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12 Nov 24 | Events
The Cultural Programme announces 24/25 classical music series
Oxford University’s Cultural Programme is proud to announce a diverse and exciting new classical music series featuring performances from Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, the Castalian String Quartet, and Instruments of Time and Truth.
The concerts, part of Oxford University’s Cultural Programme, will take place in venues around Oxford between Nov 24th and May 25th before the programme moves to the Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities in 2026. The new centre will feature several state-of-the-art performance spaces, including a 500-seat concert hall.
Fresh from their Oxford International Song Festival performance, the Castalian String Quartet perform in the Holywell Music Room on Nov 26th, Jan 30th 2025 and May 9th 2025. Since forming in 2011, the Castalian String Quartet has emerged as one of the most exciting and in-demand quartets on the world stage. In 2019, the Royal Philharmonic Society named them Young Artist of the Year, and in 2022, they released their first studio recording, Between Two Worlds, to five-star reviews. The renowned quartet are resident at Oxford University, thanks to support from the Cosman Keller Art & Music Trust.
On Feb 28th, Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective is curating a day dedicated to wellness and the transformative power of music. The day opens at 7.30 am in Blackwell Hall at the Weston Library, with a one-hour, open-level yoga flow for musicians. A pre-concert panel discussion in the Sheldonian Theatre at 6.00 pm explores the all-important topic of wellness and physical and mental health for musicians and performers. It is followed at 7.30 pm by a concert where audiences can sit close to the performers on relaxed floor cushions or chairs for an intimate musical experience. This unique setting, combined with new arrangements by Kaleidoscope’s founder, Tom Poster, promises a musical experience that connects audiences to the performers and the music.
On May 7, 2025, the Cultural Programme and the Bodleian Libraries present the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, under the direction of John Butt, and with the Choir of New College Oxford. This performance marks the 300th anniversary of Johann Sebastian Bach’s 1725 Ascension Day Cantata Auf Christi Himmelfahrt allein, coinciding with the arrival of the autograph manuscript of the cantata at the Bodleian Libraries. This manuscript, one of only four of the composers in the UK, presents a rare and privileged opportunity for audiences to experience the manuscript come to life through music.
The series concludes on June 13, 2025, marking another anniversary, this time 300 years since the founding in 1725 of the Concert Spirituel, which became the primary promoter of concerts in Paris during the 18th century. Instruments of Time & Truth will perform instrumental and vocal music heard at the Concert Spirituel in the 1770s by François-Joseph Gossec, Jean-Baptiste Davaux, Jean-Joseph de Mondonville, and Amadeus Mozart. This concert goes on sale on Sunday 1 December.
To find out more about the Classical Music Series, including ticket prices and any available student discounts or group rates, and to purchase tickets for events, please click on the event and book tickets from the relevant page.
12 Nov 24