WelcomeA very warm welcome to Music at Oxford’s 28th international concert season, a feast of music for you in all Oxfords best venues.

This season sees us present no fewer than four orchestras, including the welcome return of two of Britain’s finest, the CBSO and the Philharmonia. In magnificent programmes and with spectacular soloists these two mighty orchestras will build on the close relationship they have forged with the Oxford audience.

Paul Lewis continues his exploration of Schubert’s piano compositions with two exciting concerts in November and February, the second of which will be a performance of Winterreise with the great Mark Padmore. Our celebration of the voice continues with performances by the Cardinall’s Musick, The Oxford Bach choir and Merton Chapel choir, offering three very different concerts for vocal music enthusiasts to enjoy. Our Easter celebration at St Barnabas continues for a third year with appropriate seasonal work in this atmospheric Jericho setting.

Other highlights of this season include Craig Ogden, Harriet Mackenzie, Viktoria Mullova and David Miller all helping continue our aim of offering you the very best of the established and emerging artists that we can secure. Craig Ogden’s performance is in April, a stunning guitarist whom you may not have heard of but is being firmly tipped as ‘a worthy successor to Julian Bream’ and ‘the next John Williams’ don’t miss him here first.

Chamber music is represented by the Royal String Quartet and Fretwork, both contributing major performances to the early part of the season with new takes on existing repertoire plus some riveting modern work. We’re also delighted to welcome back Pei-Jee Ng’s Fournier trio to our Chapel’s series following his triumphant performance of Bach’s cello suites at Exeter in 2010 with his brother.

Lastly, I’m sorry to have to tell you that the recession has finally caught up with us and we have had to make a small rise in some ticket prices. We’ve resisted as long as we can (our last ticket price rise was in 2007) and have made only a small price adjustment to the limited quantity Sheldonian chairs and the Lower gallery seats. We’re exceedingly proud that it’s still possible to hear a world-class orchestra in our season for £10 in the upper gallery, £5 if you hold a student card.

Please do join us again, remember you can book through the website, on the phone (the number is on every page) or in person at the Oxford Playhouse.

Lastly, I’m sorry to have to tell you that the recession has finally caught up with us and we have had to make a small rise in some ticket prices. We’ve resisted as long as we can (our last ticket price rise was in 2007) and have made only a small price adjustment to the limited quantity Sheldonian chairs and the Lower gallery seats. We’re exceedingly proud that it’s still possible to hear a world-class orchestra in our season for £10 in the upper gallery, £5 if you hold a student card.

Please do join us again, remember you can book through the website, on the phone (the number is on every page) or in person at the Oxford Playhouse.

Page 2 Box Office 01865 244806

‘It is hard to imagine consort playing of greater

refinement or subtlety than this’The Times

Sheldonian Theatre

Fretwork

Bach Goldberg Variations

Possibly the world’s finest viol consort, we are delighted to open the season with

Fretwork’s unmissable evening of music making. Performing their specially created arrangement of Bach’s peerless Goldberg

Variations this should be a night to remember for Bach enthusiasts and

Baroque fans in general.

A rare opportunity to hear this much loved group in the spectacular setting of Wren’s

Sheldonian theatre.

There will be a pre-performance talk by Richard Boothby

Tickets £42 £28 £18 £10Ends: 9.20pm

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Sheldonian Theatre

Royal College of Music Symphony OrchestraRobin O’Neill conductorIntroduced by Lord Robert Winston

Haydn Oxford Symphony, no.92 in G major Prokofiev Classical Symphony, no.1 op 25 Interval Arne Gieshoff New Commission Mozart Jupiter Symphony, no.41 K.551, C major

A sparkling classical programme performed by talented conservatoire students under the distinguished baton of Robin O’Neill. This fresh slant on much-loved repertoire will be introduced by polymath Lord Robert Winston. Talent and vivacity will be at the fore during an evening introduced by celebrated polymath, Lord Robert Winston, Chairman of the RCM Council. A truly fresh slant on much-loved repertoire.

Tickets £42 £28 £18 £10Ends: 9.20pm

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Sheldonian Theatre

Paul Lewis pianoSchubert Four Impromptus D935,

Moments Musicaux D780, Fantasy in C ‘Wandererfantasie’ D760

Continuing his epic journey through Schubert’s piano music, Paul Lewis returns to showcase the dazzling Wanderer Fantasy. Lewis’s understated

persona belies the depth of feeling and expression he wrings from these works.

