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These Enchanted Isles

23-28 September 2024

Sunday 22nd September 6:00pm and Monday 23rd September 5:00pm

Film Screening

Phoenix Cinema, Walton St ‘4’ - a film about Quatuor Ébène

Daniel Kutschinski’s remarkable documentary lays bare the intense highs and lows of life as a string quartet - ‘a marriage for four’ as it has often been called. No part of the Ébène’s touring life is off limits, and this backstage portrait is as complex and emotionally fraught as the music itself

Los Angeles Documentary Film Festival 2015 - Best Documentary Award

‘One of the finest, most sensitive films ever conceived about music’

Luís Gago, El País

‘Watching 4 we encounter a tenderness that can only characterise a sensitive love story’

Yvonne Petitpierre, Deutschlandfunk

Post-concert | Friends Reception at Christ Church Cathedral

8:00pm | Opening Concert at Christ Church Cathedral

Haydn ‘Sunrise’ Quartet op.76 no.4

Britten Three divertimenti

Adès O Albion, from Arcadiana op.12

Beethoven Grosse Fuge op.133

This concert is generously supported by James Malcomson

OCMF Studio

Oxford Chamber Music Studio is launching its debut this year within the unique atmosphere of the festival. Running from the 23-25 September, it is an exciting opportunity for masterclasses with our artists. World-renowned clarinettist

Reto Bieri, pianist Dirk Mommertz from the iconic Fauré Piano Quartett, Quatour Ébène and artistic director Priya Mitchell will join the faculty and be mentors for the participants. There will be an opportunity to attend the masterclasses, with details to be announced on the OCMF website

New OCMFGenerations Studio

Tuesday 24th September 7.30pm

Holywell Music Room

Join us for scintillating performances from our inaugural OCMF Studio given by ensembles taking part in the masterclasses this year led by Quatuor Ébène, Reto Bieri, Priya Mitchell and Dirk Mommertz. This concert will include a performance of Britten’s String Quartet No.1 by the Animato Quartet

Wednesday 25th September 1:00pm | Holywell

Music Room

Freakshow

Judith Weir Piano Trio no.2

Rebecca Clarke Piano Trio

Sam Perkin Freakshow

We are proud and excited to inaugurate a new initiative, a platform for emerging British chamber ensembles which we hope introduces you to the stars of our musical future. This year the Paddington Trio take us on a whistlestop tour of three nations, with the Scottish composer Judith Weir’s intriguing work based on Zen stories, Irishman Sam Perkin’s entertaining pictures of odd creatures, and the great lost-and-refound English composer of the early 20th century, Rebecca Clarke, with her searingly powerful trio

Romani and Traveller folk

Wednesday 25th September 5:45pm | Bodleian Weston Library

OCMF Bodleian Lectures

Romani and Traveller people have been excluded from cultural imaginaries of Britishness, but in this talk, Hazel Marsh shows how these groups have made immense contributions to our shared folk heritage. She explores an archival collection held by the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library to trace –and celebrate – the influence of Romani and Traveller singers on British and Irish folk music traditions

OCMF is proud to be in partnership with the Bodleian Library for this 2024 Lecture Series

OCMF Festival Bar

Join us for pre- and post-concert drinks in the rooftop and main bar at The Store.

With unparalleled views over the iconic spires of Oxford, this fantastic space is a wonderful place to meet friends, OCMF artists and team pre- or post-concert. There will be a signature cocktail created specially for the festival this year! Open from 12pm everyday, reservations not required

Discoveries

Wednesday 25th September 7:45pm | Holywell Music Room

Frank Martin Trio on Irish folk themes

Elgar Violin Sonata Bridge Valse Russe

Walton Façade Suite arr. for 4 hands

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Clarinet Quintet in f-sharp minor, op.10

A captivating, expansive clarinet quintet by an important early Black British composer deservedly headlines a concert filled with discoveries. Here’s a scintillating Swiss (!) treatment of Irish folk music; vivid music for children from a twentieth-century Romantic; and a wistful waltz for a Georgian drawing room. At the centre is one of Elgar’s great, late chamber masterpieces. It was Elgar and his publisher August Jaeger (‘Nimrod’) who helped the young Samuel Coleridge-Taylor find his audience

