Research
Composition & Performance
Oxford’s Music Faculty has a long and distinguished track record as a centre for outstanding performers and composers. That this is a continuing living tradition can been seen in the current activities of Faculty members whose achievements are celebrated nationally and internationally both on disc and in the concert hall. In the field of choral conducting, they include: Stephen Darlington, Edward Higginbottom Owen Rees and (from April 2009) Daniel Hyde; in the field of solo performance, Laurence Dreyfus and Martin Stokes; in the field of opera production, Michael Burden.
In addition, the Faculty hosts a number of ensembles in residence, including Laurence Dreyfus’s ensemble, the award-winning Phantasm, the famous Allegri String Quartet, the Faculty’s new music Ensemble ISIS, directed by Robert Saxton and John Traill and Issa Boulos. Oxford University’s Professional Orchestra in Residence, the Oxford Philomusica under Music Director Marios Papadopolous is closely integrated with the work of the Music Faculty, promoting regular masterclasses with visiting international musicians, as well as an instrumental apprenticeship scheme and student composition commissions.
The department’s composers are a vibrant and active group who complement and interact with the performers. There is a constant flow of new music under the guidance of the two specialist composers, Robert Saxton and Martyn Harry, as well as Susan Wollenberg, David Maw, Phillip Cooke and Guy Newbury.
The Faculty runs its own exciting programme of lectures, recitals and masterclasses bringing some of the country’s finest artists, composers and lecturers to Oxford in the pursuit of excellence in the field of Performance.