Tickets £42 £28 £18 £10Ends: 9.20pm

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‘What is it about Lewis’s Schubert? Well, it is teeming energy, it’s daring

simplicity - and, above all, it’s an eagerness to look into the abyss’

The Times

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‘A performance brimming with musical intelligence

and finesse’The Strad

Sheldonian Theatre

Royal String QuartetAlessandro Taverna pianoGorecki Already it is dusk (String quartet no 1, op 62)

Chopin Valse in C sharp minor, op 64 no 2 Chopin Introduction and Rondo in E flat major, op 16

Szymanowski String Quartet no 2 Interval

Chopin Piano Concerto no 1 in E minor, op 11

An irresistible programme of Polish music performed by a superb ensemble. The Royal String Quartet already have

one prize-winning recording out on Hyperion and have recently released their second, this time of Szymanowski quartets. In Oxford they are joined by Leeds and Chopin

Competition medal winner Alessandro Taverna. The Independent wrote of his interpretation of tonight’s

concerto, ‘the world was suffused with grave beauty: flawless minutes of poetry’.

Tickets £42 £28 £18 £10Ends: 9.30pm

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Holywell Music Room

David Miller lute, theorbo & baroque guitarLES MUSICIENS DU ROI: Music from the Courts of Louis XIII and Louis XIVWorks by René Mesangeau, Ennemond Gaultier, Francesco Corbetta & Robert de Visée

David Miller is one of the greatest British lutenists in Europe, working frequently with the Monteverdi Choir, The Sixteen and the Dufay Collective. He has compiled this exhilarating programme for lute, theorbo and baroque guitar from the music of the courts of the French kings at the height of their opulence. Dance rhythms, charm and zest throughout.

Tickets £20Ends: 9.15pm

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pmChrist Church Cathedral

Christmas at Christ Church

Christ Church Cathedral Choir Jean Marsh & Robert Hardy CBE readers

Stephen Darlington director

For some of us, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without our annual celebration

of words and music from across this ages. This perennial favourite returns once more with

the marvellous Christ Church Cathedral Choir under its talented leader Stephen Darlington with readers Jean Marsh and Robert Hardy.

Book early, these events are always enormously popular.

Tickets £42 £28 £18 £10Ends: 9.20pm

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Harris Manchester College Chapel

Fournier TrioChapel Series 1

Mozart Trio no 4 in E major, K542 Schumann Trio no 2 in F major, op 80 Schubert Trio no 1 in B flat major, op 99

The cellist Pei-Jee Ng first performed for us in March 2010 along with his brother, Pei-Sian, in a programme featuring Bach cello suites and two contemporary pieces. For this performance with his trio we are looking forward to another night of extraordinary playing from this young cello virtuoso, a certain star of the future.

Playing of this quality is just what the chapel series is all about: in the not too distant future you will be saying ‘I heard them first at a Music at Oxford chapel concert’.

Tickets £20Ends: 9.15pm

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Sheldonian Theatre

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchetra

Andris Nelsons conductor Hélène Grimaud piano

Brahms Piano concerto no 2

Tchaikovsky Symphony no 1 ‘Winter Daydreams’

When the CBSO, under its principal conductor Andris Nelsons, performed here in February 2010 it was

described by one MAO board member as ‘the most exciting concert I have ever been to’; some accolade

from such a seasoned concert-goer. Here with a programme including another Tchaikovsky symphony

partnering Brahms’ magnificent 2nd Piano concerto the CBSO will no doubt show their inimitable style again.

This marvellous orchestra combined with Grimaud’s transcendent playing should provide

large-scale music-making to remember.

Tickets £42 £28 £18 £10Ends: 9.20pm

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Sheldonian Theatre

Mark Padmore tenorPaul Lewis pianoSchubert Die Winterreise

Die Winterreise is widely regarded as one of the pinnacles of all Romantic art. We follow the disillusioned lover through a winter landscape to a haunting presumed end, reliving with him moments of joy, hope and disappointment. Mark Padmore and Paul Lewis are two of the finest musicians in the world. Expect an exceptional evening of music and book early.

Tickets £42 £28 £18 £10Ends: 9pm, there will be no interval in this performance

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‘The tenor Mark Padmore and the pianist Paul Lewis are an

ideal partnership in this greatest of song cycles.’

