Still riding on a wave of euphoria after a phenomenally successful 25th anniversary season, Music at Oxford now has something else to celebrate — a new home. After many years at Littlegate Street, Music at Oxford now operates from a lovely canal-side office at Osney Lock, a dream setting that Simon Courtney-Taylor, the company’s chief executive, is delighted with — despite the profusion of boxes still waiting to be sorted.
Happily, arrangements for the forthcoming season were all done and dusted before the move, and it looks to be, arguably, one of the best yet. A highlight of the season is the premiere of a new Requiem by Bob Chilcott, jointly commissioned by Music at Oxford and the Oxford Bach Choir, and Simon is greatly looking forward to this collaboration.
“I’m a fan of the choir — I’ve been to several of their concerts and I think they have a very, very high standard,” he says. “When they approached us and said they were thinking of commissioning this piece, we thought it was the right kind of thing for us to be going into. It gives us the opportunity to mount a large-scale choral piece during the season.
“We’re having a sort of festival of choirs, because we’ve also got New College Choir and the European Union Baroque Orchestra doing The Messiah in December, and Christ Church Choir for the carol concerts, so there’s plenty for large-scale vocal fans this year.”
Large-scale orchestral fans will be happy, too, because there’s no fewer than three major orchestras lined up for this season. The Royal Philharmonic will be joining the Oxford Bach Choir for the Chilcott piece in March, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra visits in February and the Hallé closes the season in June.
“As far as I know this is a first for Music at Oxford,” says Simon. “In previous seasons we’ve only managed to mount one major orchestral concert in a season, so it’s a great coup to be able to bring those to Oxford.”
New this season is the Chapel series, which sees Music at Oxford making use of some of the loveliest and most atmospheric chapels in the city.
“I thought it would be lovely to do something in these chapels because they’re wonderful venues,” explains Simon. “We’ve used it as an opportunity to try and put on some younger, emerging performers. So, for instance, one of the groups we’re putting on is the Vardanyan String Quartet, who came out of our Springboard programme last year, and they do terrific work.”
Elsewhere in the season there is the usual mix of established artists, such as Emma Johnson, Tasmin Little, Trevor Pinnock and Mark Padmore, as well as emerging artists such as pianist Sophie Cashell and soprano Lucy Crowe, performing variously at the Sheldonian, the Holywell and the Jacqueline du Pré Music Building.
Opening the season is legendary Romanian pianist Radu Lupu, in a rare UK appearance.
“He’s an extraordinary pianist,” says Simon.“He’s very particular about the repertoire he’ll perform, which gave us a slight problem in that we went to press with one repertoire that he was going to be perform, and he’s shifted recently and is currently still deciding what he’d really like to perform! Whatever he does, it’ll be an extraordinary performance, so something that is not to be missed if you like unusual and great pianists.”
November sees the return of an Oxford favourite, Emma Kirkby, with the London Handel Players, in a programme of pastoral music by the likes of Arne, Lampe, Hayes, Vivaldi and Purcell.
Also making a welcome return are The King’s Singers, in a programme of music inspired by dance.
“What we’ve tried to do this season is find a real mix of things,” says Simon. “That’s the joy and the challenge of the job.”
lThe new Music at Oxford season starts on October 9. For full details, call 0870 7500659 or visit musicatoxford.com
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