Oxford Festival of the Arts is unveiling its first ever Early Music Weekend at Magdalen College and New College in Oxford, following the outstanding success of Early Music Day last year. Don’t miss this inspiring series of concerts celebrating the finest early music, many of which are free. Here’s what to book now:
Still Life, Musica d’Outrora, Saturday June 20, Magdalen College, Grove Auditorium. 2pm: Listen to the early music ensemble’s debut album, which includes the first recording of works by Gregorio Strozzi and Ignazio Albertini alongside sonatas by Castello, Buxtehude and Stradella. Internationally renowned and founded in 2022 by Galician director and harpsichordist Pablo Devigo it specialises in an 17th-century Italian repertoire, focusing particularly on the stylus phantasticus, a Baroque compositional style. BOOK HERE
Double, Double Toil & Trouble, Palisander, Saturday 20 June, Magdalen College, Grove Auditorium, 4pm: Palisander explores the relationship between magic and music featuring music by Hildegard von Bingen, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Dowland and Giuseppe Tartini to demonstrate humanity’s fascination with the mystical. Renowned for making recorders interesting and exciting on recorders up to 6 feet tall, Palisander devises their own choreography, as well as writing new compositions and unique arrangements for the ensemble. BOOK HERE
Early Music Festival Evensong Saturday 20 June, New College Chapel, 5.45pm: New College Choir perform a special Choral Evensong directed by Robert Quinney, featuring joyful music by two giants of the German Baroque, Heinrich Schütz and Johann Sebastian Bach. Entrance is free. BOOK HERE
Dreams Under the Wings of Morpheus, Bellot Ensemble, Saturday 20 June, Magdalen College, Grove Auditorium, 7.30pm: Returning by popular demand with a new programme, ‘Dreams Under the Wings of Morpheus’ follows the quiet journey from sleep into waking, guided by the figures who shaped the ancient understanding of dreams. Scenes from Cavalli and Lully sit beside Italian and English lullabies, the calls of the nightingale and the cuckoo in works by Merula, Uccellini and Biber, as Monteverdi, Lambert and Lanier explore how signs, symbols and quiet, natural cues shape the way we understand inner experience. BOOK HERE
John Dowland: Dowland’s Foundry, songes and ayres in the library, Sunday 21 June, The Old Library, Magdalen College, 11.30am – 4pm. The lute-song ensemble are joined by viol player Sam Stadlen to give an intimate and informal table performance of selected Dowland’s songs from John Dowland’s Books of Songes and Ayres. Expect to hear lesser-known gems, as well as his greatest hits, all in the technicolour in which it was imaged. Magdalen College owns a rare first edition of the printed music of John Dowland and The Old Library will be open to allow visitors to view this beautiful early sixteenth century book. Entrance is free
Booking essential. BOOK HERE
Echoes of the Spanish Baroque, Lowe Ensemble, Sunday 21 June, Magdalen College, Grove Auditorium, 4pm: Lowe Ensemble is a Baroque music group made up of five siblings with British and Spanish roots, currently based in London. Here featuring works by Spanish composers, or French, Italian and English composers deeply influenced by Spanish culture and language, notable highlights include Handel’s rare and colourful profane Spanish cantata No se emendará jamás and Lully’s Sé que me muero de amor from ‘Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme’. Lowe Ensemble is also thrilled to present the debut performance of their own arrangement of ‘Fandango, R. 146’ by Antonio Soler. BOOK HERE
Who was John Dowland? Nicholas Mulroy, tenor Elizabeth Kenny, lute, Sunday 21 June Magdalen College, Grove Auditorium, 6pm: The festival continues its celebration of the 400th anniversary of John Dowland, with an evening with two of the most respected and exceptional musicians. As well as Italian songs published in A Musicall Banquet (1610), the evening will feature music by his contemporary William Byrd. BOOK HERE
Artistic Director of Oxford Festival of the Arts, Michelle Castelletti, commented: “It has been a joy to curate this feast of Early Music; and marvellous to collaborate with ContinuoFoundation again. The festival has always been – and remains – peppered with Early Music throughout, but it is an absolute delight to have a focused weekend of glorious music-making.”
Book the individual events above, or take advantage of OFA’s daily and full‑weekend passes.
Oxford Early Music Weekend 2026, supported by Continuo Foundation, runs from June 20–21 June at Magdalen College and New College, Oxford. Further details here: https://artsfestivaloxford.org/events/early-music-weekend/