Michael Kennedy - The Sunday Telegraph

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Sheldonian Theatre

Viktoria Mullova violinKristian Bezuidenhout piano

Beethoven Violin Sonata in A minor, op 23 Beethoven Violin Sonata in E flat major, no 3, op 12

Beethoven Sonata in A minor, op 47 “Kreutzer”

Another musical summit, the Beethoven violin sonatas, and again with two of the finest players in the world. The glorious

Kreutzer Sonata is coupled with a delightfully witty and robust work from early in Beethoven’s career. It’s difficult to choose

from the vast number of ecstatic press comments, but the Chicago Tribune touchingly said ‘Mullova may be the most

elegant, refined and sweetly expressive violinist on the planet.’

Tickets £42 £28 £18 £10Ends: 9.20pm

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‘The fortepiano and the gut-stringed violin

bring extra excitement, danger even, to

Beethoven’s music.’The Times

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St. Barnabas Church

The Cardinall’s MusickAndrew Carwood director

William Byrd Mass for Four Voices, Propers for Easter, Haec dies [a 6 1591], Holy Saturday Vespers, In exitu Israel, Angelus Domini, Mane vobiscum , Post dies octo, Deus in adjutorium

William Byrd remains one of our greatest composers. Here, his solemn Lenten music is delivered with impeccable craftsmanship and heartfelt expression. This group’s complete

Byrd choral recordings have won it an unprecedented number of Gramophone awards. The atmosphere and acoustic of St Barnabas

in Jericho are perfect for this penitential seasonal music.

Tickets £30 £20 £10Ends: 9.20pm

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Sheldonian Theatre

Oxford Bach ChoirLondon Mozart Players Nicholas Cleobury conductor

Haydn Mass in B flat Major, ‘Theresienmesse’ Mozart Requiem Mass in D Minor K.626

We are delighted to welcome the Oxford Bach Choir for an evening of choral splendour featuring two great late 18th century works accompanied by the distinguished London Mozart Players. Haydn’s choral writing in the Theresienmesse has all the variety, rhythmic energy and contrapuntal skill of a composer at the height of his powers and this, performed alongside Mozart’s famous Requiem in the architectural beauty of the Sheldonian Theatre, will surely give us an exceptional concert.

Tickets £42 £28 £18 £10Ends: 9.30pm

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‘A worthy successor to Julian Bream.’

BBC music magazine

Sheldonian Theatre

Craig Ogden guitarMusic by Albeniz, Gary Ryan, Miroslav Tadic,

18th century Catalan composer Fernando Sor and composers Francisco Tárrega, Jay Ungar, Roland Dyens

and William Lovelady from Craig’s Classic FM discs

Seen by most observers as John Williams’ natural successor, guitarist Craig Ogden brings a laid back,

seemingly effortless brilliance to his playing. His shimmering interpretations of works such as Francisco

Tárrega’s Memories of the Alhambra and his virtuosity in classic and contemporary guitar repertoire have brought

him fantastic record sales and a huge number of fans amongst critics and public alike.

Tickets £42 £28 £18 £10Ends: 9.20pm

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Merton College Chapel

Merton Chapel ChoirBen Nicholas & Peter Phillips directors

Chapel Series 2

Victoria, Bruckner, Skempton, Tavener & Dubra

Follow our series of annual performances at Merton as this dynamic new choir works its way to the creation of the Merton Song Book, by commissioning music from outstanding composers of our day. This concert features three miniatures created for the choir by Howard Skempton, Sir John Tavener and the Latvian composer Rihards Dubra and ever-popular works by Tomas Luis da Victoria and Bruckner.

Tickets £20Ends: 9.15pm

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Exeter College Chapel

Harriet Mackenzie violin

Morgan Szymanski guitar

Chapel Series 3

De Falla Suite Populaire Espagnole (El Pano Moruno, Asturiana, Cancion, Nana Jota)

Bartok Romanian Folk Dances Agustin Barrios Mangore An Alm for the

Love of God (solo guitar) Ponce Estrellita (arr. M. Szymanski) Paganini Sonata no 12, op 3, no 6

Piazolla Histoire de Tango

Harriet recently won outstanding reviews as one of the most vivacious young talents at the

South Bank Centre’s young musician showcase ‘Fresh’. We’re very glad to welcome her to Exeter College Chapel with Mexican-born

guitarist Morgan Szymanski for an evening of sparkling duo music. Ticket numbers are limited in this lovely and popular venue, so

early booking is strongly advised.

