iconic My Way; alongside an arrangement of Schubert’s much-loved Trout Quintet.

Two performances of Secret Byrd are taking place in Abingdon Abbey Buildings on Thursday. 

Witness this extraordinary theatrical concert, which celebrates the 400-year legacy of William Byrd, one of England’s finest composers.

Award-winning British vocal ensemble Gesualdo Six collaborate with Fretwork for the first time in an immersive performance recreating recusant Catholic polyphony and rite.

Audiences roam freely among the costumed artists feeling the original hand-made part-books, all illuminated by candlelight. A concert experience like never before, ironically, in a building that fell victim to the dissolution of the monasteries. 

Giving context to this performance are medievalist Dr Elizabeth Gemmill and musico-historian Dr Michelle Castelletti, in a pre/post-performance talk discussing vibrancy in late monastic life and the soundscape of the time.

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The Festival opens its official Hub and Bar in the gorgeous Magdalen College School rose garden on Friday June 30. 

This will be a treat for all fans of Killing Eve, Downton Abbey, Succession, The Crown, and Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre goers with Dame Harriet Walter in conversation with theatre director John Caird at 8pm.

Calling all who love political satire!

Social Media sensation and Chortle Award winner Rosie Holt debuts an hour of comedy based on her smash-hit satirical videos, as seen millions of times online.

“If she can stay in character long enough, she’ll have a Telegraph column and a seat on Question Time by teatime,” said LBC presenter James O’Brien.

And on Sunday, July 2, at 2.30pm is the first of their triptych of Sunday Afternoon Recitals with younger artists – the stars of the new generation – already performing with major orchestras and in concert halls around the world, it will be a privilege to listen to them in Oxford, in a festival collaboration with Trinity College, Oxford.

Master of Magdalen College School, Helen Pike said: "The Oxford Festival of the Arts has been delighting audiences for well over a decade now, and is established both as a major source of entertainment and community engagement in Oxford.

"With a range of events including internationally-renowned authors and musicians, film, dance, and song, the Festival is a celebration of the people, history and stories which have created our city and our world.

"We aim to provide something to divert and delight everyone.  I look forward to welcoming you to the Oxford Festival of the Arts this summer."  

Oxford Festival of the Arts 2023 runs from 23 June – 16 July.