Sansara
MUSIC OF THE SPIRES
University Church of St Mary the Virgin
Friday, 6pm
Tickets: 01865 305305 or ticketsoxford.com
This remarkable a cappella ensemble, formed by Oxford University students in 2013, returns to its roots to continue its popular Music of the Spires series, which celebrates the English choral tradition with music from the Bodleian Library collections performed alongside contemporary works. Featured composers in this concert range from Tallis, Byrd, Sheppard and Gibbons to Judith Weir and James MacMillan.
Opus 48
COME & SING TIPPETT’S A CHILD OF OUR TIME
St Andrew’s Church, Linton Road
Saturday, 10.30am
Tickets & info: www.opus48choir.co.uk
Oxford’s newest choir, which debuted last year, invites singers from across Oxfordshire to come and spend a day singing spirituals from Michael Tippett’s A Child of Our Time, his poignant and evocative oratorio inspired by the infamous Kristallnacht of November 1938. The workshop will be led by David Crown, Opus 48’s inspirational conductor, and runs from 10.30am to 3.30pm, with breaks. There will then be a short concert performance at 4pm. Whether you are already familiar with these pieces, or would like to discover them, this promises to be an exciting and fulfilling experience.
Junko Kobayashi, Piano
MOZART/BEETHOVEN/CHOPIN
Holywell Music Room
Saturday, 5pm
Tickets: 01865 305305 or ticketsoxford.com
Japanese piano sensation Junko Kobayashi returns to Oxford to perform as part of an Oxford University Alumni event. Her programme includes Mozart Sonata in C major K330, Beethoven Sonata in F minor Op.57 ‘Appassionata’and Chopin Nocturne in D flat major Op.27 No.2 and Grande Valse Brillante in E flat major Op.18. Tickets are selling fast for the concert, so grab them while you can!
Diva Opera
ROSSINI: L’ITALIANA IN ALGERI
Fingest Great Barn
Saturday, 6pm
Tickets: www.fingestgreatbarnopera.co.uk
Tickets are now very limited for this treat of an opera, so grab them while you can! After last week’s performance of Madama Butterfly, Diva Opera returns to Fingest Great Barn, near Henley, with Rossini’s delicious comedy, performed by some of the UK’s most talented young stars. Don’t forget your picnic – but no need to worry about the weather, because you can eat in the marquee or side barn.
The World Orchestra for Peace
THE OXFORD CONCERT FOR PEACE
Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford
Saturday, 7.30pm
Tickets: 01865 305305 or ticketsoxford.com
To coincide with International Peace Day, the World Orchestra for Peace – founded by legendary conductor Sir Georg Solti in 1995 – brings together some of the world’s leading string players from fifteen countries in one of only three performances in 2019 to promote world peace. The orchestra was designated a UNESCO Arts for Peace in 2010, and performed at the UNESCO Concert for Peace at the BBC Proms in 2014. This promises to be a very special occasion.
Orchestra of St John’s
MUSIC IN THE ABBEY
Dorchester Abbey
Saturday, 7.30pm
Tickets: www.osj.org.uk
The OSJ and OSJ Ashmolean Voices perform a lovely programme in the glorious setting of Dorchester Abbey, including Brahms’ monumental Violin Concerto in D major (with soloist Jan Schmolck, the OSJ’s leader), Mendelssohn’s evocative Hebrides Overtureand five of Bruckner’s motets: Os iusti, Virga Jesse, Ave Maria, Locus iste and Christe factus est.OSJ founder John Lubbock conducts.
Oxford Sinfonia
MENDELSSOHN AND BEETHOVEN
University Church of St Mary the Virgin
Saturday, 7.30pm
Tickets: www.oxfordsinfonia.co.uk
Acclaimed young conductor Paul Wingfield joins Oxford Sinfonia – which was formed in the city 35 years ago – to conduct two popular Mendelssohn works, the Hebrides Overtureand Piano Concerto No.1 in G minor(with prize-winning Hungarian pianist Domonkos Csabay), plus Beethoven’s stirring Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, ‘Eroica’.
Oxford Coffee Concerts
LEONORE PIANO TRIO
Holywell Music Room
Sunday, 11.15am
Tickets: 01865 305305 or www.ticketsoxford.com
Tickets are selling fast for this hour-long concert, which sees the popular Leonore Piano Trio return to Oxford to perform two Beethoven piano trios, the E flat major Op.1 No.1 and D major Op.70 No.1, ‘Ghost’. The trio was formed in 2012 by Benjamin Nabarro (violin), Gemma Rosefield (cello) and Tim Horton (piano), all internationally acclaimed artists in their own right.
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