Bechstein Trio, Mitchell, Leschenko, Mommertz, Lutsyk, Sabbah, O’Kane

Singular voices

Thursday 26th September 1:00pm

The New Space, New College, Mansfield Rd

Handel Violin Sonata in D major, HWV371 Vaughan Williams Six studies in English folksong Rebecca Clarke Viola Sonata

It is extraordinary that Rebecca Clarke’s very distinctive musical personality could have been ignored for nearly seventy years. She was a gifted professional viola player, and her insider’s understanding of the special sound and expressive possibilities of the viola has ensured that her re-discovered Sonata has been played worldwide by a whole generation of grateful violists. Vaughan Williams’ haunting Studies are brief glimpses of a timeless beauty; Handel may have been born German and schooled in Italy, but by 1750 he had become the ebullient voice of baroque England. Celebrated author Sally Bayley reads excerpts of the great English poet and travel writer Edward Thomas’s The Heart of England, a glorious celebration of the nature, people and places that Thomas encountered on his long, long walks on the by-ways of his country

Lutsyk, Mommertz, Bieri, O’Kane, Sabbah, Leschenko

Shape of my heart

Thursday 26th September 7:30pm | SJE Arts

Purcell Rondo from Abdelazer Celtic traditional music

Finzi Romance from Five Bagatelles, op.23

Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending

Britten Variations on a theme of Frank Bridge

Arrangements of songs by Radiohead, Sting, and Pink Floyd

Here are two very contrasting twentieth-century masterpieces: Vaughan Williams’ universally-beloved evocation of an English summer, with its lark and its country fair; and Britten’s brilliant and heartfelt portrait of his musical mentor Frank Bridge, with variations showing ‘his humour’ ‘his integrity’ ‘his enthusiasm’ and so on. The mix is seasoned with Purcell’s majestic Rondo, made famous in Britten’s Young Person’s Guide, and rousing instrumental arrangements of sprightly folktunes and some of the finest popular songwriting

Bieri, Ticciati, Mitchell, O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra

Sacrifices

Friday 27th September 1pm | Holywell Music Room

MacMillan Kiss on wood

Sally Beamish The Flittin‘ Elgar Piano Quintet, op.84

Elgar’s magnificent piano quintet is one of his last masterpieces, written at the end of the Great War which destroyed the world he had grown up in, with all its stability and self-confidence. Here Elgar’s inimitable grandeur, with its usual traces of doubt, encloses a deeply moving, elegiac slow movement, and indeed echoes of the war itself. Before the quintet, MacMillan’s haunting meditation on the wood of Christ’s cross, and Sally Beamish’s commission for our 2018 Festival, about leaving her Scottish home of many years, to return to England Mitchell, Mommertz, Bieri, Ticciati, Lutsyk, Sabbah, O’Kane, Drake

Friday 27th September 6:00pm | Holywell Music Room

A little-known masterpiece

Schubert Grand Duo, D812

A very special opportunity to hear one of the giants of the keyboard, Elizabeth Leonskaja, on a rare visit to the UK, playing a composer very close to her heart. With Festival regular Julius Drake (whose own insights into Schubert are justly celebrated) she tackles the bold and brilliant Grand Duo, full of unforgettable melody. Leonskaja then gives us Schubert's final piano sonata, a mysterious and ethereal work that seems poised between this world and the next Drake and Leonskaja

HiddenTreasures

Friday 27th September 8pm | Holywell Music Room

Music of four centuries: from the sixteenth-century William Byrd – one of the great Renaissance composers of all Europe – to the composer who soundtracked Restoration London, Henry Purcell; then (leaping into the 1970s) the astonishing sounds and characters Britten conjures from a single stringed instrument. As the twentieth century closes,Tavener takes us on “a journey from Paradise to Paradise” - from the lost paradise of Adam and Eve to the new paradise promised to the repentant thief; and finally George Benjamin’s crystalline piano studies bring us (just) into our new millenium

