Oxford Lieder returns for its 21st year in October 2022

The 21st Oxford Lieder Festival: 14 to 29 October 2022
Friendship in Song: An Intimate Art

• Oxford Lieder, the UK’s biggest festival of song, marks its 21st year with a fortnight featuring nearly 80 events.
• World-class singers and pianists, alongside emerging stars, take to the stage for song recitals, complemented by a wide-ranging series of illustrated study events.
• World premieres include songs cycles by British-Chinese composer Alex Ho (Oxford Lieder’s new Associate Composer), Ian Venables and Elena Langer.
• A range of ticket prices with several free events, tickets starting at just £3 and a choice of discounts and concessionary rates make the Festival accessible to all.

The Oxford Lieder Festival (14 to 29 October 2022) presents a thrilling fortnight of exploration, discovery and inspiration this autumn. Friendship in Song: An Intimate Art focuses on song as an art-form that grew up around the piano, at social gatherings and salons, among friends. It highlights the many works that were inspired by friendships between composers, poets, artists and performers, and recreates a special, intimate atmosphere as audiences are invited to enjoy a festive spirit of conviviality and shared experience. Nearly 200 singers, instrumentalists and speakers will appear in 76 events, encompassing the great works of the repertoire alongside new works and exciting discoveries.

Artists include Kate Royal, Christine Rice and Julius Drake, who give the opening recital on 14 October; Thomas Oliemans, accompanying himself in a performance of Winterreise (15 Oct); James Gilchrist and Anna Tilbrook who celebrate 25 years of musical partnership (18 Oct); Birgid Steinberger and Julius Drake (23 Oct); Roderick Williams and Susie Allan (24 Oct); Camilla Tilling and Paul Rivinius (25 Oct); Dorothea Röschmann and Malcolm Martineau (27 Oct); Carolyn Sampson and Joseph Middleton (28 Oct); and Dame Sarah Connolly with Julius Drake (29 Oct). International artists appearing for the first time include Sarah Wegener and Götz Payer (15 Oct); Patricia Petibon, with Susan Manoff (16 Oct); Werner Güra and Christoph Berner (23 Oct); and Julian Prégardien, appearing with his father Christoph Prégardien and Michael Gees (26 Oct).

The Festival focus on intimate music making includes a series of lute-song recitals. BBC New Generation Artist Helen Charlston appears with Toby Carr (14 Oct); lutenist Thomas Dunford performs with Benjamin Appl (15 Oct) and Iestyn Davies (22 Oct). Mark Padmore performs with Elizabeth Kenny (17 Oct). On 17 October, Christopher Purves, Rowan Pierce and the Choir of The Queen’s College will recreate an 18th-century ‘Catch Club’ at Freud’s bar.

Mark Padmore will also be the Festival’s Artist in Residence, giving an all-Schubert recital with Till Fellner (22 Oct), as well as a lecture on Britten’s poets and an in-conversation with Kate Kennedy (20 Oct). He will lead the residential Mastercourse for Oxford Lieder Young Artists in the second week of the Festival (24-29 Oct).

The Festival begins less than a week after the 150th birthday of Ralph Vaughan Williams, and the lunchtime series in the first week will be in partnership with BBC Radio 3 and the BBC New Generation Artists. Four live-broadcast concerts are given by NGAs past and present including Kathryn Rudge (18 Oct), William Thomas (19 Oct) and Ailish Tynan (20 Oct). The series concludes with Alessandro Fisher, William Vann and the Navarra Quartet (21 Oct), performing On Wenlock Edge and a new by Ian Venables, Portraits of the Mind, commissioned by the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society.

The middle weekend of the Festival (22/23 Oct) is dedicated to Franz Schubert. This weekend will be an annual feature until the Schubert bicentenary in 2028, and its centrepiece will be an lecture-recital given by Graham Johnson, tracing Schubert’s life 200 years on. He starts this year with an exploration of Schubert and his friends in 1822, joined by singers including Esme Bronwen-Smith, winner of the 2022 Kathleen Ferrier Awards.

The cream of the new generation includes sensational French soprano Marie-Laure Garnier, Chinese mezzo-soprano Yajie Zhang, countertenor Hugh Cutting (Kathleen Ferrier Award winner 2021), baritone James Atkinson (ROSL winner 2022), and soprano Jessica Cale (Kathleen Ferrier Award winner 2020), amongst many others. Almost every evening recital begins with a short Emerging Artist slot, giving a vital showcase to outstanding young professionals. Mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron and BBC New Generation Artist Kunal Lahiry will give the premiere of A Place Called Paradise, by British-Chinese composer Alex Ho, Oxford Lieder’s new Associate Composer, and Singaporean poet Theophilus Kwek (26 Oct).

International partnerships include a new association with Beethovenfest Bonn (in the 75th anniversary of the twinning of Oxford and Bonn), presenting an evening (21 Oct) with Schumann’s Dichterliebe (James Atkinson and Sholto Kynoch), Elena Langer’s Landscape With Three People (Anna Dennis, Nicholas Daniel et al.) and an abridged version of Thomas Mann’s novella Tonio Kröger read by Sir Thomas Allen. OLF also presents Young Artists of the Zeist International Lied Festival (20 Oct) and LIFE Victoria Festival, Barcelona (27 Oct).

The Festival continues to open its doors for people to enjoy new experiences in a friendly and welcoming environment. A host of popular Song Connections events include: SongPath at Oxford Botanic Garden; an exploration of salon music-making across the ages led by Natasha Loges; a tour of Trinity College; a visit to the Leonid Pasternak collection; several events related to Vaughan Williams and his contemporaries; Strauss’s life in song led by Gavin Plumley; and ‘Transcultural Encounters’, led by poet Jennifer Wong with Alex Ho, Fleur Barron and Kunal Lahiry. Late-night events include the Oxford Gargoyles at Freud’s (17 Oct), folksongs and a ‘Musical Nightcap’ at the Mad Hatter (23 & 26 Oct), and several recitals.

A number of events are free or priced at £3-£5 and there are thousands of tickets for £15 or less. There is a generous range of discounts offered to anyone booking multiple events, and tickets are available at £5 for under-35s to all events. Venues include St John the Evangelist Church, the Jacqueline du Pré Music Building at St Hilda’s College, the Levine Building at Trinity College, the Holywell Music Room (Europe’s oldest concert hall), Convocation House, the Divinity School, the Oxford Botanic Garden, the Leonid Pasternak Collection, Freud Café, the Mad Hatter bar, and several college chapels.

Sholto Kynoch, Artistic Director of Oxford Lieder Festival, said: ‘I spend my year looking forward to these two buzzing and vibrant weeks, not only for the glorious, up-close music and amazing artists, but also for the festive atmosphere and the sense of friendship and shared experience that is incomparable. OLF is 21 this year – coming of age! ­– and I wanted to put the all-important elements of friendship, intimacy and conviviality at the centre of our programme.

I am thrilled that such an amazing array of artists will be coming to Oxford for this unique celebration of Friendship in Song. The programme has a deliberately wide focus, embracing both the great works of the repertoire as well as new works and exciting discoveries. There is something for everyone. If you’ve not been to the Festival before, I urge you to try it out, discover the wonderful world of song, and rest assured of the warmest of welcomes.’

Public booking for the Oxford Lieder Festival is now open. Book tickets online CLICK HERE or phone the Box Office on 01865 591276.