Spring Song 2020
27th March - 4th April 2020
We’re thrilled to present this newly expanded Spring Song festival, which features outstanding concerts every evening and is the new home of our renowned residential Mastercourse.
We welcome exceptional artists for the concert series, several of whom also appear as guest tutors on the Mastercourse. The course is led by the acclaimed soprano Joan Rodgers and a special day of participation events takes place just before the festival begins.
With a great range of music and poetry, top artists and brilliant young musicians, there’s a thrilling week in store and we look forward to seeing you there.
A Full Spring Song Pass is available to purchase for £190 representing the best value for the best value for those attending all Spring Song Events.
A Mastercourse Pass* is available to purchase for £45: the best value for those attending 9 sessions or more throughout the week.
An Evening Concert Pass is also available for £165.
All Spring Song Passes are available to purchase on the Booking page.
*Please note, the Mastercourse Pass does not include any evening concerts or the Mastercouse concert on Saturday 4 April 2020.
Friday 27th March
10:30 AM
Masterclass with Joan Rodgers
27 Mar 2020 10:30 | Holywell Music Room
The internationally-renowned soprano Joan Rodgers will be leading this year’s Mastercourse, and this is a special chance for amateur song enthusiasts also to benefit directly from her experience and insights. There are spaces for ten singers. An accompanist will be provided if needed. If you have any questions about this event, please email [email protected] ...
4:00 PM
Masterclass with Marcus Farnsworth
Early Evening Participation Events
27 Mar 2020 16:00 | Harris Manchester College Chapel
The acclaimed baritone Marcus Farnsworth works with talented young singers from Oxfordshire schools. Presented in collaboration with Oxfordshire County Music Service. This masterclass aimed at students in Years 12 and 13 who are Grade 7-8 standard. If you are interested in taking part, please email: [email protected] Observers are also welcome, free of...
6:30 PM
Bring and Sing
Early Evening Participation Events
27 Mar 2020 18:30 | Holywell Music Room
A chance for one and all to tread the boards of the historic Holywell Music Room in an informal concert setting. An accompanist will be provided if needed, and short written feedback on the performance will be offered if desired. All are welcome. If you have any questions about taking part, please email [email protected] Observers are also welcome across the day,...Saturday 28th March
11:00 AM
Poetry Making Song
28 Mar 2020 11:00 | Holywell Music Room
Oxford Lieder regulars Helen Abbott and Natasha Loges team up to lead an interactive study event looking at some famous poet-composer pairings from the French and German traditions. Using examples from Baudelaire and Debussy, Daumer and Brahms, Goethe and Schubert, and Verlaine and Fauré, we will explore meanings, contexts, and sounds in the poetry that makes up song. The sessions will i...
8:00 PM
Grieg, Strauss & Berlioz: Ailish Tynan & James Baillieu
28 Mar 2020 20:00 | Holywell Music Room
Sensational Irish soprano Ailish Tynan and acclaimed pianist James Baillieu give the opening recital of Spring Song in a wonderful programme that includes Grieg’s Six German Songs, Op.48. Setting poets including Goethe and Heine, these masterful songs retain a folk-like quality as they explore the full gamut of emotions. Also included are songs by Wolf (from the Italian Songbook), Duparc ...Sunday 29th March
2:00 PM
Mastercourse Day 1: Introducing the students
29 Mar 2020 14:00 | Holywell Music Room
On this first day of the Mastercourse, Joan Rodgers works with our nine exceptional singer-pianist duos. This introductory session is an opportunity to hear and observe the students for the first time, as they begin their immersive journey in song. SPRING SONG PASSES A Full Spring Song Pass is available to purchase for £190 representing th...
8:00 PM
Schumann, Mahler & Berg: Christina Gansch & Sholto Kynoch
29 Mar 2020 20:00 | Holywell Music Room
The wonderful Austrian soprano Christina Gansch, whose stunning performance at the 2019 BBC Proms was universally acclaimed, returns for a recital with Oxford Lieder’s Artistic Director, Sholto Kynoch. Their programme includes Berg’s luxuriously romantic Seven Early Songs, alongside folk-inspired early songs of Gustav Mahler and songs by Robert Schumann. SPRING SONG PAS...Monday 30th March
10:00 AM
Mastercourse Day 2 with Joan Rodgers & James Baillieu
30 Mar 2020 10:00 | Various
Lead Tutor: Joan Rodgers Holywell Music Room Guest Tutor: James Baillieu Harris Manchester College Chapel Pianist James Baillieu is the first of our Guest Tutors this year, following his recital with Ailish Tynan on Saturday. James is a Professor at the Royal Academy of Music and the head of the song programme at the Verbier Festival’s Atelier Lyrique. Our two venues ...