Clein, Ticciati, Mitchell, Bota, O’Kane, Rushdie Momen

Workshop lovers of story and song

Saturday 28th September 11am | Clore Music Studio, Mansfield Road

Singer and performer Emma Bonnici presents a unique workshop for lovers of story and song. This practice based workshop focuses on the initiation of folk songs and its roots in landscape and a life lived- its trials and growths. It explores its connection and relevance to the singer now and how songs can both teach us about life as well as be a vehicle to express our own. No priory experience is necessary. All are welcome. The work is physical as well as vocal, looking at voice as being connected to the body. Please let us know of any access needs and come in comfortable loose clothing, bring water and a pencil and paper to take down the words to the song

Radiance,andRomance, a Rocket

Saturday 28th September 1:00pm | Holywell Music Room

Handel The ‘Oxford’ Water Music – chamber suite

Jennifer Walshe That’s a lot of money at the top of a rocket Moeran Prelude for cello and piano

Deborah Pritchard Radiance

Vaughan Williams Romance

Bridge Phantasy Piano Quartet

In the 1970s an eighteenth-century manuscript was discovered in Christ Church library containing Handel’s chamber arrangement of his immortal Water Music, originally written for an evening Royal pageant on the Thames – with a barge accommodating 50 musicians. Perhaps the royal party also saw the fireflies which buzz through Bridge’s fine Phantasy, or finished their excursion in the beautiful twilight of the Phantasy’s ending. In between Handel and Bridge, Oxford-based Jennifer Walshe’s very funny performance piece for a multi-tasking cellist, and some Radiant Romance Clein, Mitchell, Mommertz, Sabbah, Rushdie Momen, Lutsyk, O’Kane

Singing England

Saturday 28th September 3pm | Bodleian Weston Library

OCMF Bodleian Lectures

A talk by Steve Roud, author of the celebrated Folk Song in England and the New Penguin Book of English Folksongs. Steve will give a concise history of English traditional folk song – from a time when singing out loud was normal everyday behaviour

OCMF is proud to be in partnership with the Bodleian Library for this 2024 Lecture Series

Farewell!

Saturday 28th September 7:30pm | Holywell Music Room

Delius Violin Sonata, op. posth.

Elgar Larghetto from Serenade for strings, op.20

Finzi Eclogue, for solo piano and strings, op.10

Vaughan Williams Piano Quintet

Peter Maxwell Davies Farewell to Stromness

Four great contemporaries with hugely different voices. Vaughan Williams’ fascinating early Piano quintet still speaks an English dialect of Brahms, but is a strong and successful piece on its own terms. Finzi’s Eclogue is a lovely example of the English ‘pastoral’ style we associate with the mature Vaughan Williams. Delius had a different vision of England, highly-coloured and swooningly romantic, while Elgar’s own favourite among his works, his early Serenade, already shows his unmistakeable personality. We end our festival with a gorgeous Scottish farewell.

Mitchell, Mommertz, Rushdie Momen, Carrasco Hjelm, Leschenko, O’Kane, Sabbah, OCMF Festival strings

OCMF 2024 PARTY

Saturday 28th September

c.9:30pm post-concert

Join the artists and OCMF team to celebrate the close of our 2024 festival in style! Hosted by the Vaults & Garden Cafe, there will be special performances alongside the delicious organic food and wine. Limited tickets £50, booking through Eventbrite via the OCMF website Tickets page.

