AN ORGANISATION which has brought hundreds of internationally-renowned classical musicians to Oxford is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

And to mark Music at Oxford’s birthday, a star-studded concert will be held at the Sheldonian Theatre, Broad Street, tomorrow night.

Soprano Dame Felicity Lott, baritone Sir Thomas Allen and pianist Malcolm Martineau will perform a programme including music by Mendelssohn, Mozart, Strauss and Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Music at Oxford acting artistic director Alison Giles said: “For a concert promoter, there could be no better way to celebrate a significant birthday than with mouth-watering music and superlative performers.

“This really is a concert to savour.”

The organisation was launched by Karen Gadd, originally with the plan of holding a series of high quality, large scale concerts supported by big business sponsors.

Over the 25 years, about 20 concerts have been held each season, running from October to June, with annual audiences totalling about 7,000 people.

Victoria Bosher, of Music at Oxford, said: “Our aim is to bring the top classical musicians into Oxford and put concerts on in really beautiful, historical buildings, which makes the concerts really unique.

“We do have a couple of stewards who have been here from the very start and they speak very fondly about the last 25 years. The team is very excited about getting to 25 years and also about what we have got coming up.”

Musicians from all over the world have performed at Music at Oxford concerts, including St Petersburg Chamber Choir, the Polish Chamber Orchestra, the Vienna Boys Choir, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Escolania de Monserrat and Shura Cherkassky.

Famous pianist Alfred Brendel has performed in the city on several occasions, and Dame Felicity Lott first sang for Music at Oxford in 1996, partnered by Graham Johnson.

Other big names to return several times at Music at Oxford’s invitation include Emma Kirkby, John Williams and Melvyn Tann, and the legendary George Melly and Humphrey Lyttleton were brought to the city in December 1998.

The Philharmonia, BBC Symphony, Bournemouth Symphony, London Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony and Hallé Orchestras have also graced city stages with their performances.

Miss Bosher said: “We are keen to have a mixture of both really big names and up and coming new artists. We try to make it a really fantastic experience.”

Tickets for tomorrow’s performance cost from £10 to £40 and are available from ticketsoxford.com