Tickets £20 Ends: 9.15pm

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Sheldonian Theatre

Philharmonia Orchestra Martyn Brabbins conductorJulian Lloyd Webber cello

Vaughan Williams Overture, The Wasps Delius Cello Concerto Elgar Symphony no 1

We are so delighted to see the Philharmonia back again to close this season, and with what a programme! A British summer feast, with a British conductor and leading British soloist to add to the mix. Julian Lloyd Webber’s recording of the Delius Cello Concerto was described as ‘a version to treasure’ in Gramaphone Magazine, a plaudit not often offered and hard to ignore. Martyn Brabbins and the Philharmonia have a strong affinity for this repertoire and the combination of orchestra, conductor and soloist should allow us to leave the Sheldonian for this season in great style.

Tickets £45 £26 £18 £10 Ends: 9.20pm

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BOOKING & INFORMATION

PRICESSheldonian Theatre £10, £18, £28, £42Holywell Music Room £20Chapels £20Christ Church Cathedral prices £10, £18, £28, £42St. Barnabas Church £10, £20, £30

Concessions (maximum of one per ticket)6-18 year olds* 50% discountStudents & JSA Save £5 on any ticketGroups 10+ 15% discountLimited mobility** 50% discount (Limited availability)*Children under 6 cannot be admitted.**Sheldonian Theatre only, other venuesaccessible in all areas.

DISCOUNTSSeason 6+ concerts 15% discountChapel Series 3 concerts 10% discount

HOW TO BOOKTelephone: 01865 244806 (Mon-Fri 9.30am-5pm)Website: www.musicatoxford.comIn person: The Oxford Playhouse, Beaumont Street, Oxford OX1 2LW.E-mail: info@musicatoxford.comPost: Music at Oxford, Osney Lock Boathouse, Bridge Street, Oxford, OX2 0AX.(Booking forms available on our website or by request)

Postage/Booking Fees: We charge 55p pertransaction for postage on telephone transactions.There are no other booking charges.

Refunds: Tickets cannot be refunded except inthe case of a cancelled concert. Exchanges areonly possible when the Season Discount has beenapplied. We reserve the right to change artists and programme.

Access: All venues have disabled access andfacilities; please book early as wheelchair space can be limited. The Sheldonian Theatre is fitted with a hearing loop system.

Unnumbered Seating: Unnumbered seatingguarantees you a space in your chosen area but not a specific seat. Please arrive in good time to choose your seat.

Venue Box Office: A venue box office is openfor door sales one hour before each concert, 15minutes before a pre concert talk.

Doors Open: Doors open half an hour beforethe advertised start time, or 15 minutes beforepre-concert talks.

Conditions of Sale: Tickets cannot be refunded except in the case of a cancelled concert. Sponsors and those with disabilities are entitled to reserved seats in unnumbered areas, allocated at the discretion of Music at Oxford. Music at Oxford reserves the right to refuse admission; we regret that children under 6 cannot be admitted. Information correct at time of going to press; we reserve the right to change the advertised programme, venue or artists.

AdministrationSimon Courtenay-Taylor Chief ExecutiveAlison Giles Artistic PlanningHarriet Green Sales & Marketing AdministratorRosemary Cameron Sales & Marketing AssistantCamilla Moore-Gwyn Concert Co-ordinatorMartin Peters Stewards Manager

Life PresidentYvonne Pye

TrusteesRobin Barker (Chairman)Nick Hedges, Edwin Antill, Ralph Waller

Thanks to: Sophie Biddell, Maggie Burge, Joy Castleton, Emily Crewe, Corinna Connor, Chris de Souza,Dominic Hamilton, Caroline Felton, Initiate Student Representatives, Oxford Bach Choir, Pam Pugh,Jeffery Shackell, Gareth Thomas, Aaron at Design Monkey, Taya Smith and the Jaqueline Du Pre Music Builing. Special thanks go to all our volunteer stewards and staff at all venues.

Photo credits: Chris Dawes (Fretwork), Chris Christodoulou (Royal College of Music SymphonyOrchestra), Jack Liebeck (Paul Lewis), Blow Up Agency Poland (Royal String Quartet), Pierluig Marchesan (Alessandro Taverna), William Unwin (David Miller), Ralph Williamson (Christmas at Christ Church), Mat Hennek and DG (Héléne Grimaud), Marco Borggreve (Mark Padmore), Foto Puck (Viktoria Mullova), Dmitri Gutjahr (The Cardinall’s Musick), Pal Hansen (Craig Ogden), Katharina Derfler (Merton College Chapel), Kosmos Publicity (Harriet Mackenzie), Richard Haughton (Philharmonia Orchestra).