OCMF Artists 2024

Violin

Priya Mitchell

Hugo Ticciati

Tetiana Lutsyk

Viola

Sascha Bota

Marc Sabbah

Cello

Natalie Clein

Brian O’Kane

Double bass

Jordi Carrasco Hjelm

Piano

Julius Drake

Elisabeth Leonskaja

Polina Leschenko

Dirk Mommertz

Mishka Rushdie Momen

Clarinet

Reto Bieri

Ensembles

Quatuor Ébène

Bechstein Trio

O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra

Support OCMF and receive discounted tickets and priority booking

FRIEND

£60

(joint membership £100)

SUPPORTER £120

(joint membership £175)

AFICIONADO

£275

(joint membership £400)

PATRON

£550

Invitation to Festival Friends reception | Advance notice of forthcoming Festival concerts and activities | Priority booking ahead of general public | E-mail newsletters throughout the year | Name on the website

As above plus: Invitation to Friends Concerts and special events

ANGEL £1500

sponsor a Festival artist

GUARDIAN from £3000

sponsor a performance

GIFT MEMBERSHIP

As above plus: Opening night dinner with the artists, invitation to post-concert receptions at the Festival concerts

As above plus: Listed in advance publicity, as well as in the Festival brochure. Automatic joint membership

As above plus: Invitations to the opening and closing night dinner with the Festival Artists. Automatic joint membership Sponsor a Festival concert. Automatic joint membership

It is possible to sign up a friend or family member with Gift Membership. Simply tick the Gift Membership box on the Friends membership form and include their name in the Festival Programme information, or tick the relevant box for them to remain anonymous.

Thank you to our generous Supporters and Partners

Belacqua Trust | Kathleen Trust | Doris Field Charitable Trust | James Malcomson | Janine Aron

Brian Hardy | Graham & Hilary Laurie | Our Friends Members

OCMF 2024 Team

Warmest thanks to our team working tirelessly behind the scenes to make the magic happen:

Louise Hughes, Managing Director | Satu Hoogeveen, Executive Producer

Graham Topping, Programme Notes | Jackie Holderness, Front of House & Promotions

Dora Rakar, Masterclass Producer | Sophie Jones, Producer | Clara Büsel, Producer

Christopher Churcher, Producer | Barbara Abraham, Catering & Promotions

Trustees: Brian Hardy, Robert Warner, Nicky Brown, Clare Harbord, Kalwant Gill

Huge thanks to our British Artist in Residence Kieran Stiles whose artwork is featured throughout the festival

Warmest thanks to Hanne Abendroth for her inspiring booklet design and generous creative spirit

Photo credits: Page 1&40 „Scilly dreaming“ © Kieran Stiles | Page 2&3 „4“ © 4-thefilm.com | Page 4&5 Ebène Quartet © Julien Mignot | Page 6 bicycles in Oxford © AdobeStock | Page 7 Circus background © AdobeStock | Animato Quartet © Minou op den Velde | Page 8&9 Paddington Trio © paddingtontrio.com | Page 10 „Scilly dreaming“ © Kieran Stiles | Page 11 The Store Hotel © thestoreoxford.com | Page 12&13 Reto Bieri © Marco Borggreve | Page 14&15 Mishka Rushdie Momen © Benjamin Ealovega | Page 16&17 Hugo Ticciati © Kauppo Kikkas | Page 18&19 Brian O’Kane © Sussie Ahlburg | Page 20&21 Elizabeth Leonskaja © Marco Borggeve | Page 22&23 Natalie Clein © Michael Staab | Treasure&Keys © AdobeStock | Page 24&25 Emma Bonnici © John FG Stead | Page 26&27 Priya Mitchell © Stefan Bremer | Page 29 Bodleian Weston Library © AdobeStock | Page 30&31 Jordi Carrasco Hjelm © Pablo Rodriguez | Page 33 © thevaultsandgarden.com | Page 34&35 Guy Johnston © Kauppo Kikkas Page 38&39 „little haven“ © Kieran Stiles

Information in this brochure is correct at time of going to press. OCMF reserves the right to change the advertised dates, times, programme and artists without notice.

“A national treasure“ Philip Pullman

“ The Oxford Chamber Music Festival is wonderfully intimate, with the highest level of music making“ The Observer

“ Truly festive, Different and distinctive... with exhilarating atmosphere and artistry“ Daily Telegraph

“ The No 1. unmissable musical event“ BBC Music Magazine