8:00 PM
Dvorák, Ravel & Korngold: Dorottya Láng & Julius Drake
30 Mar 2020 20:00 | Holywell Music Room
Dorottya Láng last appeared alongside Toby Spence in Janacek’s The Diary of One who Disappeared at the 2018 Lieder Festival, where she also gave a sensational recital of Hungarian songs. We are delighted to welcome her back with Julius Drake, the ‘collaborative pianist nonpareil’ (The New Yorker). Their programme includes Dvorak’s fiery Gypsy Songs, Ravel’s ...Tuesday 31st March
10:00 AM
Mastercourse Day 3 with Joan Rodgers & Julius Drake
31 Mar 2020 10:00 | Various
Lead Tutor: Joan Rodgers Holywell Music Room Guest Tutor: Julius Drake Harris Manchester College Chapel Today’s Guest Tutor is Julius Drake, one of the world’s leading accompanists. He is a Professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and at the University for Music and the Performing Arts in Graz, Austria. Our two venue...
8:00 PM
Schubert, Fauré and Quilter: Klemens Sander & Sholto Kynoch
31 Mar 2020 20:00 | Holywell Music Room
At last year’s Spring Song, Klemens Sander stepped in at short notice to give a stunning performance of Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin. This year, he returns to Schubert, in a programme that explores the recurring theme of water that appears in Schubert’s songs, whether as a messenger of love, a symbol of transience or a home to various fishermen, sailors and other figur...Wednesday 1st April
10:00 AM
Mastercourse Day 4 with Helen Abbott - What’s the stress? Finding your feet with French poetry
01 Apr 2020 10:00 | Holywell Music Room
Guest tutor: Helen Abbott 10am – 1pm Break 2pm – 3pm Today’s shorter Mastercourse day opens with a talk by Professor Helen Abbott on the structures and stresses of French poetry, and its different metrical forms. It will explore ways of performing the ‘mute e’ and how it is accounted for in French poetry and song, as well...
8:00 PM
Living Song: Lotte Betts-Dean and Ensemble x.y
01 Apr 2020 20:00 | Holywell Music Room
Lotte Betts-Dean and Joseph Havlat were winners of the 2019 Oxford Lieder Young Artist Platform and are both members of Ensemble x.y, a London-based group of performers, composers and curators specializing in new music and contemporary performance practice. Tonight they perform a dazzling array of works for voice and chamber ensemble by living composers including Per Nørgå...Thursday 2nd April
10:00 AM
Mastercourse Day 5 with Joan Rodgers & Graham Johnson
02 Apr 2020 10:00 | Various
Lead Tutor: Joan Rodgers Holywell Music Room Guest Tutor: Graham Johnson Harris Manchester College Chapel Graham Johnson is internationally renowned as pianist, scholar and pedagogue. Today he shares his experience and insights with our Mastercourse students. Our two venues are only a few minutes’ walk from each other and observers are welcome to move be...
8:00 PM
Songs of Travel: Benjamin Appl & Simon Lepper
02 Apr 2020 20:00 | Holywell Music Room
Benjamin Appl is already established internationally as one of the most exciting singers of his generation. Together with Simon Lepper he presents a programme of journeys, from songs by Schubert and Wolf to Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (‘Songs of a Wayfarer’) and concluding with Vaughan Williams’ perennial favourite, the Songs of Travel. SPRING...Friday 3rd April
10:00 AM
Mastercourse Day 6 with Joan Rodgers & Simon Lepper
03 Apr 2020 10:00 | Various
Lead Tutor: Joan Rodgers Holywell Music Room Guest Tutor: Simon Lepper Harris Manchester College Chapel Simon Lepper, Head of Collaborative Piano at the Royal College of Music, is renowned as a teacher and pedagogue as well as one of today’s leading song pianists. We are delighted to welcome him as this year’s final guest tutor. Our two ven...
8:00 PM
To the Distant Beloved: Robin Tritschler & Graham Johnson
03 Apr 2020 20:00 | Holywell Music Room
Irish tenor Robin Tritschler is considered to be one of today’s leading song interpreters, and enjoys a longstanding partnership with the esteemed pianist Graham Johnson. Their programme begins with Beethoven’s astonishing song cycle An die ferne Geliebte (‘To the Distant Beloved’). They include Schubert’s settings of his great friend Johann Mayrhofer, and the prog...Saturday 4th April
11:00 AM
The Songmakers' Almanac: Graham Johnson
04 Apr 2020 11:00 | Holywell Music Room
Graham Johnson’s Songmakers' Almanac set a new standard for inventive programme and song performance when he established it in 1976. Today, he gives an illustrated talk on the history, artists, programmes and performances of this revered group… SPRING SONG PASSES A Full Spring Song Pass is available to purchase for £190 representing t...
7:30 PM
Mastercourse Finale
04 Apr 2020 19:30 | Holywell Music Room
Introduced by Joan Rodgers The final concert of the Mastercourse, given by the nine duos who have been studying intensively all week, is always a very special event: a chance to witness the results of their hard work and the input of the various tutors. SPRING SONG PASSES A Full Spring Song Pass is available to purchase for £190 representing the be...